GE2025: No surprises as PAP, SPP repeat Bishan-Toa Payoh face off
Gan Siow Huang will defend the single seat in Marymount
[SINGAPORE] The People’s Action Party (PAP) and Singapore People’s Party (SPP) will once again duke it out over the Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC in this year’s general election, albeit with refreshed line ups.
Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat leads the PAP team as anchor minister, taking over the role after Dr Ng Eng Hen stepped down earlier this month. Saktiandi Supaat also remains on the team, which welcomes two fresh faces: Cai Yinzhou, a social entrepreneur; and Elysa Chen, executive director of a social service agency.
The SPP is fielding a team comprising secretary-general Steve Chia, party chairman Melvyn Chiu, as well as new faces which include operations executive Muhammad Norhakim and Lim Rui Xian, who is self-employed.
Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC was one of nine constituencies which were left unchanged from the previous general election.
In neighbouring Marymount SMC, Minister of State for Manpower and Education Gan Siow Huang will be defending her seat.
While the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) is once again contesting the seat, it has fielded consulting firm CEO Jeffrey Khoo who, in GE2020, was part of the PSP team in West Coast.
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Braced for battle
SPP’s Chia said earlier this week that he hopes the party can win more than 40 per cent of the votes in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, even as he acknowledged that winning is an “uphill task” for the opposition.
These comments came after the news of Dr Ng leaving the PAP’s team, which Chia called “a big relief”, considering Dr Ng’s considerable pull in the area.
When they squared off in the GRC in GE2020, the PAP won decisively, with 67.23 per cent of the vote.
Meanwhile, Gan, a political newcomer in GE2020, garnered 55.04 per cent of the votes in Marymount SMC then. She was up against PSP’s then-assistant secretary-general Ang Yong Guan.
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