GE2025: NSP plans to meet SDP for talks to avoid three-cornered fight in Sembawang GRC

SINGAPORE - The opposition National Solidarity Party (NSP) intends to meet the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) for talks to avoid a three-cornered fight in Sembawang GRC, said NSP secretary-general Spencer Ng, who also introduced a new candidate on April 6.

The incumbent PAP team in Sembawang comprises Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, Dr Lim Wee Kiak, Mr Vikram Nair, Ms Mariam Jaafar and Ms Poh Li San.

Speaking during a residents outreach event in Kampung Admiralty, Mr Ng, 45, said he will be leading NSP’s Sembawang GRC team.

He introduced the new face, swimming coach and private-hire driver Raiyian Chia, 46, to the media, saying he would be part of NSP’s Sembawang slate.

Asked about the rest of NSP’s slate for Sembawang GRC, Mr Ng said the party will announce the candidates in due course.

Mr Chia joined the party two to three years ago, and has been engaging Sembawang residents on walkabouts since 2022, NSP’s social media pages show.

Another potential new face, Ms Verina Ong, has also been spotted on walkabouts in Sembawang, although she was not present at the April 6 event.

“NSP has given a chance for... people like us, the everyday Singaporean, to step up to serve. The residents’ concerns are all pretty much (over) the rising cost of living, sustainability and job security,” said Mr Chia, adding that he met Mr Ng at a party outreach event a few years ago.  

During the walkabout, NSP members encountered members of the SDP at the Kampung Admiralty atrium. Both sides exchanged greetings and appeared cordial.

Mr Ng was also seen warmly greeting SDP’s deputy head of ground operations Abdul Salim Harun with a hug.

Both parties had previously indicated their intention to contest Sembawang GRC and the newly carved out Sembawang West SMC.

Sembawang West is one of six new single seats for the 2025 General Election.

NSP is planning to meet SDP on April 9 or 10 to find out what SDP’s intentions are, said Mr Ng.

“We do respect SDP’s choice on where they want to send their candidates for the election, but, for NSP, we believe in meaningful ground-up community work and building trust with residents,” Mr Ng said, adding that NSP has been active in Sembawang since 2011.

“So we would really like to understand why SDP would like to come in, when they have a lot of other GRCs... And to abandon certain SMCs to come into another brand-new SMC, I’m not too sure why,” he added.

“We’ll be meeting for talks, for more in-depth understanding. NSP is always in for opposition unity. We would like to avoid a three-cornered fight or multi-cornered fight as much as possible.”

He was referring to SDP chief Chee Soon Juan’s announcement in March that he will be contesting Sembawang West SMC, after Bukit Batok SMC, where Dr Chee had been active, was redrawn into the new Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC.

In the 2020 General Election, the PAP won Sembawang GRC with 67.29 per cent of the vote, beating the NSP, which garnered 32.71 per cent.

Back then, NSP fielded Mr Ng, assistant treasurer Ivan Yeo, executive council members Sebastian Teo and Yadzeth Hairis, as well as Mr Sathin Ravindran.

SDP last contested in the GRC in 2011. 

Among more than 20 NSP members on the Kampung Admiralty walkabout was Ms Kevryn Lim, who last contested in the 2015 election when she was 26. She is a former model and project director at events management and digital marketing firm EM.DM.

At the 2015 polls, she was part of the team contesting Sembawang. When asked if she will be fielded in the constituency in the coming election, Ms Lim said: “We are still finalising the team... it’s hard to say.”

Addressing the media, Mr Ng said: “When my central executive council is ready to reveal the candidates, we will update everyone on what Kevryn’s role will be in this GE.”

Mr Ng said that, at the national level, NSP will be fielding at least three new candidates in GE2025, with 30 to 35 members ready to contest the election. He added that the rest of the new candidates will be announced later.

Apart from Sembawang, other priority constituencies for the party are Tampines GRC and the newly formed Tampines Changkat SMC.

In mid-March,

potential NSP candidates for Tampines GRC

were spotted on a walkabout.

NSP’s president Reno Fong and vice-president Mohd Ridzwan Mohammad had confirmed their intentions to run in the GRC during a walkabout at Our Tampines Hub and outside Masjid Darul Ghufran.

The other NSP members touted as potential candidates contesting in Tampines GRC are Mr Lim Rui Xian, 36, an operations manager; Ms Nur Farahiyah Mahfoot, 39, a safety officer; and Mr Thamilselvan Karuppaya, 57, who is self-employed.

Mr Fong previously also said the party intends to contest Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, Jalan Besar GRC, Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, Tampines Changkat SMC and Sembawang West SMC.

Madam Lim Siew Choo, 70, who lives in a studio apartment in Kampung Admiralty, which is under Sembawang GRC, said in Mandarin: “What’s important is the elected MP does a good job in the end.”