Shanmugam to Lead Fresh PAP Team to Contest Nee Soon GRC

New slate brings range of experience and has potential office-holders, says minister

- Deepanraj Ganesan and Osmond Chia

Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam will helm a refreshed PAP team consisting of four political newcomers to contest Nee Soon GRC in the upcoming general election.

The four new faces in the five-member team are former Nominated MP Syed Harun Alhabsyi, 40; Mr Jackson Lam, 40, head of a pest control and cleaning company; Ms Lee Hui Ying, 36, who works for Temasek Foundation; and Ms Goh Hanyan, 39, a former director at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI).

Introducing the line-up in a press briefing on April 21 at the PAP's Chong Pang branch, Mr Shanmugam, who has been the incumbent MP overseeing the Chong Pang ward within the group representation constituency for 37 years, said the new team brings a range of experience to bear, and also has potential office-holders.

Mr Shanmugam said: "This is a, I would say, very balanced, but very young, youthful slate — except for me — because there is a mix of skills and talents: two potential office-holders who can perform in helping govern the country as a whole, and who also have good service experience; two candidates with a lot of grassroots experience."

Asked about the significant turnover in the slate — with two one-term MPs no longer part of the team — Mr Shanmugam said that all four newcomers may be young, but they are quite experienced in their own way.