PAP's New Faces on Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC Slate Hope to Rally More Support for Social Needs

With more than a decade of volunteering under her belt, new PAP candidate Elysa Chen is used to walking the ground and listening to people's needs, giving her a taste of the hard work that goes into grassroots politics.

- Lim Min Zhang

When the May 3 polls come around, she said, she hopes her track record speaks for itself.

Although she said she is very much the "newbie on the block", with more experienced PAP teammates like Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat and Mr Saktiandi Supaat, getting to work on the ground is not new to her.

Speaking to The Straits Times on April 22, Ms Chen, 41, addressed a common criticism lobbed at new PAP candidates who are fielded in safe group representation constituencies helmed by an anchor minister.

"I'm not a babe in the woods," she said. "Yes, it's my first election, but I'm used to serving people, and I have a track record of finding solutions to problems."

The former journalist and junior college teacher was also a church youth pastor earlier in her career.

After volunteering with Campus Impact as a tutor, she was in 2018 appointed executive director of the charity, which helps disadvantaged youth. She has done volunteer work since her journalist days from 2007 to 2011, and joined the PAP in October 2023.