GE2025: Shanmugam’s refreshed PAP team retains Nee Soon GRC with 73.81% of vote

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SINGAPORE – The refreshed PAP team for Nee Soon GRC has held the constituency for the party for a fourth consecutive time, with 73.81 per cent of the vote against new opponents Red Dot United (RDU).

Led by Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam, 66, the five-member team also comprises former Nominated MP (NMP) Syed Harun Alhabsyi, 40; Mr Jackson Lam, 40, head of a pest control and cleaning company; Ms Lee Hui Ying, 36, director of communications for Temasek Foundation; and Ms Goh Hanyan, 39, a former director at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information.

All four of Mr Shanmugam’s teammates were running in their first general election.

At the PAP’s assembly ground at the Yio Chu Kang Stadium, Mr Shanmugam thanked his constituents for their trust and support, and vowed that his team would “continue to build on the good work that we have done so far... and continue to put residents first in all that we do, from the bottom of our hearts”.

He added that while his team is a new one, with him being the exception, the “values, principles... the attitude towards hard work (and) putting residents (first) are the same”.

“We will do everything to make sure the trust is well placed,” he added.

The opposing RDU team, led by the party’s secretary-general, Mr Ravi Philemon, 56, included party chairman David Foo, 60, and three first-timers – Dr Syed Alwi Ahmad, a 57-year-old private school teacher who is RDU’s head of policy and its Malay bureau; Mr Pang Heng Chuan, 56, a tech start-up business director; and Ms Sharon Lin, 40, a senior consultant in the information technology sector.

There are 151,874 registered electors in Nee Soon GRC, about 4,950 more than at the last general election.

The winning margin represented a vote share increase of nearly 12 percentage points for PAP, and is the best performance for the five-member group representation constituency, which the party has held since its formation in 2011.

At the 2020 General Election, PAP beat a team from the PSP with 61.90 per cent of the vote.

Mr Shanmugam led a team then comprising Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim and MPs Derrick Goh, Louis Ng and Carrie Tan.

Mr Ng, Ms Tan and Mr Goh announced their departure from politics on April 22, while Associate Professor Faishal, who had been an MP for Nee Soon GRC since 2011, stood for re-election

as part of PAP’s Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC team

.

Mr Shanmugam paid tribute to the retired MPs and said: “They’ve made a tremendous difference... The result today reflects the work of the last five years and the many years before that.”

PAP’s refreshed look in Nee Soon was in the spotlight during the hustings.

At an event on April 21 to introduce his team’s line-up, Mr Shanmugam said that the new team brings a range of experiences, describing them as “very balanced” and “youthful”. He also said that the slate includes potential office-holders and candidates with a lot of grassroots experience.

Mr Philemon, however, said on April 25 that he felt it was “puzzling” to him why PAP would field four new faces when its Nee Soon GRC manifesto is “Residents First”. “The people do not know who they are,” he said.

In response, PAP party veteran Lee Bee Wah – who was a Nee Soon GRC MP from 2011 to 2020 – took the mic

at the party’s rally on April 29

and called new candidate Mr Lam a “man of action”.

She also vouched for Ms Lee Hui Ying, whom she had mentored for 15 years. Ms Lee Bee Wah, 64, added that the younger Ms Lee had helped her with Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS) and house visits, and served in the constituency’s youth executive committee.

Mr Philemon had also criticised Dr Syed Harun for joining the PAP after

resigning from his NMP post

in February. He and lawyer Raj Joshua Thomas became the first NMPs to resign from their posts before the end of their term.

NMPs are expected to take a non-partisan stance, and on Dr Syed Harun standing as part of the Nee Soon slate, Mr Philemon questioned: “For the PAP, everything is legal, everything is constitutional, but is everything principled?”

During campaigning, the PAP team for Nee Soon said that if elected, it would focus on areas related to the elderly, such as the roll-out of more active ageing programmes and increasing availability of good eldercare services and strong community care for them.

It also pledged community initiatives for those struggling with rising costs, supporting education for children, and also the need to strengthen harmony across races and religions.

RDU’s manifesto released on April 19

included an unconditional cash transfer to all Singaporeans; that all Housing Board flats be eligible for redevelopment under the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme; and for MediFund to serve as the primary healthcare safety net for all Singaporeans.

Mr Philemon attributed PAP’s strong win in Nee Soon, and its improved overall showing, to global economic uncertainty.

“In a time of global turmoil, the people do go back to safety, and they do see safety in the incumbents,” he said.

However, Mr Philemon added that he felt his team did “very well... considering all factors” and promised: “We are here to stay.”