GE2025: PAP, WP gear up in East Coast GRC ahead of Polling Day (2025)

SINGAPORE - With just two weekends left before Polling Day on May 3, both the PAP and WP have been intensifying efforts to reach out to residents in hotly contested East Coast GRC.

Potential candidates from both parties were spotted introducing themselves to residents at different markets and coffee shops in Bedok on the morning of April 19. But the slates for both sides are still unclear, even though some hints have been dropped.

On the PAP front, the only confirmation so far is that Dr Maliki Osman’s spot on the slate – he looks after the Siglap ward – will be taken over by new face Hazlina Abdul Halim.

It also appears certain that Mr Edwin Tong, who is Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, will move from Marine Parade GRC to East Coast GRC. Questions remain on whether Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat will stay on or retire.

The WP’s line-up for the constituency is also unconfirmed. Although it has started officially introducing new faces, it has confirmed its full slate in only Sengkang GRC, where it is the incumbent.

On the morning of April 19, Mr Tong visited several coffee shops in the Lucky Valley area in Siglap with Dr Maliki, who is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, and Madam Hazlina.

When speaking to residents, Dr Maliki introduced Mr Tong, whose Joo Chiat ward in Marine Parade GRC was absorbed into East Coast GRC, as leader of the constituency’s team. But he later clarified to reporters that “ministers are leaders of the GRC as a team”, and added that DPM Heng is also a minister.

“I think we should look at it from a larger perspective that all of us are here to serve. And (them) being new to the GRC and having been here for a long time, I want to introduce them to my residents as potentially coming to serve them in place of me,” he said.

Mr Tong said the team will wait until Prime Minister Lawrence Wong decides on the slate before it makes a formal announcement. “Then, we’ll present it as a cohesive whole,” he said.

“It’s a question of identifying the right candidates for the right demographic, the right needs of the local constituency, and we think that’s important,” he added. “Because it’s not a question of what is tactically the best choice, but what is demographically the right connection between a potential candidate and the ground and the community that they’re serving.”

He reiterated that he would like to continue representing the residents in his Joo Chiat ward.

“To be able to do that, I will have to stand in East Coast and not at Marine Parade,” Mr Tong said.

He was later joined by PAP new face and former brigadier-general Goh Pei Ming, who had earlier on April 19 been speaking to residents at another Bedok food centre, along with DPM Heng and backbencher Jessica Tan.

Mr Goh told the media that he is not a new face to East Coast, having grown up in the area and been involved in grassroots work in Kampong Chai Chee for 17 years.

He had first been spotted on the ground with Punggol GRC MPs a few weeks ago, after his resignation from the Singapore Armed Forces. Asked about his presence at the East Coast walkabout on April 19, Mr Goh said he is getting to better understand the considerations in East Coast, while still “keeping a good pulse on what is happening in Punggol”.

Long-time Siglap resident Zulkifli Yannie, 59, said it was his first time meeting Madam Hazlina and Mr Tong. He said Dr Maliki had made improvements to the neighbourhood, including sheltered walkways and an ongoing carpark upgrade.

“Whatever he can do, he tries to do. The rest of them, we wait and see,” he added.

On the WP front, Mr Kenneth Foo, 47, the Singapore Cancer Society deputy director who was part of WP’s team for East Coast in the 2020 General Election, was spotted with lawyer Ang Boon Yaw, 42.

They visited the food centre at Block 16 Bedok South and a nearby coffee shop, where they took their time speaking with residents and exchanging views.

It is not the first time the two potential candidates have been seen walking the ground in East Coast GRC. Their appearance together has fuelled speculation that they may be fielded there.

In the 2020 election, PAP won East Coast GRC by a narrow margin, with 53.39 per cent of the vote, while WP garnered 46.61 per cent.

Its five-member team then comprised Ms Nicole Seah, Mr Terence Tan, Mr Abdul Shariff Aboo Kassim, Mr Foo and Mr Dylan Tan. Ms Seah and Mr Terence Tan are no longer with the party.

On April 19, Mr Ang declined to comment when approached.

Some residents whom they spoke to told The Straits Times that they were told WP would be fielding candidates in East Coast GRC, and were encouraged to share their concerns via the party’s social media channels.

However, no names were mentioned, said a resident who declined to be named. She added: “It is good to see more parties contesting so voters have more choices.”

Also seen in East Coast on April 19 was Mr Chia Yun Kai, 32, another potential candidate.

The restaurant owner had posted online about a month earlier that he had formed his own party – Most Valuable Party – with intentions to contest East Coast.

He spoke to DPM Heng, Mr Tong and Dr Maliki at their respective walkabouts and took selfies with them.

Mr Chia, who was alone, later told reporters that he had told them of his intent to contest the constituency. He said he was in the process of finding two more candidates – including one minority candidate – to fill his five-member slate.

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