GE2025: Three PAP new faces show up at Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC event

SINGAPORE: A former Singapore Armed Forces chief of staff and an ex-senior civil servant were among the three new faces from the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) who showed up at a community event in Punggol on Sunday (Apr 6).

Mr Goh Pei Ming, the former Singapore Armed Forces Chief of Staff - Joint Staff, left the military this month. He told reporters he had started volunteering in Punggol a week ago.

He has been volunteering in Kampong Chai Chee since 2007, becoming chairman of its Community Club Management Committee in 2021 and vice-chairman of its Citizens’ Consultative Committee in 2019.

“I’m in the process of coming over here to help with the grassroots work,” he told reporters.

He added that he has been following Dr Janil Puthucheary around to get to know the community there better. He has also followed Ms Sun on the ground, and intends to follow Ms Yeo too.

“Overall deployment depends on the party leadership,” he noted.

Mr Foo Cexiang, who was director of private and future mobility at the Ministry of Transport until this month, was also at Sunday’s event. He too started volunteering in the ward a week back.

He told reporters he has been having conversations with residents to find out what they love about the area and some improvements they hope to see there.

Another newcomer at the event was head of corporate affairs for Singapore and Southeast Asia at Sembcorp Industries, Ms Valerie Lee, who was previously spotted on the ground in West Coast GRC and East Coast GRC.

The trio was with the current Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC team, consisting of Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information and Health Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Desmond Tan, Mr Sharael Taha and Ms Yeo Wan Ling, and Punggol West MP Sun Xueling.

NEW FACES, NEW CONSTITUENCY

Speaking to reporters after the event at Oasis Terraces, Dr Puthucheary said that the PAP had not “settled on the slate” for the new four-member Punggol GRC, and that it would be up to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and the party to decide on it.

He said that the incumbent MPs in the constituency – himself, Ms Yeo and Ms Sun – have been looking after Punggol town for many years and continue to do so as a team. This includes planning for the upcoming General Election campaign.

“You’ll have seen a number of other new faces on the ground, and indeed there are several. We haven’t had confirmation of who the fourth person is going to be joining our team, nor even, of course, if all three of us are confirmed,” he said.

“But we are working on the assumption that we will (be in the team).”

Mr Goh and Mr Foo were present when Dr Puthucheary fielded questions from the media.

He said the new faces started volunteering in the area’s grassroots at the start of the month, and have been attending a variety of activities, such as block parties.

“Our new candidates are getting the experience that they need, making sure that they have an opportunity to connect with the people, learn about how campaigning is done, but much more importantly, allow people to get a sense of who they are and how they respond; what they care about,” he explained.

Sunday’s event by local bank DBS was targeted at helping heartland merchants, as part of its programmes for Singapore’s 60th birthday.

The PAP garnered 64.16 per cent of the vote in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC in the 2020 contest, in a three-cornered fight with Peoples Voice and the Singapore Democratic Alliance.

The constituency was reconfigured into two smaller GRCs in the latest electoral boundaries review, due to the increase in the number of voters there since the last General Election.

The Punggol estates were carved out and merged with Punggol West SMC to form the new four-member Punggol GRC.

The remaining districts were then merged with adjacent areas from East Coast GRC, notably the Loyang and Flora estates, to form a new four-member Pasir Ris-Changi GRC.