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Straits Times
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
GE2025: PAP wins Jalan Besar GRC, widens lead with 75.21% of votes
The PAP's Jalan Besar GRC candidates (from left) Shawn Loh, Denise Phua, Josephine Teo and Wan Rizal Wan Zakariah at Bedok Stadium early on May 4. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO Follow our live coverage here. SINGAPORE - The PAP widened its lead in Jalan Besar GRC, winning 75.21 per cent of the votes against the People's Alliance for Reform (PAR), an opposition coalition. The four-member team is helmed by the current Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo and and includes incumbent MPs Denise Phua and Wan Rizal Wan Zakariah, as well as new face Shawn Loh. Mr Loh took over the GRC's Whampoa ward from Senior Minister of State for Defence Heng Chee How, who stepped down from the team. The PAR team that contested Jalan Besar comprises newcomers - freelance private tutor Chiu Shin Kong, nurse Sarina Abu Hassan, early childhood educator Vigneswari V. Ramachandran, and the party's treasurer Mohamad Hamim Aliyas. PAR wrested 24.5 per cent of the votes. The total votes cast were 93,531. This is the second time Mrs Teo has led the winning team in Jalan Besar , following her move from Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC in 2020. The result was an improvement from GE2020, where the PAP team won with 65.36 per cent of the vote against Peoples Voice (PV) – which is now a member of PAR. PV, then led by party chief Lim Tean, obtained 34.64 per cent of the vote. Mr Lim, who is secretary-general of PAR, did not lead his team in this general election. Instead, he was in a three-cornered fight with Singapore People's Party treasurer Williiamson Lee and Mr Alex Yeo of the PAP for Potong Pasir SMC. Jalan Besar GRC, comprising four wards - Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng, Kolam Ayer, Whampoa and Kampong Glam - represents the largest area of the downtown city centre of Singapore, followed by Tanjong Pagar GRC. In their campaign, the PAP candidates for the GRC focused on making Jalan Besar more vibrant and sustainable, more caring and inclusive, and where community bonds are stronger. On April 6, its town council launched the Jalan Besar Masterplan for the next five years, from 2026 to 2030, for a greener and more elderly-friendly town. The aim is to make Jalan Besar a more inclusive community for its residents. The constituency, one of the oldest in Singapore, will be upgraded to include way-finding features such as motifs and colour-coded zones to help residents, especially those with dementia, navigate the neighbourhoods. It was first created in the 1959 Legislative Assembly election and became a three-member GRC in 1988, comprising Jalan Besar, Kolam Ayer and Geylang West. It expanded to become a five-member GRC in the 2001 General Election after absorbing Whampoa, Kallang and Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng but was dissolved in 2011, with the formation of Moulmein-Kallang GRC. Jalan Besar GRC was contested again in the 2015 General Election. The GRC, known to be a PAP stronghold, has since 1988 seen contests from many political parties, including the Workers' Party, Singapore Democratic Party and Singapore Democratic Alliance. It also saw a walkover in 1991. Jalan Besar GRC has a high concentration of seniors as well as low-income households, but its demography has shifted with a number of build-to-order (BTO) residential projects up. Additional reporting by Hazel Tang Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Straits Times
27-04-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
GE2025: PAP's new candidates on cost of living and groupthink
Meet PAP's new faces in this episode of The Usual Place podcast. The Usual Place Podcast GE2025: PAP's new candidates on cost of living and groupthink Follow our live coverage here. Another trio of new faces from the PAP joins me on the couch at The Usual Place, at noon, with less than a week to go before Polling Day on May 3. I'll ask them about cost-of-living issues, groupthink in the civil service, and some of the first issues they would raise if elected to Parliament. Since they're also millennial candidates, I'll ask them what is one thing they hope will look different in Singapore's politics 10 or 20 years from now. On the couch today are: Mr Shawn Loh, 38, part of the party's Jalan Besar GRC team; Mr Foo Cexiang, 40, from the Tanjong Pagar GRC slate; and Ms Hazlina Abdul Halim, 40, part of the team contesting East Coast GRC. The Usual Place - a podcast by The Straits Times – now moves from a weekly show to a half-hour daily livestream at noon from April 24 till May 1, a day before Cooling-off Day. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
