SINGAPORE - The People's Action Party's (PAP) new Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC team will likely comprise Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong, Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob, as well as backbenchers Alex Yam and Ong Teng Koon.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Manpower Hawazi Daipi, whose ward is now under the new constituency, revealed as much on Sunday (Aug 16) in his speech at a community event in Marsiling, where he has served for almost two decades.

"You will be well served by Mr Wong, Madam Halimah, Mr Yam and Mr Ong," said the veteran Sembawang GRC MP who is retiring after 19 years in politics.

Mr Wong and Madam Halimah will move from West Coast GRC and Jurong GRC respectively, to lead the PAP team contesting for the coming general election.

When announcing that he had invited Madam Halimah to co-anchor the Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC team with him last Thursday, Mr Wong hinted that barring any late surprises, Mr Yam and Mr Ong are likely to make up the rest of the four-member team.

Mr Yam is MP for Yew Tee ward in Chua Chu Kang GRC, while Mr Ong is MP for Woodgrove in Sembawang GRC.

The two wards they served in have since been redrawn into Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, which is made up of polling districts from the existing Chua Chu Kang GRC and Sembawang GRC that have seen significant population growth in recent years.

On Sunday, Mr Hawazi distributed bags of rice to residents living in rental flats at Block 3 and Block 4 Marsiling Road - an initiative by the Marsiling Citizens' Consultative Committee (CCC) to benefit the low-income residents in the area. He also introduced Mr Wong and Madam Halimah to residents of the estate.

Speaking to The Straits Times on the sidelines of the event, Mr Wong said: "I would hope that it is very likely that it will be Alex, Teng Koon, together with Madam Halimah and myself... but we will be part of the schedule for unveiling (the new team) and we will see that coming up very soon."

Madam Halimah thanked Mr Hawazi for having laid "a good foundation" in Marsiling. "The people in Marsiling are so accepting and open, to receive people coming in here, and I look forward to serving people in Marsiling," she added.

Meanwhile, opposition Singapore Democratic Party has also expressed interest in standing in the new constituency.