GE2025: DPM Gan to face off against WP’s Harpreet in battle for Punggol, now an election hot spot

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SINGAPORE – Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, in a surprise move, is leading the PAP against a WP team helmed by senior counsel Harpreet Singh for the new Punggol GRC.

Ending days of speculation leading up to Nomination Day on April 23, Mr Gan, 66, who is also Minister for Trade and Industry, was confirmed as the anchor minister of the four-member PAP team.

Mr Gan, who had been expected to lead the PAP team in Chua Chu Kang, now joins Dr Janil Puthucheary, 52, Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information and Health; Ms Sun Xueling, 45, Minister of State for Home Affairs and Social and Family Development; and National Trades Union Congress assistant secretary-general Yeo Wan Ling, 48.

The switch was one of a series of surprises on April 23, and saw Manpower Minister Tan See Leng

move from Marine Parade GRC to Chua Chu Kang GRC,

taking over from Mr Gan.

Apart from Mr Singh, 59, who has been dubbed the WP’s “star catch”, the other members of his party’s Punggol slate are new faces Ms Alexis Dang, 39, senior director of publisher business development at an advertising tech firm; Ms Siti Alia Abdul Rahim Mattar, 43, legal counsel; and Mr Jackson Au, 35, senior manager of corporate affairs and marketing with the London Stock Exchange Group.

The WP pulled off a surprise by diverting its big names to Punggol and Tampines GRCs and

not fielding a team for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC,

contrary to what some had expected.

In an interview, WP chief Pritam Singh, along with his team contesting Aljunied GRC, said they seek the “understanding and forbearance of residents” for not contesting Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC.

“It doesn’t mean we are gone. We will continue our work there after the general election,” he said.

“We are a small political party. We try and put our best foot forward when we have to fight an election campaign, and this is the strategy we have taken for this election.”

The closely guarded slates for the PAP and the WP were made known at the nomination centre at Yusof Ishak Secondary School in Punggol.

Addressing supporters, DPM Gan said the election will be about Singapore’s future. “We are facing challenges, our economy and our jobs are at stake, but we believe that if we work together, work as a team, we will overcome these challenges.”

He told the media later: “I am new to the Punggol GRC, but I must promise you that I am a very fast learner, and I will learn as fast as I can.”

Dr Janil said the PAP team will bring good jobs to the Punggol Digital District, deal with the transport issues in Punggol and keep the estate clean and well maintained.

Mr Harpreet Singh, who was greeted by loud cheers, said it was a “privilege of a lifetime” for him and his fellow candidates to step up and run for election in Punggol GRC. He called for greater affordability, a better education system, fairer politics and “a Parliament where your voice is heard, not just yes men”.

In Punggol GRC, more than half of its over 120,000 voters are estimated to be working adults aged between 21 and 45. These figures are based on ST’s analysis using Department of Statistics data dated June 2024.

Millennial and Gen Z voters out-represent other age groups in the GRC by a margin of more than 10 percentage points.

The WP contested Punggol West SMC in the 2020 General Election, when its candidate Tan Chen Chen took 39.02 per cent of the vote in the 2020 General Election against Ms Sun.

The new Punggol GRC, announced by the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee on March 11, combined 96,825 voters from Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC with 26,732 voters from Punggol West. The current voter rolls show a total of 123,820 voters.

Sengkang GRC

Meanwhile, the WP Sengkang team comprising incumbent MPs He Ting Ru, 41, Jamus Lim, 49, and Louis Chua, 37, as well as new face Abdul Muhaimin Abdul Malik, 36, successfully confirmed their candidacy.

Mr Muhaimin is a senior property manager at Aljunied-Hougang Town Council. He has been active in the Compassvale ward of Sengkang GRC since 2023, organising home visits, Meet-the-People Sessions and community outreach activities.

Speaking to supporters hoisting umbrellas and flags emblazoned with the WP’s logo of a hammer, Ms He said: “We, the Workers’ Party team, have been honoured to share in your joy, your tears, and your fears.

“But the journey does not end here.”

The WP is up against a PAP team led by former senior minister of state for transport and health Lam Pin Min, the only remaining candidate from the ruling party’s Sengkang slate in the 2020 election.

Dr Lam, 55, is joined by new faces Theodora Lai, 39, co-founder of deep tech venture capital firm Moringa Ventures; Associate Professor Elmie Nekmat, 43, who teaches communications and new media at the National University of Singapore; and Mrs Bernadette Giam, 38, director of Creative Eateries, a local food and beverage company.

They arrived to whistles, cheers and applause from dozens of PAP supporters, who showed up with clappers. Mrs Giam, the last of the PAP’s Sengkang candidates to speak, asked in Tamil for people to please vote for the PAP.

“Team Sengkang is deeply committed to building an inclusive community. That is why I took the time to say a few words in Tamil – with the kind guidance of several dedicated activists who helped coach me,” she told The Straits Times.

In the 2020 General Election, a team of political newcomers comprising Ms He, Mr Chua, Associate Professor Lim and Ms Raeesah Khan won 52.12 per cent of the vote, beating the PAP’s line-up of three political office-holders and one newcomer, lawyer Raymond Lye.

While Sengkang GRC has not grown as significantly as other places, it has become the largest four-member constituency with 126,808 voters as at April 18.

This is largely due to new public housing projects – such as the

2,500-unit Rivervale Shores

– and new condominium developments.

About 30 per cent of residents in Sengkang are working adults aged between 26 and 45, and 28 per cent are between 46 and 65.