GE2025: Workers’ Party introduces another batch of new faces, including ex-IMH director
Party chief Pritam Singh declined to disclose where they will be fielded
[SINGAPORE] The Workers’ Party (WP) on Friday (Apr 18) introduced four more new faces for the upcoming general election (GE), including a former director at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).
Party chief Pritam Singh, however, did not disclose where the quartet would be fielded for the May 3 polls.
Among the four is Dr Ong Lue Ping, a 48-year-old senior principal clinical psychologist at IMH. He served as the institution’s director of allied health from 2022 to 2024, and was head of psychology from 2015 to 2021.
A WP volunteer since November 2023, Dr Ong has supported Hougang MP Dennis Tan as a case writer at his Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS). He told reporters at a press conference that he joined an opposition party as “another way to serve (his) country”.
“Every day, my colleagues and I fight tooth and nail to help our patients overcome their emotional struggles, but we often feel helpless in the face of systemic challenges affecting the mental health of our patients,” said Dr Ong, who has been with IMH since 2002.
He hopes to address structural mental health issues in Parliament by “stepping up and stepping forward” with WP.
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The second prospective candidate introduced was Andre Low, 34, a former disputes lawyer who is now a staff product manager at a global fintech firm. He previously worked at Boston Consulting Group, Amazon Web Services and various startups.
After joining the WP as a member shortly after the last GE in 2020, Low has been assisting Sengkang GRC MP Louis Chua with his MPS. He is also part of the party’s media team.
“(During MPS), we see a lot of families who collectively, are caught in between policy gaps because they’re at the margins of society and the existing policies do not serve their unique circumstances,” he said. “Every one of these cases left me feeling a bit trapped by an imperfect system, and that has reinforced my decision to join the Workers’ Party, and this, collectively, is why I’m stepping up today.”
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WP chair Sylvia Lim introduced both Dr Ong and Low.
Singh presented the other two new faces: Alexis Dang, 39, a senior director at media company Teads, and Jimmy Tan, a 53-year-old entrepreneur.
Dang, who leads business development in the Asia-Pacific region, was previously a bank relationship manager before moving into tech in 2017.
She said her cross-sector experience can contribute to shaping policies for career creation, career reinvention, and building a future-ready workforce. Education is also a key focus for her.
“One of the reasons why I think I’m able to stand here today is because I was fortunate enough to have had access to quality education, and that’s a cause that is very close to my heart,” she said.
Tan is the co-founder of Immanuel Engineering, an industrial safety equipment company established in 2009. He began volunteering with WP in 2018, and cited the 2017 Presidential Election – reserved for Malay candidates following a constitutional amendment – as his “political awakening”.
He noted that the amendment passed despite “many concerns raised by the opposition”, as the ruling People’s Action Party had a super-majority in Parliament.
“I envision Singapore being a democratic country to have a more balanced political system with opposition representation, because I truly believe nobody… has the monopoly of wisdom,” he said.
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