https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/ge2025-pap-k-shanmugam-nee-soon-grc-5077636
GE2025: PAP shakes up Nee Soon GRC team with 4 newcomers led by Shanmugam
The first timers are former civil servant Goh Hanyan, ex-Nominated MP Syed Harun Alhabsyi, company director Jackson Lam, and longtime grassroots volunteer Lee Hui Ying.
SINGAPORE: The People’s Action Party (PAP) will field four new faces in Nee Soon GRC slate in the coming General Election, the ruling party announced on Monday (Apr 21).
Only Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam remains from the slate that won in 2020, and he will continue to anchor the five-person team in the coming polls.
Among the first-timers are former Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) director Goh Hanyan, ex-Nominated Member of Parliament Syed Harun Alhabsyi, director of a cleaning service and pest control company Jackson Lam, and longtime Nee Soon volunteer Lee Hui Ying.
“This is a, I would say, very balanced, but very young, youthful slate - except for me - because there is a mix of skills and talents: two potential office holders who can perform in helping govern the country as a whole, and who also have good service experience, two candidates with a lot of grassroots experience,” said Mr Shanmugam, during a press conference at the PAP’s Chong Pang branch office.
He identified Ms Goh and Dr Syed Harun as potential political office holders who can “go far in helping govern the country as a whole”.
The changes mean that incumbents Louis Ng, Carrie Tan and Derrick Goh will be leaving the Nee Soon GRC team. Mr Ng is a two-term MP, while Ms Tan and Mr Goh have served in a single term of parliament.
Mr Shanmugam did not say whether they will be redeployed elsewhere or are quitting politics.
The minister had earlier hinted that four new faces were “likely to be fielded” in the constituency during a Rainforest Wild Asia outing with residents in Mandai on Saturday, adding at the time that “nothing is confirmed until it’s confirmed”.
Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Faishal Ibrahim, meanwhile, will be moving to contest in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC this election.
Nee Soon GRC, which currently has 151,634 voters, has been held by the ruling party since its creation in 2011.
The ward was one of nine with boundaries unchanged in the latest review of the nation’s electoral map.
In the 2020 General Election, the PAP’s Nee Soon team secured 61.9 per cent of the votes against the Progress Singapore Party.
