GE2025: Ng Eng Hen steps down, Chee Hong Tat to lead PAP team for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC with 2 new faces
Minister of State Gan Siow Huang will defend her seat in Marymount SMC
[SINGAPORE] Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen will not be contesting the May 3 general election (GE), with Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat taking over as anchor minister for the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) team for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.
Dr Ng, 66, entered politics in 2001. He noted how incumbent MPs and ministers “who could have continued for more years” stepped down to make way for new candidates like himself.
“It’s time for me to do the same,” he said on Friday (Apr 18) morning at the PAP’s Toa Payoh West-Thomson branch. “It’s been an honour and privilege to serve my residents and Singaporeans at large for five terms.”
He thanked residents for their support over the years, adding that Chee was more than capable, well-established and had proven himself over the last 10 years.
At the media briefing, Chee, who is also second minister for finance, introduced two new candidates who will join his team along with incumbent Saktiandi Supaat.
They are Cai Yinzhou, a social entrepreneur and director of Citizen Adventures; and Elysa Chen, the executive director of social service agency CampusImpact.
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Incumbent MP Chong Kee Hiong, who was also present at the session, announced that he too will not seek re-election at the GE.
Minister of State for Education and Manpower Gan Siow Huang, the incumbent at Marymount SMC, will defend the same ward.
At the last polls in 2020, Dr Ng led a four-man team comprising Chee, Saktiandi and Chong to secure 67.23 per cent of the vote in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC against a team from the Singapore People’s Party (SPP).
Dr Ng has been with the constituency since his political debut in 2001. He became manpower minister in 2004 and later education minister, before being appointed defence minister in 2011.
“For any government, there’s always tension between renewal and experience, not sure what the best balance is,” he said. “I think it’s a virtue that PAP forces itself to renew and that more senior politicians like myself, we emulate the examples that we saw when we came in as newbies.”
Asked about his plans after stepping down from politics, Dr Ng said he has “no shortage of varied interests”.
“I think I’ll be very happy – it’s my Liberation Day,” he said to laughter.
Election promise
If elected, Chen would be taking over Chong’s Bishan East-Sin Ming ward; and Cai, Dr Ng’s Toa Payoh Central ward.
A former crime journalist, Chen said she left the profession to become a teacher as she felt that “too often as a journalist, we arrived too late on the scene”.
“I wish we had just arrived that little bit earlier, before the tragedy happened. That’s why I wanted to work earlier with children – I saw the power that education could have to uplift our young people and help them succeed in life.”
As executive director of CampusImpact now, she said she gets to see “the power of collaboration as we bring together different social service agencies and different partners so that we can truly uplift the vulnerable”.
Noting that the rising cost of living has affected everyone, she pledged to ensure residents were aware of and able to access government and community resources.
Meanwhile, Cai said he was inspired by a lecturer in university on how sustainable development could uplift and improve communities.
He said caregiving is close to his heart, adding that if elected, he will speak up for the support of caregivers, “not just for seniors, but also adults and children with disabilities or special needs”.
He added that he will speak up for the needs of residents and “various causes” through engagements with civil society and government to find common ground and solutions.
Previously, another potential PAP candidate Kawal Pal Singh, the nephew of former PAP MP Inderjit Singh, had been spotted in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC alongside both Chee and Chen. Earlier this week, however, he ruled himself out of the running for the election.
Asked if Cai was a “last-minute addition” to the team, Chee said the team has been making arrangements for him to be more familiar with the constituency and residents. Cai said he started volunteering in 2018 at Nee Soon East constituency, followed by Punggol Coast.
“I personally witnessed the relationship Dr Ng has forged with residents after almost 25 years, and it’s definitely big shoes to fill,” he said. “I hope to earn that trust over time, as Dr Ng has demonstrated.”
Incumbents welcome contest
SPP had earlier signalled their intention to return to Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC at the upcoming GE. Asked for his views, Chee said he welcomes contest in the GRC, as it offers residents choice.
Gan echoed the same sentiment when asked about the possibility of a three-cornered fight in Marymount SMC. On Apr 17, the Progress Singapore Party said it is planning to field Jeffrey Khoo, who was part of its A-team in West Coast GRC in GE2020.
Gan, who joined politics in 2020, said she has done her best over the past five getting to know residents helping those who are vulnerable and creating “a new Marymount identity”. The ward was carved out from Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC in 2020.
If elected, she said she will continue to push for improvements to estate amenities as well as programmes to look after the residents.
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