Category: Singapuraku

Lim Swee Say To Contest In East Coast GRC

Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say has confirmed he will continue to contest East Coast GRC in the coming elections. Mr Lim was speaking to reporters on Saturday (Aug 1) at the sidelines of a PassionArts event, organised by the People’s Association.

The event, held at Bedok Reservoir in the opposition Aljunied GRC, initially raised questions that he might be fielded there. After all, during the 2011 election, Mr Lim had been deployed at the last minute to East Coast GRC, from his Buona Vista ward in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC.

But Mr Lim dismissed the speculation, saying he was there simply to lend support to the event, which is part of Singapore’s 50th anniversary celebrations. He added that he has secured Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong’s agreement to remain in his current ward of Bedok in East Coast GRC.

Said Mr Lim: “I appealed to PM to please let me continue serving the residents in East Coast. PM has agreed, so therefore I will be surprised if, in the coming GE, I am not deployed to contest in East Coast.”

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

August 2, 2015
Lawrence Wong To Contest In Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong on Saturday (Aug 1) announced that he will represent the People’s Action Party (PAP) to contest in the new Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.

This means Mr Wong will leave his Boon Lay ward in West Coast GRC for the upcoming General Election.

“The past four years have been wonderful for me in Boon Lay and I want to thank all the residents of Boon Lay for their friendship and also for the guidance they have given me over these past four years,” he said to reporters at a grassroots event at the Sports Park at Woodlands Avenue 1.

In the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee’s report released last week, Marsiling-Yew Tee became a newly formed four-member GRC while West Coast GRC was downsized from a five-member GRC to a four-member one.

“What’s important for me now is to spend time here, get to know residents, get to understand all of them, their families, their concerns and their aspirations,” Mr Wong said.

Photo: Kenneth Lim

Following the announcement, Sembawang MP Ong Teng Koon said he would like to contest in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC as well. “We’ve known the residents for so long, they’ve almost become friends and family … And hopefully I’ll be given a chance to stand here, to work with Minister Lawrence Wong, a very popular minister, and hopefully we can create something even better for Marsiling-Yew Tee.

“I’m the MP for Woodgrove, Mr Hawazi Daipi is the MP for Marsiling, Alex Yam is the MP for Yew Tee, and now Minister Lawrence Wong is here, that’s as much as I know. But as you know, it’s PM’s prerogative, to deploy anyone up to the last moment, so it’s PM’s choice; it’s the party’s choice,” he added.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

August 2, 2015
New Face Sun Xueling Spotted In Pasir-Ris-Punggol GRC

A new face, and potential election candidate for the People’s Action Party, was spotted at a tree planting event in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC on Saturday.

Ms Sun Xueling, 36, an investment director at Temasek Holdings, was with Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan and MP Janil Puthucheary, at Punggol Promenade greeting residents and helping out with tree planting.

Ms Sun has been helping out at the grassroots since 2001 at Buona Vista and Punggol West.

According to grassroots leaders at Punggol West, Ms Sun has been spotted at closed-door PAP sessions “recently” and speculation is rife as to whether she is a new candidate.

She told reporters: “This is my first formal event. I’ve started working more with Dr Janil and participating at grassroots events on-and-off.”

As to whether she would be fielded, she added: “I’ll leave the decision to the party whether or not I will be contesting.”

“I started helping out in grassroots in Buona Vista, and through other grassroots members, I’ve come to know more of these events which I find meaningful,” she said.

DPM Teo, the anchor minister for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, told reporters that candidates will be revealed “in good time”.

PAP organising secretary Ng Eng Hen said this week that the party has been deploying its potential candidates to the constituencies early so people have time to know them, as much as possible.

More potential candidates are expected to be introduced this weekend.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

August 2, 2015
Former NSP Sec-Gen Tan Lam Siong To Run As Independent Candidate In Potong Pasir SMC

Former National Solidarity Party (NSP) secretary-general and lawyer Tan Lam Siong has declared that he will be running in Potong Pasir SMC as an independent candidate in the coming elections.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday (01/08) at the sidelines of a Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) walkabout in Sengkang that he was there to show support for, Mr Tan said he made the decision after regular visits to Potong Pasir in recent weeks to speak with residents.

“I’ve been going down to Potong Pasir and Toa Payoh frequently in the last few weeks, especially after Whampoa was absorbed, and residents tell me they want a choice,” he said. “I will be running there, and I won’t be donning any colours this time around.”

Mr Tan had previously expressed interest in running in Whampoa, where he had been working the ground and where he said he had become familiar with the residents there. But the SMC was merged with the reconstituted Jalan Besar GRC in the electoral boundaries report that was released last week.

Potong Pasir, which the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Sitoh Yih Pin won over from the Singapore People’s Party (SPP) in 2011 with a wafer-thin 114 votes, had already looked set to be a battleground, with the SPP and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) both having declared their interest to contest the ward.

But Mr Tan said he was unfazed by the thought of jumping into a four-cornered contest as he wanted to give voters there “real choice” and that he would “relish the fight”.

“As an independent, I’m also not involved in the horsetrading talks between the different opposition parties,” he said. “Let the people have all the choices, rather than preselect for them.”

Opposition parties will hold their traditional pow wow session this Monday (03/08), where they are expected to divvy up the different constituencies with minimal overlap so that the opposition vote will not be split.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

August 2, 2015
Singapore Vehicles Entering Malaysia Must Register Vehicles, RM20 Entry Fee Starts On 1 Oct

GELANG PATAH – Singapore vehicles entering Malaysia are required to be registered with Malaysia’s Road Transport Department (RTD) or they would be refused entry in a new rule that will come into effect on Sept 1.

Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said the mandatory registration applied to all private vehicles, public buses, taxis, goods vehicles as well as diplomatic cars, The Star reported.

The online registration would start on Aug 15, and vehicle owners are required to pay RM10 (S$3.60) for the road charge, which is valid for five years.

“Singaporeans can register their vehicles at all the 72 counters in both the Causeway and Second Link as well as R&R areas near the two main entry points. However, we encourage online registration through the RTD website,” Datuk Abdul Aziz was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times, when he met the press at the Sultan Abu Bakar customs, immigration and quarantine building in Gelang Patah on Saturday.

“RTD will then issue a radio frequency identification (RFID) card after a RM10 registration fee is paid. The registration is valid for five years. The tag will need to be renewed upon expiry, or when the owner buys a new car,” he added.

Once registered, these Singapore vehicles will be allowed through Johor checkpoints for a one-month free trial from Sept 1 to Sept 30, after which from Oct 1 onwards Singapore-registered cars will be charged RM20 per entry for the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP).

The VEP for foreign vehicles was previously scheduled to begin on Sept 1, after it was postponed from August 1.

The VEP will be on imposed on private passenger vehicles, including multi-purpose and sports utilities vehicles, and payment can be made only with the Touch ‘n Go card.

Government vehicles, motorcycles, public buses and taxis would be exempted from the VEP but they still have to be registered with the RTD.

Datuk Abdul Aziz told The Star the VEP system would have a second phase covering the Malaysia-Thailand border, and that the government hoped for a mid-2016 roll-out.

He added that the VEP fee would likely be the same.

“We have to have standard procedure,” he said.

On August 1 last year, Singapore increased the VEP for foreign vehicles entering the republic from S$20 to S$35 daily.

The Republic also raised the Goods Vehicle Permit from S$10 to S$40.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

August 2, 2015