GE2025: SDP’s Chee has walked long political path, but not served the community, says PAP’s Poh Li San

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SINGAPORE – Organising town hall meetings to hear residents’ issues, reducing waiting times at Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS), and arguing for full-time MPs to manage estate work make for good rally speeches. 

But such suggestions demonstrate a lack of understanding of how PAP MPs work, said Ms Poh Li San, the party’s candidate for Sembawang West SMC.

Ms Poh, 50, was speaking at a PAP rally next to Sun Plaza on April 28, together with the party’s Sembawang GRC team members.

In her speech, Ms Poh countered Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan’s recent rally pledge to hold town hall meetings to address residents’ concerns and shorten MPS waiting times, if he is elected.

Dr Chee, at

an April 26 rally in Sembawang,

had also said SDP candidates will outdo those from PAP in managing town councils and raising issues in Parliament as they are committed to becoming full-time MPs if elected. 

Dr Chee is contesting Sembawang West SMC.

Ms Poh, who is senior vice-president at Changi Airport Group, said: “This is a fundamental mistake about what MPS is about. MPS is a safe, private space for residents to tell me of their life challenges so we can work on these together. It is not a town hall for public political theatre.”

She acknowledged that there are some weeks when an MPS can last for hours and end past midnight, but said this is because “we don’t leave until we see the last family, the last man or the last woman leave. We work when no one is watching”.

Ms Poh said she replies to residents’ e-mails directly to eliminate the need for them to physically attend an MPS. She also meets older residents during house visits and walkabouts to follow up on the problems they face with agencies.

She added: “I am your MP, not just during MPS but every day when you need my help.”

Ms Poh admitted that Dr Chee has walked a long political path. However, that path has not been spent serving the community.

“Yes, he’s passionate,” she said. “But passion alone does not build playgrounds nor support seniors nor comfort a struggling family.”

At the same rally, Sembawang GRC candidate Vikram Nair, who has been the chairman of Sembawang Town Council for the past seven years, gave a report on the work done in the GRC.

The 46-year-old lawyer noted that residents’ feedback is gathered and discussed among the MPs and with the town council with the aim of delivering improvements.

“In the last five years, we’ve built 154 sheltered walkways... We’ve upgraded 44 parks and fitness corners, community gardens,” he said, adding that the number of gardens has grown from 28 to 60 during the period.

In addition, 340 Housing Board blocks have undergone repairs and redecoration, while 47 blocks comprising 3,138 units have benefited from HDB’s Home Improvement Programme, Mr Nair said.

When it was her turn to speak, Ms Mariam Jaafar, a first-term MP, said she and her team have walked alongside and championed causes for students, seniors, caregivers, job seekers and former offenders.

Ms Mariam, 48, is managing director and senior partner of the Boston Consulting Group.

She said: “I’ve heard your stories, your worries about costs of living, your frustrations about the costs of doing business, your fears about not being able to afford a home, your hopes for your children, your fears about ageing without support.”

Mr Gabriel Lam, one of two new PAP faces contesting Sembawang GRC, said he would stand for second chances.

The 42-year-old chief operating officer of Shalom International Movers said: “I believe in giving second chances because my father was given a second chance. And I saw how he took it to better our lives and that of others.”

The other new face for the GRC is Mr Ng Shi Xuan, 35, who said residents have welcomed him warmly. Mr Ng, a director at Powermark Battery and Hardware Trading, was a grassroots volunteer in MacPherson for a decade and vice-chairman of the MacPherson Youth Network.

He said: “In MacPherson, I work closely with and for youth and young families. And here in Canberra, we meet so many young people and families daily. I feel like I fit right in like a fish in water.”