Start-up co-founder and ex-US Navy administrator among WP's 3 new faces

With this latest batch, party will have 14 candidates making their political debut

- Kok Yufeng Correspondent Nadine Chua and Clement Yong Correspondent

The WP has introduced its final batch of new candidates for the May 3 General Election.

The three new faces were unveiled on April 20 at a press conference at the party headquarters in Geylang—the fourth briefing in as many days.

They are:

• Mr Jackson Au Chee Meng, 35, a senior manager of corporate affairs and marketing with the London Stock Exchange Group;

• Ms Paris V. Parameswari, 51, a former US Navy security administrator; and

• Mr Michael Thng Quan Wei, 37, the chief operating officer of a technology start-up.

With Nomination Day on April 23, this latest batch of new faces takes the number of WP candidates making their political debut to 14.

WP secretary-general Pritam Singh and party chair Sylvia Lim, who were at the press conference to introduce the new candidates, did not indicate which constituencies the candidates would be fielded in.

Mr Singh was asked about the calibre of WP's new candidates, if its slate of new faces had improved compared with past slates, and whether the number of people interested in joining the party and standing for election had increased significantly.

Replying, Mr Singh said: "We are always on the lookout for people who've got that desire to contribute and want to get involved in public service in a serious way."

He added: "In terms of their calibre, it's a broad range of individuals from different walks of life, different age groups, different backgrounds and different experiences.