GE2025: A firm handshake and the fight is on in Punggol GRC (2025)

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SINGAPORE – A day after the stage was set for a hot contest in Punggol GRC, both the PAP candidates and their WP opponents were out in force to meet and greet residents.

Outside Punggol MRT station on April 24, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, 66, and his fellow PAP teammates crossed paths with WP team leader Harpreet Singh, 59, and his teammates, with the two men shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries.

DPM Gan, who is also the Minister for Trade and Industry, had made a surprise move to the newly formed four-member constituency, and was confirmed as the anchor minister on Nomination Day on April 23.

Mr Singh, meanwhile, was also an unexpected candidate in the constituency as he was widely expected to be fielded in East Coast GRC, where he had been spotted on the ground.

After nomination proceedings ended, both parties wasted no time in hitting the ground and putting up campaign posters.

Residents on their way to work and school on April 24 took time out from their morning commute to greet the candidates outside the MRT station, with some stopping for pictures. Others also took the chance to air their concerns.

The PAP team, which also includes Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information and Health Janil Puthucheary, 52; Minister of State for Home Affairs and Social and Family Development Sun Xueling, 45; and National Trades Union Congress assistant secretary-general Yeo Wan Ling, 48, handed out fliers on their party’s five-year plan for the constituency.

The WP team, rounded out by Ms Alexis Dang, 39, senior director of publisher business development at an ad tech company; Ms SitiAliaAbdul Rahim Mattar, 43, a legal counsel; and Mr Jackson Au, 35, senior manager of corporate affairs and marketing with the London Stock Exchange Group, gave out pamphlets of their party’s manifesto.

Candidates from both parties declined interviews with the media.

In a Facebook post on April 24, DPM Gan said his focus for now was on gaining the trust and confidence of Punggol GRC residents.

“While I might be new to the area, I will do my best to learn quickly, with the support of the rest of my team who has been serving you for many years,” he added.

Mr Singh, a senior counsel, in a Facebook post on April 23 addressed to Punggol voters, said: “We’re here to earn your trust – by listening, working hard, and, if given the opportunity, we would be honoured to stand up for you and the broader Singaporean community in Parliament.”

The new Punggol GRC, formed after the latest electoral boundary changes, comprises areas carved out from Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC as well as the former Punggol West SMC.

More than half of the constituency’s 120,000 voters are estimated to be working adults aged between 21 and 45, based on The Straits Times’ analysis using Department of Statistics data dated June 2024.

Millennial and Gen Z voters out-represent other age groups in the group representation constituency by a margin of more than 10 percentage points.

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