Red Dot United Plans to Contest Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, Introduces 3 Potential Candidates

Opposition party Red Dot United (RDU) on April 10 announced its plans to contest Holland-Bukit Timah GRC in the upcoming election.

- Christine Tan

The party also introduced three potential candidates, who it said would lead the team in the four-member group representation constituency: financial consultant Fazli Talip, 43, assistant engineer Sharad Kumar, 25, and business owner Patrick Tan, 70. It is not clear who the fourth member will be.

Of the three, two are political newcomers.

Mr Sharad and Mr Tan are being fielded in a general election for the first time.

Mr Fazli had contested East Coast GRC in the 2011 polls on the Workers' Party ticket.

The candidates were introduced by RDU secretary-general Ravi Philemon on the evening of April 10 at Senja Hawker Centre. He also said the party's campaign for the GRC is themed Fair Value for All.

Holland-Bukit Timah GRC has 122,891 voters. There are many private home dwellers in the area.

About 46 per cent of its households live in landed properties and private estates, far higher than the national average of about 27 per cent.

An RDU party spokesman said the party promises to push for a "fairer system" where "every Singaporean, not just the most privileged, can feel secure and valued".

This is the first time RDU is contesting in the GRC. This means it will enter a battlefield that has seen a face-off between the ruling PAP and the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) for three straight elections.