PAP's new faces in constituency lauded for roots in community

Two new faces on the PAP's Nee Soon GRC slate have ties to the constituency, and all four have a track record of community service, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and party veteran Lee Bee Wah.

- Tay Hong Yi Correspondent and Deepanraj Ganesan

They urged voters to support Ms Goh Hanyan, Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi, Mr Jackson Lam and Ms Lee Hui Ying at an April 29 rally at Yishun Stadium.

The rally took place four days after Mr Ravi Philemon, secretary-general of the opposition Red Dot United, questioned the decision to field four newcomers alongside Mr Shanmugam, and raised doubts about their readiness to succeed him in time to come.

Mr Philemon is leading the RDU's bid to win the five-member group representation constituency in a straight contest.

The PAP had won Nee Soon GRC with 61.9 per cent of the vote against the PSP in 2020.

During the rally, Ms Lee Bee Wah—a Nee Soon GRC MP from 2011 to 2020—said in Mandarin that all five on the opposition slate were new faces to Nee Soon residents.

"How much can they know about our residents? Who doesn't know how to criticise the Government? Talk is cheap."

Ms Lee, who was known for her colourful and vocal advocacy for her constituents in Parliament, said she had mentored the younger Ms Lee for 15 years, a fact that roused the crowd into a swell of cheers, applause and blaring air horns.

"Someone asked me, what is Hui Ying like? I told them, Hui Ying has a bit of Lee Bee Wah in her—a straight talker, sincere and hardworking."

Ms Lee Bee Wah, 64, also pledged to continue guiding Ms Lee Hui Ying should the younger Ms Lee, 36, be elected.

She said the younger Ms Lee has helped her with Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS) and house visits, and served in the constituency's youth executive committee, among other things.

She also said Mr Lam, 40, is a familiar face in Nee Soon—one who grew up in the constituency—calling him "the Yishun boy."