GE2025: Edwin Tong likened to Messi as PAP veterans lend East Coast GRC team support
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(From left) Former Cabinet minister Lim Swee Say, DPM Heng Swee Keat and ex-Potong Pasir MP Sitoh Yih Pin took the stage to urge voters to back the PAP's East Coast GRC team.
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SINGAPORE – Three party veterans returned to the election stage to rally support for the PAP team in East Coast GRC on April 26.
Speaking at the PAP’s first East Coast GRC rally, former Cabinet minister Lim Swee Say, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat and outgoing Potong Pasir MP Sitoh Yih Pin took the stage at Bedok Stadium to urge voters to back the five-member team,
The PAP team in East Coast GRC includes incumbents Tan Kiat How, 47, and Jessica Tan, 58, and new faces Hazlina Abdul Halim, 40, and Dinesh Vasu Dash, 50.
During his speech in Mandarin, Mr Lim, who retired from politics in 2020, said he had made few public appearances since stepping down. But when Mr Tong, the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, asked him to speak at the rally, he agreed without hesitation.
“I felt strongly about this,” Mr Lim said.
Five years ago, Singapore faced the pandemic, he said. Today, the world faces new uncertainties, the latest being the economic turbulence in the US. In such times, he said, Singapore must have strong leadership.
Mr Lim, a former anchor minister for East Coast GRC, also urged Singaporeans to support the fourth generation of PAP leaders, to “walk and run together” and keep moving Singapore forward.
“The more you support them, the more effectively they can serve Singapore,” he added.
Mr Sitoh, who entered Parliament in 2011 alongside Mr Tong, said he has been living in Siglap for over 30 years. He praised Mr Tong’s commitment and ability to get things done, citing how he secured a sponsorship for kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder, who went on to win Singapore’s first Olympic sailing medal at the Paris Olympics in 2024
“That’s the magic of Edwin Tong. When he wants to do something, he goes right down the line,” Mr Sitoh said, adding that Mr Tong had also gone out of his way to help the Singapore Lions at the Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup.
Mr Sitoh, who is retiring from politics, rounded off his speech by likening Mr Tong to Argentine footballer Lionel Messi: “Do you think Argentina would have won the World Cup without Messi? I don’t think so. Edwin Tong doesn’t play football like Messi, but I think he is as important a member of the team as Messi is to Argentina.”
DPM Heng, who led East Coast GRC in the last election before announcing his retirement on Nomination Day on April 23,
Rebutting what opposition parties said about PAP MPs being “si ban”, or rigid in Chinese, DPM Heng recalled how MP Denise Phua strongly advocated for special needs children, and how others pushed for changes in the education system.
“When I was in MOE (Ministry of Education), Denise Phua was very fierce. She was in the GPC (government parliamentary committee). She said, ‘Minister, you don’t understand special needs children, you know, I tell you.’ So I spent a lot of time listening... Lim Biow Chuan, my GPC chair, he said, ‘Mr Heng, you don’t understand the stress of our students. Come, I will show you.’ As a result, I almost abolished the PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examination),” said DPM Heng.
He added that he understood how Singaporeans want to do better, and persuaded then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to start two new universities – Singapore Institute of Technology and Singapore University of Social Sciences.
DPM Heng also pointed out how ideas such as the CDC vouchers, which help Singaporeans in coping with cost-of-living pressures, came from PAP MPs.
He then urged Singaporeans to elect “good people” to represent them, not just in Parliament, but also to be ministers.
He also stressed that this election is crucial because Singapore faces an increasingly volatile global environment, with trade, tariff and tech wars escalating.
Despite Singapore’s experience in managing crises like the Asian financial crisis, the global financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic, DPM Heng warned that “the future is going to be even harder”, with disrupted trade lines and slowing growth.
Citing the International Monetary Fund’s latest forecast cuts, he pointed to worsening global and local economic outlooks.
“So opposition says rumour-mongering. Actually... I was thinking either they don’t know, they don’t understand, or they know, and they are lying to you. Either way, it’s bad, right?” he said.
“Singaporeans must come together, united, be prepared for a fight,” he added.
