WP bets on Punggol, Tampines GRCs to make further inroads

As the hustings kick off for the general election, the opposition WP has sent some of its strongest new candidates to Punggol and Tampines GRCs.

- Kenneth Cheng, Wong Pei Ting

After months of speculation on where it would field them for the polls, all was revealed on Nomination Day on April 23.

Senior counsel Harpreet Singh and three other new faces were confirmed on the WP ticket for Punggol GRC.

They will face off at the May 3 polls against a PAP team headed by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong in the new group representation constituency.

Elsewhere, WP vice-chairman Faisal Manap has left the party's Aljunied GRC crown jewel to contest Tampines GRC with four others, pitting the team against the PAP and two other opposition parties in a four-cornered fight.

It is apparent that the party has steered more of its new heavyweight candidates into the two GRCS, which are expected to face stiff electoral battles.

Besides sending Mr Singh to Punggol, the party has fielded Institute of Mental Health senior principal clinical psychologist Ong Lue Ping, former diplomat Eileen Chong, and start-up co-founder Michael Thng, a graduate of Harvard University, in Tampines.

Associate Professor Eugene Tan, a political analyst and law don at the Singapore Management University, is of the view that the WP has assessed its prospects outside of the areas in which it is the incumbent - to be the best in Punggol GRC.

"They are gunning to repeat their famous victory in Sengkang GRC, in Punggol GRC," said Prof Tan.

In 2020, the WP prevailed over the PAP in the newly created Sengkang GRC, winning 52.12 per cent of the vote.

Conversely, the firepower that the PAP has deployed in Punggol - where it has three political office-holders, DPM Gan, Senior Minister of State Janil Puthucheary and Minister of State Sun Xueling - indicates the ruling party is "determined to avoid a Sengkang 2.0", Prof Tan added.