Singapore GE2020: Several new faces have office-holder potential, says PM Lee

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was asked how many of the new faces have the potential to become Cabinet ministers. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM FACEBOOK

Several of the PAP's 27 new faces have the potential to become political office-holders, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday. But this will depend on their performance at the polls and - if elected - as MPs, he added.

"I am quite confident that several of them will become office-holders in due course," PM Lee told reporters at a virtual press conference to unveil the party's line-up for Ang Mo Kio GRC.

He was responding to a question about how many of the PAP's new faces have the potential to become Cabinet ministers.

This year, the People's Action Party (PAP) will be fielding high-fliers from the public and private sectors, such as former People's Association chief Desmond Tan, 50, and former Parkway Holdings group chief executive Tan See Leng, 55.

Other candidates to watch are former Infocomm Media Development Authority CEO Tan Kiat How, 43, and former Republic of Singapore Air Force brigadier-general Gan Siow Huang, 46.

When he was formally introduced as a candidate last week, Mr Desmond Tan, a former brigadier-general in the Singapore Armed Forces, was asked for his thoughts on speculation that he has been earmarked for a Cabinet position.

"I think I am not going to get ahead of myself," he replied. "We should not take for granted that we will be elected."

Former PAP MP Inderjit Singh also highlighted Mr Yip Hon Weng, 43, the former group chief of the Silver Generation Office under the Agency for Integrated Care, and former Community Chest managing director Ng Ling Ling, 48.

"Looking at the PAP's past track record, these seem to be the potential office-bearers - if they are in the same mould as before," Mr Singh said.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 30, 2020, with the headline Several new faces have office-holder potential, says PM Lee. Subscribe