New candidates, if elected, will have to work harder in the coming months for residents to get to know them, owing to the absence of physical rallies this time around, said Minister of State for Manpower and National Development Zaqy Mohamad said.
"(This) might mean more house visits, ensuring that they are engaged and understand the ground," he said yesterday. "It's a challenge now (without rallies), but it's not a question of whether we designed it this way but the Covid-19 situation has made it as such."
Mr Zaqy, who was speaking to the media at a walkabout in Marsiling, added that the party's incumbents will also be walking the ground more in the coming days to better acquaint residents with the new candidates.
Mr Zaqy, an incumbent in Chua Chu Kang group representation constituency, is expected to stand in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC where he has been helping out as a grassroots adviser after Madam Halimah Yacob left in 2017 to contest the presidential election, becoming Singapore's first woman President.
He declined to confirm his move to Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, saying an announcement will be made tomorrow. "Ideally, the situation is you'd pick someone you know who's been here for some time running programmes," he said.
"So if I end up in Marsiling, I will be quite lucky because I've been here for the last two years, I know the demographics quite well and I've done the work plan for the next five or six years."
He also declined to say whether newcomer Hany Soh will join the People's Action Party's Marsiling-Yew Tee team, whose incumbents are National Development Minister Lawrence Wong, its leader; Mr Alex Yam; and Mr Ong Teng Koon.
Evening daily Lianhe Wanbao reported yesterday that Mr Ong, 43, will not stand for election this time around.
Ms Soh has been photographed with him in a recent walkabout.
Mr Zaqy said he had not worked with Ms Soh in any grassroots activities as she was helping out in the Bukit Panjang single-member constituency. But should she replace Mr Ong in the July 10 polls, the latter will continue to guide her with programmes that need to be followed through, he added.
The Singapore Democratic Party has announced that it will contest the four-member Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.
Newcomer Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim is said to be a possible replacement for Mr Zaqy in Chua Chu Kang GRC. When asked, Mr Zaqy said Mr Zhulkarnain has been volunteering in the area for some time.
"The grassroots and the residents are quite familiar with him, so that's good when you have candidates coming from the ground."
