GE2025: PAP shakes up Nee Soon GRC team with 4 newcomers led by Shanmugam

SINGAPORE: The People’s Action Party (PAP) will field four new faces in Nee Soon GRC slate in the coming General Election, the ruling party announced on Monday (Apr 21).

Only Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam remains from the slate that won in 2020, and he will continue to anchor the five-person team in the coming polls.

The first-timers are former Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) director Goh Hanyan, ex-Nominated Member of Parliament Syed Harun Alhabsyi, director of a cleaning service and pest control company Jackson Lam, and longtime Nee Soon volunteer Lee Hui Ying.

“This is a, I would say, very balanced, but very young, youthful slate – except for me – because there is a mix of skills and talents: two potential office holders who can perform in helping govern the country as a whole, and who also have good service experience, two candidates with a lot of grassroots experience,” said Mr Shanmugam, during a press conference at the PAP’s Chong Pang branch office.

He identified Ms Goh and Dr Syed Harun as potential political office holders who can “go far in helping govern the country as a whole”.

He added that although the candidates may be contesting for the first time, some like Mr Lam have spent years walking the ground and are "very experienced". 

Mr Shanmugam said that Mr Lam's length of service, having volunteered for 12 years, is "more than a lot of candidates, and maybe more than some Members of Parliament". 

The changes mean that incumbents Louis Ng, Carrie Tan and Derrick Goh will be leaving the Nee Soon GRC team. Mr Ng is a two-term MP, while Ms Tan and Mr Goh have served in a single term of parliament. 

Mr Shanmugam did not say whether they will be redeployed elsewhere or are quitting politics.

The minister had earlier hinted that four new faces were “likely to be fielded” in the constituency during a Rainforest Wild Asia outing with residents in Mandai on Saturday, adding at the time that “nothing is confirmed until it’s confirmed”.

Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Faishal Ibrahim, meanwhile, will be moving to contest in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC this election.

Nee Soon GRC, which currently has 151,634 voters, has been held by the ruling party since its creation in 2011.

The ward was one of nine with boundaries unchanged in the latest review of the nation’s electoral map.

In the 2020 General Election, the PAP’s Nee Soon team secured 61.9 per cent of the votes against the Progress Singapore Party (PSP).

But Mr Shanmugan said it seems that the PSP "has made their calculations and they've decided not to contest here again". 

Mr Shanmugam’s team will be challenged by a Red Dot United team comprising its secretary-general Ravi Philemon and chairman David Foo, the opposition party announced on Sunday.

GOH HANYAN

Ms Goh, 39, was formerly an MDDI director of the Smart Nation Strategy Office and director for policy and strategy in the National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Group.

The mother of three young children had left the public service on Apr 3 after 16 years.

Before MDDI, she was director for economy and sustainability in the Prime Minister’s Office’s Strategy Group.

Ms Goh was the deputy director for strategic planning in the Singapore Economic Development Board prior to that.

She hopes to be able to represent the interests of families and caregivers. 

“I will commit to listen with kindness, serve with authenticity and deliver outcomes with resilience,” she added. 

After getting to know the residents for the past few weeks, Ms Goh said that Nee Soon is like “one big family here, a family bonded by a very strong sense of belonging and pride”.

SYED HARUN ALHABSYI

Dr Syed Harun, 40, is a consultant psychiatrist and medical director of The Starfish Clinic of Psychiatry & Mental Wellness.

He is the first and only Malay-Muslim psychiatrist in Singapore.

He resigned as NMP on Feb 14 this year, before the end of his term, and had been spotted walking the ground in Nee Soon GRC since the end of March. 

He holds several leadership appointments in charitable and public organisations here, including the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS), the Films Consultative Panel, National Youth Council, Singapore Psychiatric Association, and Muslim Healthcare Professionals Association.

Dr Syed Harun is also president of Lembaga Biasiswa Kenangan Maulud, a charity that provides financial aid to students, and vice chair of the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s review committee for welfare homes.

He is married and the eldest of four children. 

In response to a question about his decision to resign and join the PAP, he cited an interview with CNA where he talked about his motivations behind doing so. 

JACKSON LAM

Mr Lam, 40, was the former chairman of the PAP’s Hougang branch, holding the role for about one year and four months until Feb 13 this year.

Since stepping down, the father of twin boys has been active on the ground in Nee Soon GRC, where he had been volunteering since 2013.

He was branch secretary in the Chong Pang division — helmed by Mr Shanmugam — for close to seven years, until his move to Hougang in October 2023.

Mr Lam said “it felt like homecoming for me” when asked by Mr Shanmugam to return to serve in Nee Soon earlier this year, and that he is humbled to be representing the ruling party in his hometown.

“In Nee Soon, I stayed here for many years. I grew up here and studied here, and I’m still living here,” he said. 

Speaking about operating in an incumbent ward instead of an opposition ward, he said that he “always believed to serve with heart” regardless of the location. 

LEE HUI YING

Ms Lee, 35, is the director of communications at Temasek Foundation. 

For a decade, she worked in government communications within ministries including the Ministry of Digital Development and Information, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Health.

She has also been volunteering in Nee Soon GRC for more than 15 years since she was 19.

Her volunteering work includes stints in the constituency’s Youth Executive Committee, Central Youth Council, Citizens' Consultative Committee, Community Club Management Committees.

She is “passionate about building community and connecting generations” and had initiated events and programmes across different age groups in Nee Soon, according to a bio from the party.