Latest news with #MarineParade-Braddell
New Paper
24-04-2025
- Politics
- New Paper
'Nothing untoward' about WP decision not to contest Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC: Pritam
WP chief Pritam Singh has defended the party's decision not to field a team to contest Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, saying there was "nothing untoward" about its election planning. The WP has drawn flak from other opposition parties for pulling out of Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, which led to an unexpected walkover win for the PAP on Nomination Day. Speaking to reporters on April 24 after a walkabout in Sengkang, he said: "We put forward the best slate of candidates we can for Singapore. We want a more balanced political system. And this is the same point I made yesterday to some Marine Parade residents whom I met." "I acknowledged and validated their disappointment that we were not standing there, but after I explained it to them, after I shared with them the reality of boundaries being redrawn, the reality of our own calculations as a party... I think they understood where I was coming from," he added. Former WP chief Low Thia Khiang, who turned up in Sengkang on April 24 to stump for the WP candidates along with former Hougang MP Png Eng Huat and WP chair Sylvia Lim, admitted that the WP's failure to contest Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC disappointed voters but said there was "no other way". He told Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao that political parties face realistic resource constraints when campaigning, and it is impossible to contest in every constituency. He said: "You can't go everywhere, so you must make choices. In this case, there is really no other way." Some of the opposition parties that raised a stink over the walkover in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC had argued that this could have been avoided if the WP had given them notice. To this, Mr Singh said: "It is not as if some of these opposition parties... approach us and say, 'Can I stand here, can I stand there'. So I think we respect them. We respect their agency. They make decisions in their enlightened self-interest. So do we." Asked to respond to criticism by the People's Power Party (PPP) secretary-general Goh Meng Seng that the WP was being irresponsible, Mr Singh replied: "Mr Goh should focus on the campaign in Tampines." The WP is set to face a four-cornered contest against the PAP, PPP and the National Solidarity Party in Tampines GRC, where it has fielded Institute of Mental Health senior principal clinical psychologist Ong Lue Ping, former diplomat Eileen Chong, startup co-founder Michael Thng and business owner Jimmy Tan. Mr Singh said he believes multi-cornered fights will be the norm in Singapore's political scene, "but that shouldn't dissuade us from putting a value proposition forward to Singaporeans for a rational, responsible party in Parliament". He said the WP has been walking the ground in Tampines even before the 2020 general election and had wanted to field a team there then, but it did not have a good enough group of candidates who were ready to step forward. "We've got a strong slate today, and it was only natural and logical that we would move into Tampines," he added. On Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's comments on April 23 explaining the rationale behind the last-minute changes to the ruling party's line-up, Mr Singh reiterated the point that the WP is a "small party". He said: "We don't think north, south, east, west... At the end of the day, the PAP has different considerations. I can understand that." Turning to Punggol GRC, the WP chief said he believes the party has put up a strong team to contest the newly-created four-member constituency, where a fresh-faced slate led by senior counsel Harpreet Singh Nehal will face off against a seasoned PAP team helmed by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong. Asked what he thought about the WP's chances there in the light of DPM Gan's surprise move to the north-east on Nomination Day, Mr Singh said he will leave it to Punggol voters to make their choice. Mr Singh said he believes the WP's slate in Punggol can represent the interests of residents faithfully and run a town council well. "I think they can do well in Parliament too," Mr Singh said of the four-member slate, which also comprises new faces Ms Alexis Dang, 39, senior director of publisher business development at an advertising tech firm; Ms Siti Alia Abdul Rahim Mattar, 43, legal counsel; and Mr Jackson Au, 35, senior manager of corporate affairs and marketing with the London Stock Exchange Group. In what is expected to be a fierce contest, they will come up against DPM Gan, Senior Minister of State Janil Puthucheary, 52, Minister of State Sun Xueling, 45, and first-term MP Yeo Wan Ling, 48. On Sengkang GRC, where the WP has retained its incumbent MPs in what is a largely untouched slate, Mr Singh said the party had different considerations here. Ms He Ting Ru, Mr Louis Chua and Associate Professor Jamus Lim will stay to defend the four-member GRC, joined by new face Abdul Muhaimin Abdul Malik. Said Mr Singh: "This particular team has worked very well on the ground. They've been highly effective in Parliament... They've also been very aggressive in seeking funding for improvements around the town." He added: "One looks at the whole package. Ultimately, the key decision for us to make was (that) this is a team that is defending its ground for the first time. So we wanted a team which had a longer history with the voters in Sengkang." The PAP, which lost Sengkang GRC in 2020 by a margin of about 4 percentage points, is fielding a younger, refreshed team led by former senior minister of state for transport and health Lam Pin Min. Asked how this would change the WP's approach, Ms He said the WP team will continue to do its work. "We continue putting our forward our vision for Singapore," she added, citing the Sengkang Town Council's five-year town masterplan, which was launched earlier in April, as an example. Over their five-year term as first-time MPs, she said she, Mr Chua and Prof Lim have understood the "multidimensional role" that they play - first and foremost as parliamentarians, and as elected town councillors in charge of municipal issues. "The glue that really holds everything together are the people of Sengkang," she added. She said the incumbent Sengkang GRC MPs are also happy to have Mr Muhaimin, who has experience working in a town council in a technical role, on their team. The senior property manager at Aljunied-Hougang Town Council is expected to fill the empty seat in the Sengkang GRC slate vacated by former WP MP Raeesah Khan in 2021, after she resigned for lying in Parliament. Responding to a question about this, Mr Muhaimin said: "I believe the residents of Sengkang will not dwell too much on the past. I hope that I can bring something to the team, and work for Singapore and work for Sengkang."
CNA
24-04-2025
- Politics
- CNA
GE2025: Line must be drawn between opposition unity and party interests, says NSP chief
SINGAPORE: Opposition unity should not come at the cost of a party's own interests, said National Solidarity Party (NSP) secretary-general Spencer Ng on Thursday (Apr 24) as he pushed back against calls for opposition parties to step aside in certain constituencies. 'There must be a line,' Mr Ng told reporters after a walkabout at Kampung Admiralty Hawker Centre in Sembawang GRC. 'If we move whenever you tell us to move, then what's the value of our existence? There's no value at all. 'And to be treated by fellow opposition parties in this manner, they should do some soul searching.' He warned against misusing the notion of opposition unity as a way for parties to 'barge their way through' to stake claims to constituencies. Mr Ng was responding to questions about the walkover at Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC – the first in a General Election since 2011 – and broader concerns around coordination among opposition parties. While NSP would like a 'unified alternative voice', as more political parties and diverse leadership styles emerge, achieving a fully unified opposition is 'close to impossible', he said. On Wednesday, a five-member People's Action Party (PAP) team for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC was declared elected after no other candidates submitted nomination papers for the constituency. Several opposition party leaders later voiced their disappointment at the outcome. When asked on Wednesday whether the NSP regretted not fielding a team in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, Mr Ng said no. NSP had been clear from the outset that it would focus on Sembawang and Tampines GRCs, he said. The party last contested Marine Parade in 2011, fielding a team that included Mr Ng and Ms Nicole Seah, who later joined the Workers' Party. Ultimately, he said, parties have to draw the line between pushing for unity and making choices that align with its own strategy and what it believes is best for voters. Parties need to have self-respect and remember why they joined politics in the first place, Mr Ng said. 'We are here to serve the people. We are not here to play board games.' GST ROLLBACK A 'RADICAL' PROPOSAL: NSP CHIEF Some parties have also proposed 'radical' or 'non-practical' policies, such as rolling back the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Mr Ng said. The Progress Singapore Party in their election manifestos called for the GST to revert to 7 per cent. The Singapore Democratic Party likewise called for a decrease in the tax, with party chairman Paul Tambyah advocating for it to be brought back down to 7 per cent 'at the very least'. Parties often do not understand the impact of calling for a reduction of GST, Mr Ng said. People would want more reductions and ask why the tax cannot be further lowered to 5, 4 or 3 per cent, he added. Instead, NSP's approach is to explore ways to increase revenue, such as obtaining higher net returns on investments through entities like GIC, and channel those gains back into infrastructure and social programmes without compromising Singapore's long-term reserves. Reflecting on feedback gathered from residents, Mr Ng said that in addition to cost-of-living concerns, some elderly residents also spoke to NSP candidates during their walkabouts about having to care for grandchildren while their children are at work. To address such issues, NSP is proposing to build a multigenerational town in Sembawang, aimed at fostering closer family ties by leveraging the strengths of different generations. Mr Ng said a detailed proposal – titled 'Sembawang, the lifestyle destination' – will be released later this week. A separate plan for Tampines GRC, the other constituency NSP is contesting, is also in the works. A multi-cornered contest in this hotly contested GRC will see NSP go up against the People's Action Party, the Workers' Party and the People's Power Party.
Straits Times
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Opposition parties upset that WP pulled out of Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC
SINGAPORE – Several opposition parties have expressed displeasure with WP for not contesting Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC leading to an unexpected walkover, the first at a general election since 2011. WP was expected to field a team in this constituency, as it had contested Marine Parade GRC in 2020 and won 42.26 per cent of the vote. Hours after a five-member PAP team in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC won unopposed on April 23, some opposition parties took to social media or spoke to media outlets to voice their opinions. Mr Goh Meng Seng, secretary-general of People's Power Party (PPP) , said in a Facebook post : 'WP was the last minute spoiler party, (who was) willing to sacrifice 130,000 voters' rights in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights, just to get into a four-cornered fight!' This four-cornered fight will take place in Tampines GRC, where the WP, PPP and National Solidarity Party (NSP) will go up against the incumbent PAP team led by Social and Family Development Minister Masagos Zulkifli. Mr Goh, 55 , was responding to a reporter's claim that PPP's Tampines team was short of assentors up till the night before Nomination Day on April 23. He added that PPP's candidates' and assentors' names were 'properly printed' on its nomination papers, and claimed that WP had the 'least number of assentors among all contesting parties', in addition to having written the names and particulars of its candidates by hand. Similarly, PPP's chairman Derrick Sim said he could not believe that WP had pulled out from Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, adding that his team was 'dumbfounded'. In a Facebook post on April 23, Mr Sim, 44 , noted that WP had never contested in Tampines since the party was formed in 1988, while it had consistently contested and walked the ground in Marine Parade for over a decade. Adding that WP's 'star candidate' Harpreet Singh was frequently spotted in Marine Parade, Mr Sim said: 'And now, WP totally abandoned all that ground effort to parachute into Tampines – a GRC where multiple teams had already confirmed their intentions early on, and even made public statements.' ''Strategic move'? Sorry, but that's a lame excuse. Letting in five seats even before the contest starts,' he said. Besides these candidates from PPP, the secretary-general of the Singapore People's Party (SPP) Steve Chia also issued a media response on the issue on April 23. Mr Chia, 54 , said SPP was 'indeed surprised' by WP's decision to not contest Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, especially given WP's active ground engagement in the constituency since the election in 2020. He added: 'This walkover, the first since 2011, marks an unexpected turn in what was anticipated to be a keenly contested race.' 'We share the disappointment felt by many residents who were looking forward to a robust democratic process with diverse voices and choices at the ballot box.' Noting that SPP believes that every constituency benefits from active competition since it fosters greater accountability, Mr Chia said his party respects strategic choices made by other parties but regrets that voters in the constituency would not have the chance to express their preferences through the polls. Speaking to the media regarding PSP's candidacy in West Coast-Jurong West GRC on April 23, PSP chief Leong Mun Wai also commented that the party found it 'slightly disappointing' that there was a walkover in a group representation constituency during GE2025. 'PSP believes that we should give Singaporeans a chance to experience the democratic process, we should not have (a) walkover, so that is a bit disappointing, but I suppose there are valid reasons why that happened,' he said. Before comments from these opposition parties streamed in, WP chief Pritam Singh shared on Facebook that not contesting Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC was 'a very difficult decision' for the party. He published the post 15 minutes after nomination proceedings ended at 12.30pm on April 23. Thanking residents in the constituency for their support, Mr Singh noted that Joo Chiat SMC was drawn out of Marine Parade GRC into East Coast GRC, while MacPherson SMC and other estates were pulled into the new Marine-Parade Braddell-Heights GRC by the Electoral Boundary Review Committee. 'It is with a heavy heart I share that The Workers' Party will not stand in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC for these general elections,' he added. 'As a small opposition party, we are constantly faced with difficult choices about where and how best to deploy our limited resources, particularly after electoral boundaries are redrawn.' 'After much reflection and careful consideration, we have determined that in order to continue fighting for the principles and changes we all believe in, and to give our candidates the best chance of electoral success, the Party must focus its best efforts this GE on a smaller number of constituencies than we would have hoped to contest.' More on this Topic PAP retains Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC as WP pulls out; first walkover since 2011 Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
AsiaOne
23-04-2025
- Politics
- AsiaOne
GE2025: WP, NSP and PPP challenge PAP in Tampines GRC's four-corner fight, Singapore News
PUBLISHED ON April 23, 2025 5:30 AM By Hoon Jeng Jee Four parties will be contesting in five-member Tampines GRC during the upcoming General Election. The People's Action Party (PAP) team, led by Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli, 62, will be defending against Workers' Party (WP), National Solidarity Party (NSP) and People's Power Party (PPP). Candidates from all four parties successfully filed their nomination papers at Poi Ching School on Wednesday (April 23). The PAP team defending Tampines GRC includes Senior Minister of State Dr Koh Poh Koon, 53, and three-term Tampines GRC MP Baey Yam Keng, 54, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport and Sustainability and the Environment. They are joined by newcomers Assistant Professor Charlene Chen, 43, and former Chief of Army David Neo, 47. The WP team will be headed by party vice-chair Faisal Manap, 49; Mr Jimmy Tan, 53, co-founder of industrial equipment supply firm Immanuel Engineering; Institute of Mental Health senior principal clinical psychologist Ong Lue Ping, 48; former diplomat Eileen Chong, 33; and Mr Michael Thng, 37, co-founder of technology start-up Showdrop. NSP is fielding party president Reno Fong, 56; vice-president Mohd Ridzwan Mohammad, 63; assistant secretary-general Eugene Yeo, 49; financial planner Zee Phay, 32; and Mr Thamilselvan Karuppaya, 57, who is self-employed. The PPP's Tampines team includes party chief Goh Meng Seng, party chairman Derrick Sim, landscaping executive Vere Nathan, green tech firm founder Peter Soh and entrepreneur Arbaah Haroun. Goh said he is happy about the four-corner fight in Tampines since it's a sign of mature democracy, but he got emotional when speaking about WP "abandoning" Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC "it is very ironic that WP's slogan is 'Working for Singapore' when they have let down 130,000 voters in Marine Parade." "Voters' rights have been sacrificed." Under the new electoral boundaries announced by Electoral Boundaries Review Committee last month, the Tampines Changkat ward of Tampines GRC was carved out to form a SMC, while small parts of Aljunied GRC were absorbed into Tampines GRC. During the 2020 General Election, the PAP secured Tampines GRC with 66.41 per cent of the votes over NSP's 33.59 per cent. The constituency will have 147,904 voters in the upcoming election. For our GE2025 microsite, visit here. [[nid:716427]] This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.
