GE2025: First-time PAP candidates in Nee Soon GRC have roots in area and wider community, says Shanmugam

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SINGAPORE – Two new faces on the PAP’s Nee Soon GRC slate have ties to the constituency, and all four have a track record of community service, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and party veteran Lee Bee Wah.

They urged voters to support Ms Goh Hanyan, Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi, Mr Jackson Lam and Ms Lee Hui Ying at an April 29 rally at Yishun Stadium.

The rally took place four days after Mr Ravi Philemon, secretary-general of the opposition Red Dot United,

questioned the decision to field four newcomers

alongside Mr Shanmugam, and raised doubts about their readiness to succeed him in time to come.

Mr Philemon is leading the RDU’s bid to win the five-member group representation constituency in a straight contest.

The PAP had won Nee Soon GRC with 61.9 per cent of the vote against the PSP in 2020.

During the rally, Ms Lee Bee Wah – a Nee Soon GRC MP from 2011 to 2020 – said in Mandarin that all five on the opposition slate were new faces to Nee Soon residents.

“How much can they know about our residents? Who doesn’t know how to criticise the Government? Talk is cheap.”

Ms Lee, who was known for her colourful and vocal advocacy for her constituents in Parliament, said she had mentored the younger Ms Lee for 15 years, a fact that roused the crowd into a swell of cheers, applause and blaring air horns.

“Someone asked me, what is Hui Ying like? I told them, Hui Ying has a bit of Lee Bee Wah in her – a straight talker, sincere and hard-working.”

Ms Lee Bee Wah, 64, also pledged to continue guiding Ms Lee Hui Ying should the younger Ms Lee, 36, be elected.

She said the younger Ms Lee has helped her with Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS) and house visits, and served in the constituency’s youth executive committee, among other things.

She also said Mr Lam, 40, is a familiar face in Nee Soon – one who grew up in the constituency – calling him “the Yishun boy”.

“I have worked with him many times and I know he is a man of action,” she said.

Mr Shanmugam also spoke up in support of all four candidates, noting that Ms Goh and Dr Syed Harun are new to Nee Soon but bring with them long years of service to the community.

Ms Goh, 39, was formerly a director in the Smart Nation Strategy Office and the national artificial intelligence group for policy and strategy at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information.

Before that, she had a stint in the strategy group of the Prime Minister’s Office, after spending around a decade at the Economic Development Board.

Dr Syed Harun, 40, is a psychiatrist by training who has, among other volunteer work, been a board member of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore for seven years.

Mr Shanmugam indicated that appointments to political office are on the cards for both Ms Goh and Dr Syed Harun.

“If this team gets elected, and if the Prime Minister has space, and he thinks like I do, which sometimes is the case, then you will have three office-holders in Nee Soon,” he said.

In their speeches, the four first-time candidates set out their plans for Nee Soon residents if elected.

Mr Lam, who heads a pest management and cleaning firm, said he would seek the roll-out of more active ageing programmes, better accessibility and strong community care for the elderly.

He also spoke of providing second chances to young people facing challenging circumstances, and promised to draw on his experience of owning a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) to speak up for local businesses.

“I fully understand the difficulties and challenges SMEs are facing, especially in such global uncertainty. A strong, stable PAP government gives me the confidence to excel.”

Ms Lee Hui Ying said she hopes that Nee Soon would be a home where seniors can live well and stay active, families can grow stronger with good support, and youth chase their dreams without fear.

This would involve increasing availability of good eldercare services, sport facilities and childcare facilities, she said.

She also said that becoming a candidate in the GRC meant that her journey has come full circle, after having spent nearly two decades volunteering in the area.

For his part, Dr Syed Harun said the PAP team hopes to build not just physical infrastructure, but also “paths of life that offer shelter, protection and hope”.

This includes community initiatives for those struggling with rising costs, as well as supporting education for children and enhancing care for seniors.

He also spoke about the need to strengthen harmony across races and religions, even as communities seek to preserve their cultural values, heritage and identity.

“That is Yishun’s true strength. We are all diverse, but we are united, and it is what we must preserve in Singapore and never ever let anyone else suggest or tell us otherwise.”

Ms Goh spoke of three values – kindness, hope and strength – that she said would help Singapore navigate future challenges.

Being a society built on kindness involves supporting families and caregivers, Ms Goh said. She outlined policies already in place, including increasing caregiving grants and adopting flexible working arrangements.

Hope for the future means creating jobs for all Singaporeans – ones that students and young people are excited to fill, and ones that tap the wisdom and experience of older workers, she added.

On strength, Ms Goh said a vote for the PAP is a choice to keep Singapore strong, build the kind of future that children here deserve and make Singapore a place to dream.

All five candidates – the four new faces and Mr Shanmugam – repeatedly referenced the slogan for their campaign: “Residents First”.

Addressing the audience at the rally, Mr Shanmugam, who is 66, asked: “How many of you would have seen a video of something that happened at my MPS a few weeks ago?”

He added, to raucous cheers: “What did I say in the video? I look after my residents first.

“It is part of my DNA, it’s part of Lee Bee Wah’s DNA, it’s part of the DNA of these candidates here.”