Losing Tampines and Punggol at GE2025 would have sent ‘serious and far-reaching message’: PM Wong
[SINGAPORE] Losing Tampines and Punggol GRCs would have sent a “serious and far-reaching” message to the world watching the May 2025 General Election, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Nov 9.
Instead, the PAP’s win of 65.57 per cent of the national vote showed that Singaporeans take elections seriously and understand what is at stake, he added, describing the results as a strong mandate but “not a landslide” victory for the ruling party.
PM Wong, in the first party convention since GE2025, was reflecting on the polls where the PAP won closely-fought contests in these two constituencies.
Losing Tampines would have suggested that the Workers’ Party’s “calculated appeal” to Malay/Muslim voters was effective, and would have encouraged other political parties to do the same, he said.
That would harm social cohesion and lead to a divided Singapore, he told 1,800 PAP activists at the biennial convention held at the Singapore Expo.
If Punggol had gone to the WP, it would have sent the wrong message as well, said PM Wong, who is party secretary-general.
The loss would have conveyed that voters did not care about the proven abilities and steady leadership of an experienced minister like Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, he said.
“Singapore would have lost our very capable Taskforce Man.”
In Tampines GRC, the PAP team led by Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli beat a team led by WP vice-chair and former Aljunied MP Faisal Manap with about 52 per cent of the vote, producing the second-closest contest of the election.
But the WP’s campaign there attracted a controversial endorsement from various parties, including foreign politicians, urging Singaporeans to vote on racial and religious lines.
In an October statement, Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam said the Malay/Muslim vote in particular was being targeted, and took issue with the speed and substance of WP’s rejection of such endorsements. WP chief Pritam Singh rejected some of Mr Shanmugam’s statements, but later acknowledged that his party could have been clearer in its rejection during the election.
In Punggol – a newly carved out GRC – DPM Gan anchored the PAP team that ran against a WP team led by senior counsel Harpreet Singh, seen by many before the election as the opposition party’s ‘star catch’, and three other first-time candidates.
The PAP won that contest with 55 per cent of the vote.
PM Wong said he was especially grateful to voters in these two GRCs for trusting him and his team.
The “strong mandate” for the PAP sent a clear message that Singaporeans do not take chances with the future or “gamble with what we’ve built together,” said PM Wong.
“That we will not be swayed by populist appeals or racially-tinged appeals,” he added.
He added that he now speaks to foreign leaders with a “quiet confidence” because he knows that he speaks on behalf of a “clear-eyed and united people.”
“I speak on behalf of Singaporeans who stand for stability, progress and unity. Singaporeans who stand with the PAP because we have always stood with them.”
PM Wong was ‘prepared for all outcomes’
PM Wong also reflected on the polls – his first as leader of the PAP since taking over from Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong as party chief in Dec 2024, after the party’s internal leadership election that year. Earlier in May 2024, he had been sworn in as prime minister, also succeeding SM Lee.
PM Wong said he knew it was important that he and his team sought a “fresh mandate” from Singaporeans to lead and take the country forward.
The party went into the election knowing that it would not be an easy fight, he noted.
Some party members and friends sent him messages to prepare for the worst – including predictions of a lower vote share as he was a new prime minister, the loss of a few single seats or even one or two more GRCs, he said.
“So I was mentally prepared for all outcomes. When the results came out, the same people who had messaged me earlier said to me: ‘Sorry we should have more confidence in you!”
But he told them it was right to sound a note of caution, as one can never be certain until the votes are counted.
At the time, the global issue of cost-of-living pressures were on many minds, and the Opposition worked up anxiety and frustration in Singaporeans and tried to pin the blame on the PAP, he said.
While Singaporeans appreciated the Government’s support packages and said that the PAP had done well, they also wanted more Opposition voices to keep the party in check, he said.
“We took that seriously, and went to the ground to convince Singaporeans – with our record, our sincerity and our plans for the future.”
Some had predicted that the uncertain external environment – due in part to widespread tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump in April, a month before GE2025 – would bring about a “flight to safety”, said PM Wong.
But PM Wong said he took no comfort in this prediction, as this did not happen during the last general election held during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Instead the PAP’s vote share fell, and the Opposition doubled its seats in Parliament, he noted.
“So I took nothing for granted.”
GE2025 turned out to be a tough, intense fight, he said, and the PAP made many tactical changes to the line-up right up to Nomination Day, he said.
“For nine days straight, our candidates and activists walked the ground, rallied supporters and met residents across the island.”
Up until the last day of campaigning key constituencies were still “too close to call,” PM Wong said.
While some characterised the eventual result as a landslide victory, PM Wong said he holds a different view.
“Just a small swing against the PAP and the results would have been very different. And if that had happened, the mood at today’s party convention would be very different,” he said.
He has therefore come out of the election with an “overwhelming sense of humility and gratitude,” he said.
He added: ‘Always remember comrades, a strong mandate given by the people today can swiftly be taken away tomorrow.”
Groundwork is key, voters care about candidate ‘above all’
He highlighted the importance of groundwork, saying that the election’s results were also because the PAP’s candidates, activists and volunteers worked very hard on the ground, PM Wong said.
Voters care about both national and municipal issues, but above all about the candidate – whether he or she can bond and connect with them, get things done and improve their lives, PM Wong said.
Across the island, PAP MPs and their teams “made all the difference,” not just during the nine days of hustings but over five years of “hard and patient work,” he said.
Some had tougher fights than others, but never gave up. They showed conviction, courage and steel, and fought hard for every vote, he said.
“You stood your ground, and you stood tall – well done.”
He thanked the party’s activists, adding that much of their work is unseen by the public.
But they are the party’s “unsung heroes” and its “heart and soul”, he said.
PM Wong thanked in particular the PAP candidates who stood in the WP-held wards of Aljunied, Hougang and Sengkang.
They had the toughest mission but never wavered, he said.
“All in all comrades, this has been a tough but deeply rewarding campaign,” he said.
The PAP has done well in the election and it has given the party “a good base to work from,” PM Wong said.
Urging the party to “make the most of this opportunity,” he warned that the next election will be even tougher.
Singaporeans will have high expectations and exacting standards, and will judge the part not just by what it says but its actions.
When the next election comes, whether in 2030 or earlier, the party must be ready to face Singaporeans with “confidence and conviction.”
The party will be able to say clearly and proudly: “yes we have delivered,” PM Wong said. THE STRAITS TIMES
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