SINGAPORE - A second crop of potential candidates for the coming polls was unveiled by the Workers' Party (WP) on Thursday (Aug 27) afternoon.

Party chairman Sylvia Lim and Hougang MP Png Eng Huat introduced four new candidates at the party's Syed Alwi Road headquarters.

They are lawyer Terence Tan, 44; Ms Cheryl Denise Loh, 32, a sales consultant; Mr Firuz Khan, 48, a chocolate factory owner; and Mr Luke Koh, 41, a managing partner of a private investment business.

Mr Tan, the first candidate to be introduced, said that he had been volunteering with the WP since late 2011. He added that he has been working with Mr Yee Jenn Jong in Joo Chiat.

The lawyer has worked in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia "while still paying taxes here". He has also been an entrepreneur, opening restaurants and bars, he said.

He added: "I want to see a bright future for Singaporean children who are not seen merely as economic digits and can be allowed to think out of the box."

Introducing Ms Loh, Ms Lim said that she was her student in polytechnic 12 years ago. "That just tells you a little bit about how old I am," the 50-year-old WP veteran quipped.

Ms Loh, who is single, said that she comes from a disadvantaged background and was raised mostly by relatives.

"I bring with me a genuine heart to serve the people and the ability to listen and understand them," she said.

Mr Khan, who owns Wales-based chocolate factory Chocolate Xcellence, joined WP in 2006. He said he left a banking job to work in a voluntary welfare organisation where he saw firsthand cases of family abuse and neglect.

"I joined Workers' Party in 2006 as I saw it as an avenue to make a difference to the local community," he said.

Mr Koh, 40, studied finance at Nanyang Technological University and is the managing director of a private investment business.

When asked what they will do for Singaporeans if elected, he said that compulsory education should be extended to kindergarten and earlier, as this will encourage couples to have more children.

Mr Tan and Mr Khan have been tipped to be candidates in Marine Parade GRC along with Mr Yee, a non-constituency MP.

Wealth manager Dylan Ng, 40, introduced on Wednesday, is also a potential candidate in Marine Parade. The likely fifth member is reportedly corporate lawyer He Ting Ru, 32, who has yet to be introduced.

WP chief Low Thia Khiang had revealed the party's first batch of four potential candidates the day before, which included software engineer Koh Choong Yong, 42.

Mr Koh had contested the Sengkang West single-seat ward in 2011, polling 41.9 per cent of the vote against People's Action Party MP Lam Pin Min.

The other three were new faces: sociologist Daniel Goh, 42, engineer Redzwan Hafidz, 30, and Mr Ng.

Mr Low has also announced the WP's theme - Empower Your Future.

"If you don't empower yourself through supporting the opposition, you will be forever weak because you have no choice," he said.

The WP will field a record 28 candidates in five group representation constituencies (GRCs) and five single-member constituencies (SMCs).

The GRCs are Aljunied (five members), East Coast (four members), Jalan Besar (four members), Marine Parade (five members) and Nee Soon (five members), while the SMCs are Fengshan, Hougang, MacPherson, Punggol East and Sengkang West.