GE2025: Ong Ye Kung to lead PAP's Sembawang GRC team, including 2 new faces Gabriel Lam and Ng Shi Xuan

2 weeks ago 55

SINGAPORE: Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Tuesday (Apr 22) formally confirmed the People’s Action Party (PAP) slate for Sembawang GRC, which includes two new candidates Ng Shi Xuan and Gabriel Lam.

Mr Ong had first introduced Mr Ng, 36, and Mr Lam, 43, on Mar 29 during a community event at Bukit Canberra, although he stopped short of confirming if they would be fielded at the time.

On Monday, Mr Ong put up a video on social media on Monday featuring all five candidates. The other members of the Sembawang team are Mr Vikram Nair, who has served in the ward for three terms, and one-term MP Mariam Jaafar.

Introducing Mr Ng and Mr Lam on Tuesday, Mr Ong said: “I hope they bring that dynamism, that resourcefulness, that enterprise, into this community and help residents get things done, because in Sembawang, a lot of things has to be done."

Dr Lim Wee Kiak, a four-term MP, was absent from the event. Mr Ong said he could not confirm if Dr Lim will be retiring.

"He has been a dear friend, a dear comrade, both as well as a colleague, dear friend, because we are really personal friends.

"He has served four terms in this area, and I think is right for me during the Canberra Day to pay him a proper tribute. And I think it is also right of us to return him to his family and his private practice," said Mr Ong, referring to an event earlier this month where he hailed Dr Lim's contributions.

Dr Lim, an ophthalmologist, has been in politics since 2006 contesting in various GRCs. He entered politics as part of the Sembawang team, then moved to Nee Soon GRC in 2011.

His Canberra ward returned to Sembawang in 2015 and he has been in the GRC since then.

As for former Sembawang MP Poh Li San, she will be contesting in Sembawang West SMC, a new ward that was carved out following the redrawing of electoral boundaries.

Also spotted in the crowd on Tuesday's slate introduction for Sembawang GRC was former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Raj Joshua Thomas, who had earlier announced that he will not stand in the upcoming General Election. Mr Thomas was dressed in his party's colours, with a PAP symbol pinned to his white outfit.

He was one of two NMPs who resigned before their parliamentary terms ended on Feb 14. The other person is Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi, who has been formally introduced as a potential candidate for Nee Soon GRC.

In the 2020 General Election, the PAP team won against a National Solidarity Party (NSP) team with a vote share of 67.29 per cent.

SDP, which had contested in Sembawang in the past but did not do so in the last two general elections, has unveiled a team led by party vice-chairman Bryan Lim to stand in the ward for the 2025 polls.

NSP has also declared it will send a team there, setting the scene for a three-cornered fight in the ward, which has 133,919 voters.