Edwin Tong Leads PAP's East Coast Team Against WP Veteran Yee Jenn Jong's Slate

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong, 55, is leading the PAP's East Coast GRC team against a WP team helmed by party veteran Yee Jenn Jong, 60.

- Goh Yan Han

Mr Tong is joined by two incumbents – Senior Minister of State for National Development Tan Kiat How, 47, and Ms Jessica Tan, a four-term backbencher, 58.

Rounding out the slate are two new faces, Mr Dinesh Vasu Dash, 50, former chief executive of the Agency for Integrated Care, and Madam Hazlina Abdul Halim, 40, senior vice-president at advisory firm Teneo.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, 64, who led the team at the last general election, is not on the slate.

Apart from Mr Yee, the rest of the WP's East Coast team are second-time candidate Nathaniel Koh, 41, and three new faces – Ms Paris V. Parameswari, 51, Mr Sufyan Mikhail Putra, 33, and Mr Jasper Kuan, 46.

Ms Paris is a former US Navy security administrator and Mr Sufyan is a former associate director at a law firm, while Mr Kuan is the Asia Pacific product lead for disputes solutions at payments firm Visa Worldwide.

The line-ups were confirmed on April 23 at the Yusof Ishak Secondary School nomination centre, ending months of speculation that came right down to Nomination Day itself.

The five-member East Coast GRC, which saw the second-closest winning margin for the PAP at GE2020, is set for another close fight.