GE2025: Josephine Teo to lead PAP slate in Jalan Besar GRC, newcomer Shawn Loh to replace Heng Chee How

SINGAPORE: Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo will lead the People's Action Party (PAP) slate for Jalan Besar GRC in the upcoming election.

Senior Minister of State for Defence Heng Chee How, the MP for the Whampoa division since 2001, will not be part of the team, Mrs Teo said on Wednesday (Apr 16).

Replacing him in the four-member team is former senior civil servant Shawn Loh. The rest of the PAP slate remains unchanged, comprising Mrs Teo, Ms Denise Phua and Dr Wan Rizal.

Introducing the team at a press conference held at Whampoa Park, Mrs Teo said Jalan Besar is a mature estate with a continual need for rejuvenation. 

"It takes effort to understand what really it is that the residents want," she said. "It also takes a set of capabilities to be able to implement, not just conceptualising what might be desirable from the residents' standpoint, but to actually have the capabilities to implement these upgrading projects."

Earlier this month, Mrs Teo announced Jalan Besar's five-year master plan (2026 to 2030), previewing over 100 proposed facilities and projects.

At the last General Election in 2020,  the PAP team secured 65.37 per cent of the vote, defeating the Peoples Voice (PV) party. The PV slate then comprised Mr Lim Tean, Mr Leong Sze Hian, Mr Nor Azlan Sulaiman and Dr Michael Fang.

PV is one of three parties under the People’s Alliance for Reform (PAR), along with the Reform Party and the Democratic Progressive Party. Mr Lim, who is PAR’s secretary-general, has confirmed that the alliance will contest Jalan Besar GRC this year.

The GRC remains unchanged in the latest electoral boundary review and has 106,102 voters.

Mr Heng, 63, made his political debut at the 1997 General Election in Hougang SMC where he lost to former Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang. He entered parliament in the next election as part of the PAP's Jalan Besar team.

Over the years, he served in various leadership roles, including deputy leader of the House from 2011 to 2015 and was appointed Senior Minister of State for Defence in May 2018. He is also a deputy secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress.

Mrs Teo described Mr Heng as the "elder brother" she never had. 

"He is a complete gentleman, fully honourable. You can try but you will never find a nasty bone in him. And he has come to be very well-loved by the residents here, and we going to miss him terribly," she added.

Mr Heng said he hopes the work that he has done in Whampoa would continue after his departure. 

"I would certainly hope for somebody who can take on this work after me, who would have the heart, the capability, the drive, to continue to want to serve our people," he said. "In Mr Shawn Loh, I think we have found the person."

When asked if Mr Heng would contest the election in other constituencies, Mrs Teo said she could not confirm this.

"Everything is still open, and it means that up to Nomination Day, you can never say for certainty who's running," she said.

"So the way the PAP works is that in whichever constituency that there is a need, we will look at the potential candidates that can best serve the residents there. If at the appropriate time the Prime Minister believes that Chee How is the best person to serve in any particular constituency, who knows what will happen? Certainly we'll see."

Singaporeans will head to the polls on May 3 for the country’s 14th General Election, after the dissolution of parliament by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Tuesday.

Nomination Day is on Apr 23.

SHAWN LOH

The 38-year-old former civil servant was one of eight new PAP faces introduced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in a video released last Saturday. He has been spotted at events in Jalan Besar this month and recently assumed the role of deputy group managing director at Commonwealth Capital Group.

Prior to this, Mr Loh served as director of security and resilience programmes at the Ministry of Finance and was also the Budget director for 2024 and 2025. He also oversaw the development of schemes such as the CDC vouchers. 

His earlier roles include senior positions at the Economic Development Board, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Education.

On Wednesday, Mr Loh said Whampoa was beautiful today due to Mr Heng's hard work and he hopes to "continue that legacy of service".

He added he believes his experience both in the civil service and the private sector will allow him to contribute practical ideas in parliament.

"I have come forward as part of the new generation joining politics, to serve and to answer the call to make the Singapore of the future better than the Singapore today," he said. 

Mr Loh, a father of four children all aged below 12, said he can empathise with the stressors facing young families.

"As a parent myself, balancing work, life, family commitments, is a constant struggle. These are some of the issues that I hope to voice out in parliament," he said.