GE2025: Unity is ‘strongest chip on table’ as S’pore competes with the world, says Chan Chun Sing

SINGAPORE - The real competition after the general election is not among Singaporeans but with the rest of the world, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said on May 4, a day after his PAP team’s commanding victory in Tanjong Pagar GRC.

Singapore has to ensure it fields its best team, with strong support from its people, he said while speaking to the media at Holland Drive Market and Food Centre during a walkabout.

“This is so that when we negotiate with the rest of the world, when we want to create opportunities, we want to do a new deal with the rest of the world, the rest of the world can look at Singapore with confidence that our people are cohesive and united, and working together with the Government,” Mr Chan said.

“That is our strongest chip on the table.”

In any election, the focus should be on core issues like the ongoing trade war, and global challenges and uncertainties, said Mr Chan. These include ensuring good jobs are created for Singaporeans, and that wages continue to rise as a way to counter inflationary pressures, he added.

“We are also very glad that Singaporeans have come together and reject identity politics, where people might mix race and religion together,” Mr Chan said. “I think there are some core fundamentals that we must all agree upon, regardless of which parties we belong to, because we are all fellow Singaporeans.”

The PAP team helmed by Mr Chan won Tanjong Pagar GRC with a historically high 81.03 per cent of the vote against the People’s Alliance for Reform. This is the ruling party’s best performance in a group representation constituency since such electoral divisions were created in 1988.

Overall, the PAP returned to power with 65.57 per cent of the popular vote, an increase from the 61.24 per cent it garnered in the 2020 General Election.

Asked about his role in Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s new Cabinet, Mr Chan said: “I am sure (PM Wong) will look at the possible contributions by all members of the team, and put them in the positions that allow them to best contribute to the team, best contribute to the work to take Singapore forward and to take care of fellow Singaporeans.”

In an early morning press conference after the PAP’s landslide victory, PM Wong said his immediate task was to form his next Cabinet, which will be announced when ready.

The ruling party won 87 out of 97 seats, handing PM Wong a strong and clear mandate in his first electoral contest as head of government and party leader.

In Tanjong Pagar GRC, once the stronghold of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, the margin of victory was significantly wider than in the 2020 General Election, when the PAP secured 63.1 per cent of the vote.

Apart from Mr Chan, the Tanjong Pagar team comprises backbencher Joan Pereira, who joined politics in 2015; Mr Alvin Tan, who is Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Culture, Community and Youth; Ms Rachel Ong, whose Telok Blangah ward was redrawn into Tanjong Pagar; and former senior civil servant Foo Cexiang.

The PAP also posted strong showings in neighbouring single-member constituencies: Mr Eric Chua won 81.12 per cent of the vote in Queenstown, while Mr Melvin Yong clinched 69.17 per cent in Radin Mas.

Asked about the high vote share for the PAP in these constituencies, Mr Chan said the team’s campaign focused on residents, not the results.

“If we take care of the residents, the residents will take care of the results,” he said.

The team’s approach, he added, was not about what was done in the hustings, but the consistent work they had put in on the ground over the years.

This was also why the team chose not to hold a rally, Mr Chan said. “We focused our efforts on the ground. All seven of us spent all our time engaging with residents at a personal level.”

There was also no victory parade for them following the results. Instead, all the candidates were back on the ground early on May 4, meeting residents at markets in the area from as early as 8am.

Asked about their plans, Mr Chan said the team will continue to meet residents to understand their needs, so they can be well taken care of.

His immediate priority is to “reconfigure” the town council, which will now include Queenstown SMC, newly carved out of Tanjong Pagar GRC in this election.

The town council will be chaired by Mr Yong and supported by Mr Chua and Ms Ong.

“(Residents) can all be rest assured that we will take care of them as one family, and this is what we have always done in the past,” Mr Chan said.

“This result is not about us. This result really belongs to all our residents, all our activists, all our partners, community partners, because it is together that we achieve this result for our residents.”