PM Lee particularly satisfied with results in tightest battlegrounds

SINGAPORE — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong this morning expressed satisfaction with how the People’s Action Party (PAP) had contested neck and neck with the Workers’ Party (WP) in several keenly watched battlegrounds and reclaimed the Punggol East Single Member Constituency (SMC) from the Opposition.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr Lee expressed “particular satisfaction” that the PAP was able to wrest back Punggol East from the WP. “I sent Charles Chong there. He did an outstanding job, as he has done more than once in his career. Even though it may be an Opposition ward, we make the fight, take the fight to the opponent, make the case to our voters, win them back and serve them well.”

Mr Chong defeated incumbent Lee Li Lian of the WP in a narrow contest, securing 51.76 per cent of the vote. Ms Lee had won the Punggol East seat during the 2013 by elections with 54.5 per cent of the vote. Before this election, Mr Chong — a veteran six-term Member of Parliament — was redeployed from Joo Chiat to Punggol East.

Mr Lee said that he is also pleased with the PAP’s showing in Hougang SMC where the party made gains from the previous election, and in Aljunied Group Representative Constituency (GRC), where the race was so close that a recount had to be called. In Hougang, while the PAP’s Lee Hong Chuang was defeated by WP incumbent Png Eng Huat, its vote share of 42.31 per cent was a sharp increase from the 35.2 per cent of votes it garnered in the 2011 elections.

“(The PAP) did better this time (in Hougang) than in the last round. We improved our vote share. We knew that it would be a tough fight. I sent Lee Hong Chuang there. He knew it would be a tough fight, but he has done well and he has shifted sentiments (on the ground), said Mr Lee.

“We will keep working hard to win over the voters in Hougang. One day, we will win it back.” Hougang has been held by the WP since 1991.

Mr Lee also touched on the strong showing by the PAP slate of candidates in Aljunied GRC. The PAP team of Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, Mr Victor Lye, Mr K Muralidharan Pillai, Mr Chua Eng Leong and Mr Shamsul Kamar won 49.05 per cent of the vote against the incumbent WP heavyweights of Mr Low Thia Khiang, Ms Sylvia Lim, Mr Chen Show Mao, Mr Faisal Abdul Manap and Mr Pritam Singh who secured 50.95 per cent of the vote.

The Prime Minister said that he had spoken to the PAP candidates for Aljunied and congratulated them.

“We (PAP) very nearly won to the point where we forced a recount. We missed only by 0.9 percentage point and that’s it. Next time, we will get there,” he said.

Mr Lee attributed the good showing by the PAP in these closely contested constituencies to the hard work of the various PAP activists.

Commenting on East Coast GRC, where the PAP won comfortably despite earlier predictions of a close showdown with the WP, Mr Lee said that the PAP had “heard the alarms and the feedback including from the media” after the 2011 General Election.

“Our people on the ground told us that they have confidence and they will fight it their way. They have been working in East Coast very hard ... I am glad that their efforts have gone through and they have established themselves with the voters in East Coast.” The PAP’s East Coast team won 60.73 per cent of the vote, better than the 54.8 per cent in 2011.

The Prime Minister also singled out for praise the strong showing of Ms Cheryl Chan — a first-time candidate — in Fengshan SMC. She won 57.52 per cent of the vote, defeating Mr Dennis Tan of the WP. Mr Lee said that Ms Chan has “distinguished herself because she has demonstrated that a first-time candidate can win in an SMC, and a lady to boot”.

On her part, Ms Chan attributed her victory to the strong engagement of Fengshan residents by the PAP team there. “It is important that we put our citizens’ welfare first. This is what matters to us. We are there to serve them,” she said.