GE2025: Elections boil down to trust, and PAP has earned people’s trust, says Ng Eng Hen

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SINGAPORE - Every general election boils down to a simple question of which political party the people can trust more, said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen.

Speaking at a PAP rally at Bishan Stadium on April 30, Dr Ng added that every election can get complicated because political parties tend to tell people very different things.

He said: “Who do I trust more? It is the same way you decide which bank to put your money in, which telco to subscribe to, which online platform to buy from. All these life decisions, big or small, is simply based on trust, isn’t it?

“The question is, how do you build trust? I tell you first that trust is not built on promises.”

Then, how is trust built, Dr Ng asked.

“It needs to be earned. Trust needs to be tried and tested through good times and, especially, bad times,” he said.

“That is the same way you choose your close friends, your relatives that you want to deal with, your life partner that you can depend on. You stay close to those you trust.”

If people choose correctly, the party they vote for will stand by them, help them in difficulties and celebrate their achievements. But if trust is misplaced, it can lead to despair and heartache, he added.

Dr Ng said the people of Bishan-Toa Payoh trusted him when he, a surgeon, was a nobody in politics, and rode “on the coattails” of senior colleagues like former deputy prime minister Wong Kan Seng and senior counsel Davinder Singh – both of whom were past Bishan-Toa Payoh MPs.

He said: “Because of their work and effort, you trusted me. But because you trusted and supported me, you gave me a chance to prove my worth.

“Bishan-Toa Payoh and Marymount have improved and, I hope, Singapore, too.”

The homes in the area are now among the most sought-after in Singapore despite it being a heartland area, he added, with a condominium designed by the same architect that designed the iconic Marina Bay Sands.

Marymount SMC incumbent MP Gan Siow Huang, who was also present at the rally, is up against Progress Singapore Party’s Mr Jeffrey Khoo in this election.

After entering politics in 2001 and holding a raft of portfolios, Dr Ng

announced his retirement on April 18

. The Bishan-Toa Payoh team is now helmed by Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat.

Dr Ng, who was one of 10 speakers at the rally, said Mr Chee and the other MPs in his team are well-known to residents.

“Mr Chee neither needs an introduction nor my endorsement. He has proven in the last 10 years, and pushed many projects to improve Bishan-Toa Payoh and Marymount, and your lives,” he said.

The PAP is also a known party to Singapore’s voters, he added.

Dr Ng said the PAP has seen Singapore through its independence years, through separation from Malaysia. It built the Singapore Armed Forces into what it is today, faced the threat of terrorism, and came out of the Covid-19 pandemic with one of the lowest fatalities in the world.

He said: “We will not have got here if the PAP government did not win the trust of Singaporeans over the last 60 years. And the PAP government will and must continue to work hard and honestly, to continue to win your trust.”

He added that the new candidates – political newbies Elysa Chen and Cai Yinzhou – will have to prove themselves to the people, “just as I did 24 years ago”.

Dr Ng said: “I am confident they will, but I ask you to give them a chance to do so. Give them five years to show that they care, and can be effective, to win your trust.

“If you vote for this new team under Mr Chee, Bishan-Toa Payoh and Marymount will be better five years later. If you vote for the PAP, Singapore will be better five years later.”