Latest news with #MountbattenSMC
CNA
14-05-2025
- Politics
- CNA
CNA938 Rewind - GE2025: Running in Singapore's general election as an independent candidate
CNA938 Rewind Play It's been over a week since Singapore voted, and elected MPs have already hit the ground running with their Meet-the-People sessions. Still in the spotlight are also candidates who have made a name for themselves online, including independent candidate Jeremy Tan. Andrea Heng and Hairianto Diman speak with the Mountbatten SMC candidate on his reasons for running in the election and his experience running a campaign as an independent.
Business Times
03-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
GE2025: PAP's first-time candidate Gho Sze Kee takes Mountbatten SMC with 63.84% of votes
[SINGAPORE] The People's Action Party's (PAP) Gho Sze Kee defeated independent Jeremy Tan to win Mountbatten SMC with 63.84 per cent of the votes. Tan, a retired entrepreneur and a first-time candidate, ended up with 36.16 per cent of the valid votes. Gho received 12,507 votes to Tan's 7,083 votes, while the number of rejected votes was 473. Mountbatten SMC has 22,754 eligible voters. Gho is an associate director of boutique law firm AsiaLegal. She replaces four-term MP Lim Biow Chuan, who is stepping down after nearly two decades of serving the area. It is her first time contesting in an election. She has been a PAP activist since 2012 and the party's Bukit Timah branch secretary since December 2020. In 2020, incumbent Lim won against Sivakumaran Chellappa of Peoples Voice (PV) party with 73.84 per cent of the votes. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Independent candidate for Mountbatten SMC Jeremy Tan speaking at his rally on May 1. PHOTO: BT FILE Opposition coalition People's Alliance for Reform (PAR) – which consists of PV, Reform Party and the Democratic Progressive Party – had largely been expected to field a candidate in Mountbatten SMC this election, with PV secretary-general Lim Tean earlier staking a claim on the single-seat ward. The SMC was later revealed on Nomination Day to be a straight fight between Gho and Tan. Tan claims to be Singapore's first 'Bitcoin candidate' and has proposed policies involving the digital currency, such as creating a Singapore dollar denominated Bitcoin exchange-traded fund on the Singapore Exchange to protect the savings of Singaporeans. He also told voters he planned to be a full-time MP if elected. Tan is one of two independent candidates who contested in GE2025, the other being Darryl Lo for Radin Mas SMC. During her campaign, Gho said that she has been walking the ground in Mountbatten with outgoing MP Lim over the past 10 months. Together with her team, she noted that she has identified areas of improvement for the estate, such as connectivity improvements, childcare slots, constituency sports clubs, career help, mental health support and dog runs. For more election coverage, visit our GE2025 microsite
Business Times
03-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
GE2025: PAP first-time candidate Gho Sze Kee takes Mountbatten SMC with 63.84% of votes
[SINGAPORE] The People's Action Party's (PAP) Gho Sze Kee defeated independent Jeremy Tan to win Mountbatten SMC with 63.84 per cent of the votes. Tan, a retired entrepreneur and a first-time candidate, ended up with 36.16 per cent of the valid votes. Gho received 12,507 votes to Tan's 7,083 votes, while the number of rejected votes was 473. Mountbatten SMC has 22,754 eligible voters. Gho is an associate director of boutique law firm AsiaLegal. She replaces four-term MP Lim Biow Chuan, who is stepping down after nearly two decades of serving the area. It is her first time contesting in an election. She has been a PAP activist since 2012 and the party's Bukit Timah branch secretary since December 2020. In 2020, incumbent Lim won against Sivakumaran Chellappa of Peoples Voice (PV) party with 73.84 per cent of the votes. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Independent candidate for Mountbatten SMC Jeremy Tan speaking at his rally on May 1. PHOTO: BT FILE Opposition coalition People's Alliance for Reform (PAR) – which consists of PV, Reform Party and the Democratic Progressive Party – had largely been expected to field a candidate in Mountbatten SMC this election, with PV secretary-general Lim Tean earlier staking a claim on the single-seat ward. The SMC was later revealed on Nomination Day to be a straight fight between Gho and Tan. Tan claims to be Singapore's first 'Bitcoin candidate' and has proposed policies involving the digital currency, such as creating a Singapore dollar denominated Bitcoin exchange-traded fund on the Singapore Exchange to protect Singaporeans' savings. He also told voters he planned to be a full-time MP if elected. Tan is one of two independent candidates who contested in GE2025, the other being Darryl Lo for Radin Mas SMC. During her campaign, Gho said she has been walking the ground in Mountbatten with outgoing MP Lim over the past 10 months. Together with her team, she said she has identified areas of improvement for the estate, such as connectivity improvements, childcare slots, constituency sports clubs, career help, mental health support and dog runs. For more election coverage, visit our GE2025 microsite
AsiaOne
03-05-2025
- Business
- AsiaOne
PAP's Gho Sze Kee wins Mountbatten SMC with 63.84% of votes over independent Jeremy Tan, Singapore News
Results for Mountbatten SMC in GE2025 Gho Sze Kee (PAP) 63.84% Jeremy Tan 36.16% The People's Action Party's (PAP) Gho Sze Kee has won Mountbatten SMC against independent candidate Jeremy Tan with 63.84 per cent of the votes. Gho received 12,507 votes while Tan received 7,083 votes. Mountbatten SMC has 22,843 electors. In GE2020, PAP won Mountbatten SMC with a vote share of 73.82 per cent against People's Voice. Former MP Lim Biow Chuan retires from politics At a press conference on April 20, Manpower Minister Dr Tan See Leng announced that four-term MP Lim Biow Chuan — who represented Mountbatten SMC from 2011— will retire from politics. Dr Tan added that Gho, 46, will bring a "refreshing" look to Mountbatten. The maritime lawyer, who has been a party activist for 13 years, told the media she is stepping up as a candidate to "give back to Singapore" and "safeguard the future for the next generation". "I do know that it's a huge step up from activism to politics and many well meaning friends have tried to dissuade me," said Gho. "But I am a fighter, and I'm not one to back down from challenge." Blows exchanged during rallies Both Gho and Tan addressed Mountbatten SMC residents at their respective rallies during the campaigning period. On April 30, Gho cautioned voters against Tan's policies which involve getting the Government to invest in digital currency Bitcoin. Referring to Bitcoin as a 'wildly volatile' product, she stated that it is not backed up by any physical asset or government body and its value can go to zero with "nothing to back it up". "This is what I call gambling... The PAP does not believe in gambling," Gho added. Tan then hit back at his rival's comment on May 1, while speaking at the Home of Athletics sports track in Stadium Boulevard. "What is gambling? Firstly, there's a Toto shop beside FairPrice," he said, challenging Gho to close down that branch if she is elected as MP. Defining gambling as a situation where "you do not study enough of the risks and want to make a big move", Tan referenced Temasek's write-down of its US$275 million (S$377 million) investment in cryptocurrency company FTX in 2024 following the shocking collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX empire in 2022. He also said Temasek led a US$200 million funding round for Singapore-based cryptocurrency financing company Amber Group and is a significant shareholder of the world's largest asset manager BlackRock, which has exposure to Bitcoin. Tan quipped: "Ms Gho says that this is gambling. Has she told the Government and Temasek her message?" For our GE2025 microsite, visit here.
Straits Times
01-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
GE2025: Independent candidate Jeremy Tan challenges Mountbatten rival to close down S'pore Pools branch
Mr Jeremy Tan, independent candidate for Mountbatten SMC, speaks at his rally at Home of Athletics on May 1. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE Follow our live coverage here. SINGAPORE – Mr Jeremy Tan, independent candidate for Mountbatten SMC, has hit back at his rival's comment that equated Bitcoin investments to gambling, which PAP does not believe in. 'What is gambling? Firstly, there's a Toto shop beside FairPrice,' said Mr Tan on May 1, challenging PAP Mountbatten candidate Gho Sze Kee to close down that branch. On April 30 , Ms Gho Sze Kee had questioned some of Mr Tan's policies, such as getting the Government to invest in Bitcoin – which is not backed by any physical asset or government body. 'This is what I call gambling... The PAP does not believe in gambling,' she said at her rally. Speaking at his first rally at the Home of Athletics sports track in Stadium Boulevard on May 1 , Mr Tan said: 'Gambling is when you do not study enough of the risks and want to make a big move.' He made reference to Temasek's US$275 million (S$377 million) investment write-down in cryptocurrency company FTX in 2024 following the shocking collapse of Mr Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX empire in 2022. Mr Tan also said Temasek led in a US $200 million funding round for a Singapore-based cryptocurrency financing company Amber Group. Temasek is also a significant shareholder of the world's largest asset manager BlackRock, which has exposure to Bitcoin. He quipped: 'Ms Gho says that this is gambling. Has she told the Government and Temasek her message?' Mr Tan, a 34-year-old retired businessman , is a first-time independent candidate and plans to be a full-time MP if elected. 'Running a town council is running a business. It is a full time job and not a part time job,' said Mr Tan. 'You are my customers that I need to keep satisfied. You don't pay me money. You pay me in trust and votes,' he added. His proposed policies are centred on the termination of Housing Board flats being used as retirement assets and the creation of a Singapore-dollar-denominated Bitcoin exchange-traded fund as a form of savings protection for Singaporeans. Ms Gho, 46 , is a maritime lawyer contesting in an election for the first time. Her predecessor, the incumbent four-term PAP MP Lim Biow Chuan, also questioned Mr Tan's ability to run a town council, citing the younger candidate's lack of experience and knowledge in the field. Responding, Mr Tan said Ms Gho also has no experience running a town council herself. Mr Tan said he would tap into his 10 to 15 years of experience starting a business without external capital to run a town council efficiently. He had also reached out to a list of contractors who lost their bids for Marine Parade Town Council projects, to learn more about the costs and types of projects required to keep a town council running. Mr Tan added that he has spoken to contractors, managing agents, maintenance companies, in addition to studying various town council tenders, to familiarise himself with the process. Having studied the current software being used to manage the Marine Parade Town Council, he added that he would overhaul the entire system to reduce bottlenecks, solve the problem of poor integration with Singpass and enhance its mobile-friendliness. A software engineer, Mr Tan said he wants to invest in building an artificial intelligence-powered system to help Mountbatten residents reach their residents' committees more easily. Towards the end of his 50-minute speech, Mr Tan was joined by the only other independent candidate standing for election Darryl Lo, who is contesting Radin Mas SMC, for a short meet-and-greet session with the audience. This is the first time since 2015 that an independent candidate has held a rally. Mr Tan is also the only independent candidate hosting a rally in GE2025. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
