Faishal Ibrahim to move from Nee Soon to Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC for GE2025

SINGAPORE – Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim will join the PAP team in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC to contest the upcoming general election.

Announcing his departure from

Nee Soon GRC

on April 11, Associate Professor Faishal said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had asked him to make the move, and he has accepted.

“PM had asked me to go over to Marine Parade and I have agreed,” Prof Faishal told reporters at an interview held at a coffee shop at Block 747 in Yishun.

The four-term MP, who helms Nee Soon Central ward in the GRC, has been spotted at walkabouts in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights recently. This prompted speculation that he might be fielded there in the coming election.

Ms Goh Hanyan, a

former director at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI),

and former Nominated MP Syed Harun Alhabsyi are potential candidates who could replace Prof Faishal.

Said Prof Faishal: “I’m very fortunate to be able to grow with the residents here in Nee Soon. We have grown from strength to strength, and it’s been about 14 years, and it’s been a beautiful journey... Going back to Marine Parade is a homecoming.”

The 56-year-old had entered politics in 2006 as part of the team for Marine Parade GRC before he joined Nee Soon GRC in 2011.

Prof Faishal said he is very happy that Ms Goh has come forward to stand in the coming election.

“She’s very prepared, and I’m very happy that she has gone around the ground and met many residents,” he added.

Prof Faishal said he has been given the opportunity to engage and build good relationships with the Malay/Muslim community in the group representation constituency.

Acknowledging concerns among the community about his departure, he said: “I’m confident that Dr Syed Harun, who is a well-known figure in the Malay community, will be able to engage and connect with all the Malay residents in Nee Soon.”

Prof Faishal was flanked by Ms Goh, Dr Syed Harun, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam and former Nee Soon GRC MP Lee Bee Wah during the interview.

Speaking to reporters, Ms Goh said she has met many residents and seen the strong bonds that Prof Faishal has forged with the community.

“It’s big shoes to fill, but I’ll try my best and do the best I can to take care of the residents here if I get the chance to,” said Ms Goh, who was most recently a director in the Smart Nation Strategy Office and the national artificial intelligence group for policy and strategy at MDDI.

Before her stint at MDDI, she was working on economy and sustainability under the strategy group in the Prime Minister’s Office for just under four years. She had previously spent about a decade at the Economic Development Board.

Dr Syed Harun, a psychiatrist, said he has been heartened by seeing Prof Faishal win the “hearts and minds of the residents of Nee Soon”.

“I hope to be able to continue his good work, build on the solid foundations that (Prof Faishal) has had, as well as build on the relationships that he has had with the residents, in particular, also with the Malay/Muslim community here,” he added.

Dr Syed Harun is president of bursary institution Lembaga Biasiswa Kenangan Maulud, and has served as a board member with the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore.

He and fellow NMP Raj Joshua Thomas had

resigned from their posts

in February before the end of their term, fuelling speculation that they could be fielded as candidates for the election. This sparked discussion about whether their resignations would undermine the non-partisan intent of the scheme.

Besides Ms Goh and Dr Syed Harun, another new face who could be part of the PAP’s Nee Soon slate is Mr Jackson Lam, the party’s former Hougang branch chairman.

Mr Lam

has been spotted

at several community events in the area and recently put up Instagram posts of himself on walkabouts in the Nee Soon East ward.

Another new face who has been spotted in Nee Soon GRC is former civil servant Lee Hui Ying, who has been volunteering in the area for more than 15 years.

At the 2020 General Election, the PAP fielded a team comprising Mr Shanmugam (Chong Pang), Prof Faishal (Nee Soon Central), Mr Louis Ng (Nee Soon East), as well as two new faces – DBS Bank’s group chief operating officer Derrick Goh (Nee Soon Link) and charity founder Carrie Tan (Nee Soon South).

They retained Nee Soon GRC with 61.9 per cent of the vote against the Progress Singapore Party.

The opposition Red Dot United has stated that it

will contest Nee Soon GRC

at the upcoming election.