GE2025: PAP to field lawyer Marshall Lim in Hougang SMC

SINGAPORE – Criminal lawyer Marshall Lim will contest Hougang SMC under the PAP’s banner at the upcoming general election.

Mr Lim, 38, was officially introduced to the media on April 13 as an electoral candidate for the ruling party in the opposition WP’s stronghold.

“It has been a privilege to serve Singapore and Singaporeans as a lawyer in private practice and as a public servant.

“I now ask Singaporeans, and especially Hougang residents, to give me an opportunity to fight for you, your family and our Hougang community as your Member of Parliament,” he told reporters.

While the WP has yet to announce its slate of candidates for the 2025 polls, Mr Lim will likely face off against incumbent MP and shipping lawyer Dennis Tan, 54, who retained the Hougang seat for the opposition party in 2020 with 61.21 per cent of the vote.

Hougang SMC

is the longest-held opposition constituency in Singapore’s electoral history, and has been in WP hands since former party chief Low Thia Khiang won it in 1991.

Asked about the PAP’s electoral track record in Hougang and what he will bring to the table as a new face for the ruling party, Mr Lim said he is mindful of the history in the constituency.

“But I am not held back or shackled by it,” he said.

“My focus has always been about serving the residents in a sincere way,” he added. “At every election, the slate is wiped clean and every candidate, from whichever party, has to step forward and present their plans.”

Mr Lim, a former public prosecutor turned defence lawyer, was appointed chairman of the PAP’s Hougang SMC branch only in February. This was part of

sweeping changes made to the ruling party’s line-up

in the WP-held constituencies of Hougang and Aljunied.

Mr Lim took over the PAP branch chairmanship in Hougang from business owner and former trade unionist Jackson Lam, who was himself a replacement for Mr Lee Hong Chuang.

Mr Lee, who contested the Hougang seat in the 2015 and 2020 elections, has since been spotted walking the ground in

Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC

with Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat.

Meanwhile, Mr Lam has been tipped as a

potential candidate in Nee Soon GRC

, having made appearances at several recent constituency events there.

Mr Lim said he has spent the past two months speaking to Hougang residents and understanding their concerns.

He cited municipal matters, such as rubbish collection and estate cleanliness, as issues he hopes to deal with “comprehensively and permanently” in his upcoming manifesto for the ward.

He told reporters that politics was a natural choice for him, as he wants to serve the wider community beyond providing legal assistance.

Mr Lim, who is a partner at local law firm Martin & Partners, previously served as an assistant chief public defender at the Public Defender’s Office, which provides legal aid to those facing non-capital charges.

He also has experience as a litigator in private practice.

“I am a fighter and I want to bring that spirit, that ethos of public service... what I have learnt (after) doing years of advocacy in the courtroom, fighting for people. I want to bring that with me into my political journey,” Mr Lim said.

“I believe in the power of advocacy. It is not a slogan or tagline. It is my way of life, and you cannot do it part-time... You have to deliver it. You have to show it,” he added.

Hougang SMC is one of nine constituencies that

will not have their boundaries redrawn

for the upcoming election. As at Feb 1, the single-seat constituency has 29,433 registered electors.

According to a Straits Times analysis of data

published by the Department of Statistics in June 2024,

Hougang has one of the highest shares of Gen Z and millennial voters, aged 21 to 45, at 44.2 per cent. This is more than the national average of 42.1 per cent.

Hougang also has a sizeable proportion of residents living in private property, ranking sixth out of the 33 constituencies at the coming polls, according to ST’s estimates. More than eight in 10 residents in the constituency are Chinese.

During his introduction on April 13, Mr Lim also spoke in Mandarin and Teochew.

The Chinese High School alumnus, who is Hokkien, said he has been learning the Teochew dialect so that he can better converse with senior residents in Hougang.

“Whether it is learning a new language, helping residents to solve their problems or helping them to achieve their aims, the most important thing is to be diligent,” he added in Mandarin.

In the past, new PAP candidates for Hougang SMC have typically been introduced by a senior party figure.

Asked why he was going it alone this time around, Mr Lim said he wanted to dedicate the April 13 session solely to Hougang.

He added: “Hougang is important. Hougang residents are important... I shared my approach with party leadership, and they have supported it.”