Tag: Potong Pasir SMC

Tan Lam Siong Will Support Lina Chiam’s Campaign, No Longer Contesting As Independent

Last night, I was doing my usual walkabout. As I was driving out from the carpark near Block 108 in Potong Pasir after 11 p.m., I saw a Mercedez Benz waiting to park. It has just entered the car park and its headlights were shining in my direction.

As I exited from my parking lot and passed by the Merc to my right, I noticed the lady driver struggling to turn her steering wheel so as to move her car aside to let me pass. As I drove passed the stationary Merc, I saw that the driver was Mrs. Lina Chiam. She was in her party T-shirt and looked rather haggard.

Along the way home, I kept thinking about my encounter with Mrs. Chiam and felt sorry that she was still out at such a late hour. I recall her recent statement about this election being her last election and that she will be retiring with Mr. Chiam. I began to have this feeling of sadness and couldn’t sleep after reaching home.

I contacted my team members this morning and shared with them my thoughts and feelings. And I told them my decision. I have decided not to contest. Instead, I will lead my team to show our support for Mrs. Chiam at her rally and hope she succeeds to regain Potong Pasir SMC and continue Mr. Chiam’s dedicated service to its residents.

The 3-cornered fight in Potong Pasir SMC that was meant to be will no longer take place. I am sorry to disappoint all those who have encouraged me to offer my candidacy and to serve the residents of Potong Pasir SMC as their Member of Parliament. In my walkabouts over the last 2 months, I have come to know many of you at a personal level and appreciate your warm support. Let me assure you that notwithstanding this decision, I will continue to be at your service. For Potong Pasir SMC will always be my kind of town.

Source: http://tanlamsiong.blogspot.sg

September 1, 2015
PPP’s Goh Meng Seng Tries Unsucessfully To Diffuse 3-Cornered Fight In Potong Pasir SMC

SINGAPORE: People’s Power Party (PPP) secretary-general Goh Meng Seng has tried to persuade independent opposition candidate Tan Lam Siong to join the PPP to contest Chua Chu Kang Group Representation Constituency (GRC) instead of standing as an independent in Potong Pasir.

Mr Goh told Channel NewsAsia his offer was a “last-ditch effort” to avoid a three-cornered fight in the Potong Pasir single seat.

He said: “I have indeed met up with Mr Tan Lam Siong yesterday night to make the last-ditch effort to defuse the potential bomb of a three-cornered fight at Potong Pasir. I have urged Mr Tan to join my team at CCK but unfortunately I have failed to convince him to come over.”

“Although there is seriously very little time left, we still hope Mr Tan could reconsider our proposal. Nevertheless, if Mr Tan so decides to continue his campaign at Potong Pasir, we can only hope the best candidate wins,” he added.

Mr Goh also posted a note on Facebook alluding to his efforts. “I shall now leave it to nature to take its course. What will be will be,” he wrote.

Mr Tan confirmed that he had met Mr Goh on Monday night but had rejected his offer. Rebutting online reports alleging that he was planning to join the PPP, he added: “I think people are just speculating because someone saw me having dinner with Mr Goh Meng Seng. But it’s not true, I’m still actively walking in Potong Paris SMC and I will definitely follow up my plans to contest as an independent candidate for Potong Pasir SMC.”

Incumbent People’s Action Party MP Sitoh Yih Pin will defend his seat. Singapore People’s Party (SPP) chairman Lina Chiam has announced that she will contest the single seat – held previously by her husband Chiam See Tong for over 27 years – as she did in the 2011 General Election.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

August 26, 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