GE2025: Trust in Potong Pasir has to be earned, says PAP’s Alex Yeo

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SINGAPORE – Trust cannot be inherited or demanded in Potong Pasir, it has to be earned, the PAP’s Mr Alex Yeo said in a rally at St Andrew’s Junior College on May 1.

Mr Yeo is

one of three candidates battling for the single seat

on May 3. The others are Singapore People’s Party’s Mr Williiamson Lee and the People’s Alliance for Reform’s (PAR) Mr Lim Tean.

In his sole rally this election, Mr Yeo noted that no one can fill the shoes of leaders like the PAP’s former MP Sitoh Yih Pin and former opposition MP Chiam See Tong. Mr Chiam held Potong Pasir for 27 years before leaving to contest a GRC in 2011. Mr Sitoh won the seat that year, and went on to serve three terms.

“His (Mr Sitoh’s) shoes, like that of Mr Chiam See Tong and others before them, carry the journeys that they have walked. The relationships built and trust earned with Potong Pasir residents are theirs and theirs alone,” said Mr Yeo, 46.

“Political party aside, Potong Pasir residents want (their) representative to build that relationship and trust with (them). I know that I have a lot of work to do to earn your trust and to get to know you, and you, me.”

Over the past nine days of campaigning, Mr Yeo said, he and his team have managed to visit about 82 per cent of the households in Potong Pasir.

Following this, at the rally, he laid out “a top 10 list of improvements for Bidadari and Woodleigh”.

These include more directional signs in the estate, more sports or recreation options, and better pest control.

His top priority, he added, is to “do something about the boring playgrounds” for children.

He added that he intends to hold dialogue sessions in different areas to understand the “unique needs and aspirations” of the residents.

Seniors are also on the agenda, as Mr Yeo said he will take care of older residents by offering them affordable preventive healthcare services on their doorsteps, which was a programme he implemented in Paya Lebar, where he was formerly its branch chairman.

If elected into Parliament, Mr Yeo said he will listen and engage with residents who want to share their concerns and views.

“I will not shy away from dealing with difficult and sometimes hard discussions, in a constructive, safe space. I will always try to find workable solutions to your concerns,” he added.

In a rally on April 26, Mr Lim, the PAR’s secretary-general, had pledged to push for free education, school meals and healthcare for Singaporean children if elected. He said this could improve the country’s total fertility rate by encouraging Singaporeans to have more children, which would make the country less reliant on foreigners.

Mr Yeo said on May 1: “If the response to your residents’ concerns about the rising cost of living is to simply highlight the problem and then demand free education, free school meals and free healthcare, then I think it not only oversimplifies the problem, (it) is also not going to result in any real solutions.”

Long-time volunteer Chua Kian Meng, 67, also took the stage at the rally. He has supported Mr Sitoh in every campaign since 2006, and is now lending his support to Mr Yeo.

Vouching for Mr Yeo’s character, Mr Chua told the crowd at St Andrew’s Junior College that he has known the PAP candidate since 2014, when Mr Yeo started volunteering in Potong Pasir.

“(Mr Yeo) is not someone parachuted in, he is no rookie,” said Mr Chua. “He is a good man with a heart in the right place... He has good intentions and a genuine desire to want to do work for others.”

While sharing that politics was never in his plans, Mr Yeo said he decided to step up following his experience volunteering in the single-member constituency.

He added: “I cannot promise that I can solve all your problems. I am certainly not so arrogant to think that I have all the answers.

“But if you give me and my team the chance, the opportunity to serve you, we will spare no effort to listen to you, engage you, work with you to find solutions, and speak up for you.”