GE2025: Five one-term MPs step down as PAP seeks refreshed team, highest number in recent polls
20 PAP MPs have stepped down to make way for 32 new faces this election.
Five People's Action Party MPs are stepping down and not contesting in GE2025 after one term in office. From left: Ms Carrie Tan, Mr Derrick Goh, Mr Don Wee, Mr Fahmi Aliman and Ms Ng Ling Ling. (Photos: PAP)
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SINGAPORE: At the close of nominations on Wednesday (Apr 23), 20 former Members of Parliament (MPs) from the People’s Action Party (PAP) were confirmed to not be contesting this election - and a quarter of them had served just one term.
The retiring MPs make up 24 per cent of the PAP’s 83 elected MPs at the start of the 14th term parliament.
While the PAP makes it a point to refresh its slate each election and backbenchers seldom serve more than four terms, records from previous elections indicate it is unusual for MPs to retire from politics after a single term.
Data compiled by CNA shows that in the last two elections, the PAP only had a single one-term MP retirement - the former Chua Chu Kang GRC MP Yee Chia Hsing, who was elected in 2015 and retired in 2020.
The party had 20 MPs retiring in the 2020 General Election, and 14 MPs stepping down in 2015.
This means that the PAP retired 24 per cent of its MPs ahead of GE2020, and 17.2 per cent of its MPs ahead of GE2015.
For this election, there were five one-term MPs stepping aside. Ten of the retiring MPs had served between two terms and four terms, while five retiring MPs had served more than four terms.
The longest serving is former Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, who entered politics in 1992. He had been an MP in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC since 1997, having been elected to represent the constituency six times.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who turned up at the nomination centre for East Coast and Punggol GRCs, also announced his retirement from politics in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
Mr Heng, a three-term MP, entered politics in 2011 in Tampines GRC. In 2020, he was the subject of a late-hour switch from Tampines to East Coast GRCs, but on Wednesday his name did not appear on any of the PAP’s slates.
Former Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, who announced his retirement on Apr 18, had been in parliament for five terms, since 2006.
Who are the outgoing one-term MPs?
CARRIE TAN (NEE SOON GRC)
Ms Carrie Tan is the founder of Daughters of Tomorrow, a non-governmental organisation that helps lower-income women. She previously said that she did not feel she fit the mould of a typical PAP candidate.
On Tuesday, Nee Soon anchor minister K Shanmugam said a “change” in Ms Tan’s personal life would require her to travel “quite a bit”.
Speaking to the media after confirming that she would not run for a second term, Ms Tan said she feels it is the "right decision" for her to step aside and let someone younger and more energetic take over.
She added that she is proud she had helped set up a caregiver resource centre in Nee Soon.
A search on Hansard, which tracks transcripts of parliamentary debates, found that Ms Tan's name came up 191 times for the most recent term of parliament.
This record reflects the number of parliamentary questions raised, speeches, and participation in debates on Bills, the Budget, motions, adjournment motions and other matters.
DERRICK GOH (NEE SOON GRC)
Mr Derrick Goh is DBS Bank's group chief operating officer. When introduced as a PAP candidate in 2020, he said he hopes to help the government, businesses and people work better together to improve the lives of Singaporeans.
His recent career promotion meant he would need to travel “extensively”, Mr Shanmugam said. Mr Goh agreed that being an MP would require someone who could give “full commitment”.
Mr Shanmugam said Mr Goh, as Nee Soon Town Council chairman, had ensured that its finances remained in a "healthy position".
A search on Hansard found that Mr Goh's name came up 92 times.
DON WEE (CHUA CHU KANG GRC)
Mr Don Wee, now head of innovation planning at UOB, said during his candidate introduction that he hopes to help small- and medium-sized enterprises tackle the challenges they faced during the pandemic.
Taking to social media to address the end of his tenure, Mr Wee said he is confident the new team will continue “to build on the strong foundations we have laid together”.
A search on Hansard found that Mr Wee's name came up 264 times.
MOHD FAHMI ALIMAN (MARINE PARADE GRC)
Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman is the mayor of South East District and a former deputy chief executive of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore. He said in 2020 that he wanted to champion the welfare of low-wage workers in essential services.
On Apr 20, Mr Fahmi posted a video on social media showing residents thanking him for the improvements made to their estates. “It’s been a true honour to serve and grow alongside this community,” he wrote.
A search on Hansard found that his name came up 86 times for the most recent term of parliament.
NG LING LING (ANG MO KIO GRC)
Ms Ng Ling Ling, formerly managing director of Community Chest, said in her candidate biography that social causes have always been her passion.
In a social media post on Apr 19, Ms Ng said that while she could not solve every problem, she hopes that her “humble efforts” through special projects, community events and meet-the-people sessions gave “some help, hopes and happiness” to residents.
A search on Hansard found that her name came up 170 times.
PARTY RENEWAL
Going into the election, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had said that the PAP will field a record number of new candidates for GE2025.
At the PAP election manifesto launch on Apr 17, he introduced each of the 32 new candidates contesting the May 3 polls.
PAP fielded 27 new faces in GE2020, 22 in GE2015 and 24 in GE2011.
On Wednesday, he reiterated that leadership renewal has always been his priority with the more senior political office holders, referring to Mr Teo, Mr Heng and Dr Ng.
“If you ask me, are they still able to contribute? Of course, but they also recognise the need for renewal, and they decided to step down to make way, to make it possible for renewal,” he said.
“And I think that's the right thing to do, because if we don't make a conscious effort of it, and we just take the easier approach, year by year, election after election, we'll be storing up bigger problems for Singapore.
“So, I had long recognised this issue, and that's why it was always a priority for me to work extra hard this time around, to bring in fresh new faces to strengthen the team.”
One GRC that has surprised observers with a completely new slate is Nee Soon where anchor minister K Shanmugam is the only familiar face. All other sitting MPs moved to a different ward or stepped down.
They will be replaced with four new candidates - Ms Goh Hanyan, Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi, Ms Lee Huiying and Mr Jackson Lam.
Former Nee Soon MPs Carrie Tan and Derrick Goh (who served one term) and Mr Louis Ng (who served two terms) announced their retirements, while Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim has moved to contest in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC.
Responding to a reporter’s questions about the number of new candidates in Nee Soon when they were introduced on Monday, Mr Shanmugam said: “I think there are 32 new candidates, as the Prime Minister has pointed out, and whether one term, two terms or more, you present the best slate that you can find.”
The PAP has also refreshed its slates in opposition-held wards Aljunied GRC, Sengkang GRC and Hougang SMC.
The only GRCs that have unchanged line-ups are Holland-Bukit Timah GRC and Mr Wong’s Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.
Mr Teo Chee Hean, introducing candidates for Pasir Ris-Changi GRC on Monday, said that the PAP has always had a policy of self-renewal.
“This is quite key because you can see in several countries, where they have not self-renewed on a regular basis, in a systematic basis, that the leadership becomes weak and you have a gap,” he had said.
He added that this renewal is even more important during this “particularly turbulent time”.
Dr Ng Eng Hen, when he announced he was retiring, made similar remarks about the importance of renewing the party, pointing out that others before him retired to make way for himself when he entered politics.
“I think it’s a virtue that PAP forces itself to renew and that more senior politicians like myself, we emulate the examples that we saw when we came in as newbies,” he said.
