GE2025: Faishal Ibrahim to move from Nee Soon to contest in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC

SINGAPORE: Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim on Friday (Apr 11) announced he would be moving from Nee Soon GRC to contest in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC for the coming General Election in Singapore.

Associate Professor Faishal, 56, has been seen walking the ground in the newly formed Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC in recent weeks.

The Nee Soon Central ward is currently under Assoc Prof Faishal, who is a four-term MP with the ruling People's Action Party (PAP).

During his first term as an MP from 2006, he was part of the Marine Parade GRC team. He later joined the Nee Soon team in 2011.

"PM asked me to go over to Marine Parade and I agreed," Assoc Prof Faishal told reporters at a coffee shop in Nee Soon Central.

"After being asked and people get to know (about it), especially my residents found out ... activities were carried out and lots of messages have poured in and I'm deeply touched."

On Friday, he was accompanied by former Nominated Member of Parliament Syed Harun Alhabsyi and former government ministry director Goh Hanyan at a media event.

Before the media interview, Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam and former Nee Soon MP Lee Bee Wah were seen introducing Dr Syed Harun and Ms Goh to residents at the coffee shop.

Said Assoc Prof Faishal: "I'm very happy that Ms Goh Hanyan has come forward to stand in (the) coming elections ... she's very prepared and I'm very happy that she has gone around the ground and met many residents.

"I'm confident that Ms Goh will be able to continue the good work of the Nee Soon GRC team."

Ms Goh confirmed to reporters that she was a potential candidate for Nee Soon GRC, saying she wanted to continue Assoc Prof Faishal's work in the Nee Soon Central ward.

Dr Syed Harun, meanwhile, confirmed himself as a potential candidate for the PAP but stopped short of identifying where he could contest.

He has been seen at a number of Nee Soon GRC events so far, along with other MPs in the constituency since end-March.

The Nee Soon announcements come amid a series of potential candidate introductions in the past few weeks from both the PAP and opposition parties, with Red Dot United having declared its intention to run in Nee Soon GRC.

Nee Soon GRC is now helmed by Mr K Shanmugam (Chong Pang branch), Assoc Prof Faishal (Nee Soon Central), Mr Louis Ng (Nee Soon East), Ms Carrie Tan (Nee Soon South) and Mr Derrick Goh (Nee Soon Link).

Assoc Prof Faishal said that Mr Shanmugam had given him the opportunity to serve the Malay community beyond Nee Soon Central, and that had allowed him to engage and build good relationships with the Malay community in Nee Soon.

"I am confident that Dr Syed Harun, who is a well-known figure in the Malay community, will be able to engage and connect with all the Malay residents in Nee Soon," he said.

Calling his 14 years in Nee Soon GRC a "beautiful journey", Assoc Prof Faishal said: "At the end of the day, I've been in politics for close to 20 years, I realise beyond winning elections, it's about how we can serve our people, walking the talk after being elected and at the same time grow with the residents."

He added that he received many touching and emotional messages from Nee Soon residents.

On moving to the Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, he called it a "homecoming".

"I've been there. That was my first term when I served with ESM Goh Chok Tong, I learnt a lot from him," he said.

"Because of the engagement with him, the experience I picked up for him when I came to Nee Soon, it really prepared me for a good 14 years of how I should work together with residents to build not only the infrastructure, but the bonds, the soul and also how we are able to connect each other, to bring happiness to one another, and to me, most importantly, is how to serve their needs."

The five-member Marine Parade GRC has been renamed Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC after absorbing MacPherson SMC and parts of Mountbatten and Potong Pasir SMCs. It will have 131,493 electors.

The current PAP team comprises Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng, Mr Fahmi Aliman and Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong. Former Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin stepped down in July 2023 after an extramarital affair with fellow party member Cheng Li Hui. 

Marine Parade-Braddell Heights is one of 11 GRCs where at least one of the candidates must be a person belonging to the Malay community.