Reform Party unveils final slate of candidates

Singapore

BLOGGER Roy Ngerng and his one-time lawyer M Ravi were unveiled on Friday as part of the Reform Party (RP) team contesting Ang Mo Kio GRC.

Entrepreneur Osman Sulaiman, activist Gilbert Goh as well as party volunteers Siva Chandran and Jesse Loo make up the rest of the six-man group that will be led by Mr Ravi in the coming general election (GE).

Mr Osman was in the previous RP team that contested Ang Mo Kio GRC in 2011. That team garnered 30.7 per cent of the vote against the People's Action Party (PAP) team led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong then.

The six candidates were unveiled by RP secretary-general Kenneth Jeyaretnam outside a hair salon after they were turned away from two coffeeshops in Ang Mo Kio.

The constituency is helmed by PM Lee, who has successfully sued Mr Ngerng for defamation, with damages to be assessed. Mr Ravi represented Mr Ngerng until he was suspended in mid-February from practising law after concerns about his mental health.

On Thursday, the RP revealed its slate of candidates for both West Coast GRC and Radin Mas SMC. After Friday's press conference, all its 11 candidates have now been introduced to the press. Mr Jeyaretnam has said his party will be campaigning for more financial transparency from the government, a cap on foreign workers and a minimum wage in Singapore.

It also wants a pension fund for seniors and a "child benefits" scheme which gives Singaporeans below the age of 16 a monthly stipend of S$300. The Straits Times