GE2025: PSP unveils Chua Chu Kang GRC team featuring newcomer Lawrence Pek

SINGAPORE: The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) on Saturday (Apr 19) named its slate for Chua Chu Kang GRC, with newcomer Lawrence Pek alongside three potential returning candidates.

The team comprises the party’s second vice-chairperson A’bas Kasmani, women’s wing head Wendy Low, treasurer S Nallakaruppan and Mr Pek, a former secretary-general of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation. 

Mr A’bas, 71, is a safety practitioner and Ms Low, 48, is an intellectual property and technology lawyer. Both contested under PSP’s banner in Tanjong Pagar GRC in the previous election. Mr Nallakaruppan, 60, is a chartered accountant and stockbroker, and was part of the PSP team for Nee Soon GRC in 2020. 

They are expected to face a PAP team led by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, along with former MP Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim and newcomers Jeffrey Siow, a former civil servant, and Choo Pei Ling, an assistant professor at the Singapore Institute of Technology. 

Mr Nallakaruppan described the battle as a fight between David and Goliath. 

"Yes, we know we are competing against the deputy prime minister and his team. The key difference is we have the heart and the soul," he said.

DIVERSITY OF CANDIDATES

Asked about the diversity of prospective candidates fielded by the ruling party, PSP chairman Tan Cheng Bock said he did not think it was wise to recruit people from one particular group.

"I always fear that when you have such an arrangement, there will always be a lot of group thinking. Not only group thinking ... I use the word 'inbreeding'," said Dr Tan, who was a PAP MP for 26 years until 2006.

"That is dangerous because the quality of the policies will not change. They formulated the policy when they were in the civil service, and now they take over as ministers. Can they ever change? They will never change."

He emphasised it is important that members be willing to speak against leaders in a political party, and this is something he accepts in PSP.

"They can argue with me. They can vote against me. I take it. That is what we want," said Dr Tan.

He also stressed that the party looks beyond credentials when selecting candidates. Character, he said, is crucial.

"We want to make sure that the person can withstand all the mud that is thrown at him or her", because "if the mud sticks on him", the person will give up, Dr Tan said.

He added that the party has turned away “very, very bright people” who did not meet its standards.

"We hope that the people who join us are honest and want to serve the country," he said.

Chua Chu Kang GRC, which has 93,368 voters, underwent boundary changes in the latest electoral boundaries review. It now includes parts of Hong Kah North – including Tengah estates – and areas from Holland-Bukit Timah. 

A new Bukit Gombak SMC was also carved out of the GRC. Senior Minister of State Low Yen Ling, who was previously part of the PAP’s Chua Chu Kang slate, will contest the SMC.

In the 2020 election, the PAP slate comprised Mr Gan, Ms Low, Mr Zhulkarnain and Mr Don Wee, who has since announced he will not be running in this election. The team won with 58.64 per cent of the vote.

The PSP in 2020 fielded former Republic of Singapore Air Force lieutenant colonel Francis Yuen, former Institute of Policy Studies research fellow Dr Tan Meng Wah, Mr Choo Shaun Ming, a law undergraduate at the time, and Mr Abdul Rahman Mohamad, who was a fire safety engineer.

Tensions between the two parties surfaced earlier this year when their volunteers accused each other of harassment during walkabouts, prompting statements from party leaders, including Mr Gan, Ms Low and PSP's Dr Tan.

LAWRENCE PEK

Mr Pek, 55, was the secretary-general of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation from 2020 to 2023. During his tenure, he raised industry concerns on business costs and manpower needs with government agencies, PSP said.

He previously worked for 14 years at Sony Electronics before starting a camera manufacturing factory in China in 2008.

According to his LinkedIn profile, he is currently the CEO of Shenzhen Guard Technology, which produces radar sensors and Internet of Things routers, and the general manager of camera technology firm Bolin Technology.

Mr Pek said on Saturday that PSP's Chua Chu Kang team members have spoken to many residents and small business owners to understand their concerns.

"It is clear to us that there is shifting demographics within this particular GRC, especially in the area of the first-time young voters," he said. "They demand more transparency, advocacy and, more importantly, they say that they want a better balance of discourse, of pushback in parliament."

Mr Pek said he first met Dr Tan and PSP secretary-general Leong Mun Wai in August 2023 and was hit by a profound sense of common purpose to serve and give back.

"I asked myself after that meeting, if these two gentlemen are willing to do this, then why shouldn't I?" 

He added that his daughter accompanied him to the meeting with Dr Tan and Mr Leong.

"After which I had a very long, difficult and intimate discussion with my own daughter," he said, before pausing to collect himself. "She said that she'd be proud if I do this."