GE2025: PSP to field tech veteran Harish Pillay in Bukit Gombak SMC

SINGAPORE: The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) said on Saturday (Apr 19) that it will field veteran technologist Harish Pillay in Bukit Gombak SMC for the upcoming General Election. 

The 65-year-old previously contested in Tanjong Pagar GRC under the PSP banner in the 2020 election. He is also a former member of the party's central executive committee.

He holds a master’s degree in computer science and electrical and computer engineering from Oregon State University and was an early contributor to ARPAnet, the precursor to today's Internet, according to the party's press release.

In 1993, Mr Pillay co-founded the Singapore Linux Users’ Group. He also played a key role in establishing Red Hat’s presence in the Asia-Pacific region, growing its Singapore office from a one-man operation to over 450 employees over two decades, the press release said.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Mr Pillay said that if elected, he will ensure the town council’s administrative systems and services are fully operational from day one. This, he added, is crucial to maintaining continuity in municipal services and avoiding disruption for residents.

He cited past instances where a change in town council leadership resulted in restricted access to existing administrative tools and applications – such as when the Workers' Party took over Aljunied Town Council after winning the GRC in the 2011 election.

“Whatever was created or running was paid for by tax dollars. So now, just because there's a change in leadership, I have to remove that and add a new one with more tax dollars to be spent? That is fundamentally not right,” he said.

To address this, Mr Pillay said his team has been working on a ready-to-deploy technological solution to support town council operations from the outset. 

He added that the system will be made open and accessible not just for his team, but for any other political party that takes over town council operations.

Mr PIllay has also pledged to serve as a full-time MP if elected. 

He will likely go up against the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Low Yen Ling, who is Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry as well as Culture, Community and Youth. Ms Low was part of the PAP team that contested and won Chua Chu Kang GRC in the 2020 election. 

Bukit Gombak SMC, which has 26,364 registered voters, comprises Bukit Gombak and Hillview estates that were carved out from Chua Chu Kang GRC in the latest electoral boundaries review. 

In January, PSP said its members were harassed while distributing flyers to residents of Goodview Gardens in Bukit Gombak. The party claimed that the individuals involved were PAP volunteers. 

In response, Ms Low said in a Facebook post that PSP had "twisted the truth" and given an "untrue picture" of what happened. She also alleged that a male PAP volunteer was slapped twice during the altercation. The matter was subsequently referred to the police.