The People’s Action Party (PAP) on Thursday (Aug 27) officially announced its lineup for East Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC) for the General Election (GE).
Incumbent PAP members Lim Swee Say, Lee Yi Shyan, Maliki Osman and Jessica Tan were unveiled as the party’s slate for the GRC, which has been downsized from a five- to four-member constituency for the polls on Sep 11.
The fifth incumbent, former Minister for Transport Raymond Lim, had earlier announced that he would be retiring from politics to spend more time with his family, having been an MP since 2001. His Fengshan ward has also been carved out as a single seat.
“The redrawing of the boundaries will not break our bond. Fengshan will always be part of the East Coast GRC,” said Mr Lim.
In 2011, the PAP team which contested East Coast GRC at the GE won 54.83 per cent of the vote against a Workers’ Party (WP) team led by Gerald Giam and Png Eng Huat. It was the closest GRC victory for the PAP, and resulted in Mr Giam earning a seat in Parliament as a Non-Constituency MP.
WP has already declared it will once again contest East Coast GRC this year.
The four PAP candidates for East Coast GRC are:
Mr Lim Swee Say, 61, Minister for Manpower
Mr Lim served as MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC from 1997 to 2001, Holland-Bukit Panjang GRC from 2001 to 2006, and Holland-Bukit Timah GRC from 2006 to 2011 before moving to East Coast GRC. He was a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office from 2004 to 2015. Mr Lim was also the Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress from 2007 to 2015.
“East Coast is about mass personalisation,” said Mr Lim. “How to do it? Week after week we go out and visit our residents as part of our deep engagement. We go house to house, door to door, to understand the profile of our residents, to come out with a Community For All Ages approach.”
Mr Lee Yi Shyan, 53, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and National Development
Mr Lee has served as an MP for East Coast GRC since 2006. Prior to entering politics, he worked at the Ministry of Defence and the Economic Development Board, among others. Mr Lee is also the president of the Singapore Badminton Association.
Dr Maliki Osman, 50, Minister of State for Defence and National Development
Dr Maliki served as an MP for Sembawang GRC from 2001 to 2011 before switching to East Coast GRC. He is also the Mayor of the South East District of Singapore. Dr Maliki was an assistant professor at the National University of Singapore’s Department of Social Work and Psychology from 1998 to 2004.
Ms Jessica Tan, 49, managing director of Microsoft Singapore
Ms Tan has served as an MP for East Coast GRC since 2006. She is also the chairperson of East Coast Town Council and chairperson of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Finance and Trade & Industry.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
