GE2025: PAP’s Liang Eng Hwa retains Bukit Panjang with 61.41% in rematch against SDP’s Paul Tambyah

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SINGAPORE - Incumbent PAP MP for Bukit Panjang SMC Liang Eng Hwa successfully defended his seat with 61.41 per cent of the vote, fending off familiar rival Paul Tambyah of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).

Mr Liang won in a closely watched rematch against Dr Tambyah, with a notable vote share increase compared with the 2020 election, where Mr Liang narrowly won with 53.73 per cent of all valid votes.

It was the closest contest among all single-member constituencies in that election.

For a constituency where observers were expecting a tight race, voters gave the ruling party a comfortable margin this time round as Dr Tambyah took home 38.59 per cent of the votes.

The single-member constituency had been touted as a hot seat, with Dr Tambyah, the SDP chair and an infectious diseases expert, making his second bid against Mr Liang, a four-term MP and popular backbencher.

Speaking to a throng of jubilant supporters at Bukit Gombak Stadium, Mr Liang said: “You can rest assured that I will give my very best again to improve your life, your well-being.”

He thanked his supporters and PAP candidates in neighbouring Holland-Bukit Timah GRC for their support, and also pledged to work on “keeping Singapore stronger, safer and always stable”.

The MP added: “Although the campaign has been exhausting and difficult at times, all of you have stood by me... Let’s now convert the energy to serving our residents well and to serve Singapore.”

Mr Liang told The Straits Times that the win – and notable vote share swing of almost 8 percentage points towards the PAP – could be attributed to not just a good campaign, but also consistent hard work in the last five years.

“I’m glad that residents see the hard work put in, the improvements, and also endorse the plans for the next five years,” said Mr Liang, who will be serving his fifth term as an MP.

“What we have promised, we have delivered.”

The mood was more subdued at MOE (Evans) Stadium, where Dr Tambyah gathered with SDP supporters after the results. He told the media that he was disappointed, but not surprised.

Comparing his showing to that in the previous election, he said: “The previous election was a Covid-19 election. I was on TV a lot just before the Writ of Election (was issued), so I think I had a lot of visibility at that point in time.”

Dr Tambyah attributed his loss to his party’s lack of resources in comparison to PAP, especially in organising “$1 deals”, where residents could purchase groceries, such as eggs, for a dollar.

Describing voters’ “rush to safety” amid “the constant drumbeat of crisis, tariffs, (and) economic (factors)”, he added: “Hopefully, the next election, people vote for hope rather than fear.”

He said SDP would continue its work in Bukit Panjang and noted that the party has young people rising up. “I’ll be there as long as I’m needed,” he said.

This is the fifth election in which the PAP and SDP have faced off in the SMC, which is the largest single-member constituency with 33,596 voters.  

Mr Liang, a managing director at DBS Bank, had represented the Zhenghua ward in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC for three terms since 2006, and was moved to Bukit Panjang SMC in 2020 after the retirement of its PAP MP Teo Ho Pin.

When Dr Tambyah joined the fray that year, Bukit Panjang SMC recorded the largest voter swing against the PAP in a single-member constituency – 14.65 percentage points down from Dr Teo’s 68.38 per cent in the 2015 election.

Before 2025’s hustings officially started, Mr Liang told ST on April 11 that

he saw Dr Tambyah as “a formidable opponent”.

On the national front, Dr Tambyah, who is also a professor of medicine at the National University of Singapore, had

proposed a single-payer system

where mandatory health insurance is imposed on all Singaporeans, with the Government managing the central fund.

While

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung had criticised the proposal

by pointing out that insurance premiums and taxes would rise significantly if subsidies were removed, Dr Tambyah argued that national healthcare expenditure had gone from $9 billion to more than $26 billion under Mr Ong’s leadership.

Dr Tambyah explained that the single-payer plan would ensure that the Government is the biggest buyer of services, which would drive costs down, as whatever the insurer loses in terms of profit margins would be made up for by the sheer volume of orders.

Mr Liang responded by reiterating Mr Ong’s stance that removing healthcare subsidies would result in higher insurance premiums. 

Closer to home, the pair had sparred over several issues, including the role of an MP, the lack of lift access in some Housing Board flats in Bukit Panjang, and the running of the town council. 

Throughout a week of rallies this time, Dr Tambyah had told residents to vote without fear, as improvement projects in estates and services would continue to run even if an opposition candidate won, pointing to examples in WP-held Sengkang, Aljunied and Hougang.  

He reasoned that such projects and services were provided by professionals in the civil service or agencies, which are apolitical in nature.  

In response, Mr Liang argued that it was

“naive to think that it doesn’t matter who your MP is”

and that agencies would work on “autopilot” to carry out such projects.

He pointed out that many of the town’s improvements, such as the two flyovers that link the town to the Kranji Expressway, were not originally planned, but came only after he acted on residents’ concerns and secured approval from the authorities for the projects.

This was a hard-won battle for Mr Liang, who was

diagnosed with early-stage nose cancer

in July 2023. He resumed his MP duties in mid-September 2023, following the completion of his radiotherapy treatment.  

Despite the health scare, he had said he wanted to continue serving, as cancer did not change his sense of purpose and mission.