GE2025: SDP to field Chee Soon Juan in Sembawang West SMC, Paul Tambyah in Bukit Panjang

SINGAPORE – Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan will contest the

newly carved out Sembawang West SMC

in the 2025 General Election, while party chairman Paul Tambyah will once again run in Bukit Panjang SMC.

Flanked by party members and volunteers at the atrium of Woodlands Mart, Dr Chee announced his candidacy on March 23. He had distributed fliers to residents in nearby blocks earlier in the day, declaring his intent.

Running in Sembawang West SMC is part of the party’s larger “northern strategy” that focuses on constituencies in the northern part of Singapore, said Dr Chee.

“We’ve been campaigning here since the 2000s... so in a way it’s back to old stomping grounds,” he said of his decision to run in the new single seat, which was carved out of Sembawang GRC by the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee.

Professor Tambyah recalled how Sembawang gave him his “first taste of electoral politics back in 2011”, when he spoke at an SDP rally there. “We have been in Sembawang for a long time, but we had to leave in 2015 when Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC was hived out from Sembawang,” he said.

Prof Tambyah said the SDP has been going back to Sembawang since 2022. The carving out of Sembawang West SMC provides an opportunity for the party to contest another single seat, he added, given that Bukit Batok “was just taken away from us”.

Sembawang West is one of six new single seats in the 2025 General Election, while Bukit Batok was among the five to be removed from the electoral map.

“My decision to stand here is fuelled by a steadfast commitment to you and your family,” wrote Dr Chee in the fliers distributed earlier in the day to Housing Board homes in Sembawang West.

He said he had poured his energies into serving residents in the now defunct Bukit Batok SMC.

Dr Chee first contested Bukit Batok in the 2016 by-election, securing 38.8 per cent of the vote.

At the 2020 General Election, he obtained 45.2 per cent of the vote in the single seat, which will become part of the newly formed Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC.

“I am ready to bring the same passion to Sembawang West,” he wrote. “I believe that Sembawang West is not just a constituency, but a vibrant community full of promise – one that can shine as a beacon for all of Singapore.”

Besides Sembawang West and Bukit Panjang, the party also plans to send a team to Sembawang GRC, among other areas. It said more details will be revealed in the next few weeks.

In 2020, Prof Tambyah garnered 46.26 per cent of the vote share in Bukit Panjang SMC.

Speaking to reporters, he said he has made significant headway in Bukit Panjang, having covered some 135 of the 150 blocks.

“We’ve had a number of community interactions, we’ve met with residents who have gotten to know us... we’re definitely looking forward to a good contest both in Sembawang GRC, and especially in Sembawang West SMC,” he said.

Before this, only the National Solidarity Party had signalled its intention to contest the new SMC.

Dr Chee said they are “always in touch” with fellow opposition parties, “and we’ll certainly be discussing this matter with them to work out a solution”.

“But we won’t see, or at least we hope not to see, a three-cornered fight.”

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, who anchors Sembawang GRC,

had earlier said the change in electoral boundaries was not surprising as more residents have moved into the area, and the population has expanded considerably over the past few years.

It is not yet known if incumbent MP Poh Li San, who oversees the Sembawang West ward, will helm the new SMC.

Sembawang GRC has five MPs: Mr Ong, Ms Poh, Mr Vikram Nair, Dr Lim Wee Kiak and Ms Mariam Jaafar.