GE2025: PAP retains Tampines GRC in 4-way fight, wins Tampines Changkat SMC

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SINGAPORE – The ruling PAP has defeated three other parties to retain Tampines GRC, receiving 52.02 per cent of the vote in the constituency touted as

one of the most hotly contested

in this election.

Coming in second was WP, with 47.37 per cent of the vote.

The People’s Power Party (PPP) garnered 0.43 per cent of the vote, and the National Solidarity Party (NSP), 0.18 per cent.

Both fell below the minimum threshold of 12.5 per cent of votes cast, and will lose their election deposits of $13,500 per candidate.

At the 2020 election, the PAP won 66.41 per cent of the vote in a straight fight with NSP, which received 33.59 per cent.

Meanwhile, the PAP’s Mr Desmond Choo, 47, won the new Tampines Changkat single seat against the WP’s Mr Kenneth Foo, 48.

In Tampines GRC, the winning PAP team, led by Social and Family Development Minister Masagos Zulkifli, 62, included two other incumbents: Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon, 53, and Senior Parliamentary Secretary Baey Yam Keng, 54.

The other two team members are new entrants to politics – former army chief David Neo, 47, and Dr Charlene Chen, 43, an assistant professor.

During the team’s victory speech at Bedok Stadium, where PAP supporters were gathered, Mr Masagos said his team was humbled by the vote of confidence from Tampines residents.

He added: “We are committed together to work harder for you, and for you to realise our vision together, to make Tampines our model town.

“Now that the election is over, let us come together as one united people. Let us work together to make Tampines a caring community, because this is how we forge ahead as we face critical challenges.”

Held by the PAP since its formation in 1988, when the group representation constituency system was introduced, Tampines GRC has traditionally seen a straight fight between the PAP and an opposition party, with the exception of a walkover in 1997.

In the past three elections, the ruling party went head-to-head with NSP in the constituency. In 2025, WP and PPP threw their hats into the ring for the first time.

WP vice-chairman Faisal Manap, 49, headed the party’s team in Tampines GRC.

The other members were Mr Jimmy Tan, 53, co-founder of an industrial equipment supply firm; Dr Ong Lue Ping, 48, a senior principal clinical psychologist; former diplomat Eileen Chong, 33; and Mr Michael Thng, 37, a technology start-up co-founder.

At Serangoon Stadium, where WP supporters were gathered, Mr Faisal told reporters that he was looking to take a break and “will take things one at a time first, just to clear my mind”.

He added that he will discuss his plans with his family.

Two Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) seats, reserved for the election’s best losers, will go to WP’s candidates from Jalan Kayu SMC and Tampines GRC, who lost narrowly to the PAP.

Asked whom in the party’s Tampines team will become an NCMP, Mr Faisal said WP will decide later.

PPP’s team, helmed by the party’s secretary-general Goh Meng Seng, 55, included party chairman Derrick Sim, 44; landscaping executive Vere Nathan, 26; green technology firm founder Peter Soh, 65; and entrepreneur Arbaah Haroun, 50.

NSP fielded its president Reno Fong, 56; vice-president Mohd Ridzwan Mohammad, 63; assistant secretary-general Eugene Yeo, 49; financial planner Zee Phay, 32; and Mr Thamilselvan Karuppaya, 57, who is self-employed.

On the campaign trail, continuity was a key message for the PAP team, with its members citing the party’s record in managing the town.

In a

rally speech on May 1

, Mr Masagos cited examples such as Tampines being Singapore’s first cycling town, being the test site for using Wolbachia mosquitoes to reduce dengue cases, and having the country’s first district cooling network.

Going forward, residents will have more active ageing centres, on top of the existing nine, as well as a new Tampines North integrated hub with a community club, hawker centre, MRT station and bus interchange, said the PAP team.

WP has been walking the ground in Tampines since at least 2016. Its team said it has the experience to manage residents’ needs and town council matters, and would ensure ongoing projects continued, if it was elected.

In a speech on Nomination Day on April 23, Mr Faisal – who moved out of Aljunied GRC to contest in Tampines – said voters had been waiting for the party to contest the constituency for years.

Mr Faisal said he did not see the contest as a battle between himself and Mr Masagos, who is also Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs. Rather, he described it as a

competition between teams

.

The contest between the two politicians was pushed online by foreigners, including those from Malaysian political party Parti Islam SeMalaysia. This prompted Singapore’s authorities to direct social media company Meta to

block access to their posts

and government leaders to denounce the mixing of race and religion with politics.

NSP and PPP, meanwhile,

fired salvos at WP in their campaigns

, criticising it for

contesting an area where it had no established roots

and leaving Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC uncontested, resulting in a

walkover for the PAP

there.

Candidates from NSP’s Tampines team had suggested expanding the Senior Employment Credit scheme to include retrenched middle-aged workers with children and parents to support, among other proposals.

PPP had raised issues such as Singapore’s population policies, with suggestions including having the population capped at 6.5 million people.

Speaking to reporters outside a counting centre at St Hilda’s Secondary School at about 8pm on May 3, PPP’s Mr Goh said that while some people have been supportive of PPP’s campaign, that might not have been enough to push the party through.

He added that his party had tried to send mailers to Tampines residents through national postal service SingPost, but many said they had not received them. “We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

NSP secretary-general Spencer Ng told reporters after the sample count was released that the party felt it had done its best, with the loss of its candidates’ election deposits being “a small sacrifice... to serve the nation and to serve Singaporeans”.

He added that the result did not reflect the effort NSP had put in, and the party will continue to contest Sembawang and Tampines GRCs in future elections.

Tampines Changkat SMC

In neighbouring Tampines Changkat, the PAP’s Mr Choo secured the single seat with 56.17 per cent of the vote. WP’s Mr Foo garnered 43.83 per cent.

The PAP and WP had campaigned on the premise that Tampines GRC and Tampines Changkat SMC would come under one umbrella, with both teams fielding candidates in the two constituencies.

At Bedok Stadium, Mr Choo acknowledged Mr Foo’s efforts, saying that he had contributed to the democratic process.

Of the results, he said that while it showed a clear mandate for the ruling party, it also demonstrated that residents wanted alternative voices to represent them.

Mr Choo added that as the elected Tampines Changkat MP, he will work to bring his residents’ concerns to Parliament and “hopefully we can implement better plans”.