New faces Louis Ng, Henry Kwek join PAP team for Nee Soon GRC

SINGAPORE – Animal welfare activist Louis Ng and executive director of private investment and trading company Foodtraco Supplies Henry Kwek will be contesting as part of the People’s Action Party (PAP) Nee Soon GRC team in the upcoming polls on Sept 11. 

Mr Ng, 36, founder of wildlife rescue group Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) will be replacing Mr Patrick Tay in his Nee Soon East ward after the latter moved to stand in West Coast GRC. 

Meanwhile, Mr Kwek, 39, will be replacing Mr Inderjit Singh in his Kebun Baru ward, which will be moved from Ang Mo Kio GRC into Nee Soon GRC under the redrawn electoral boundaries. 

The pair round up the Nee Soon GRC team that is led by Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, Dr Lee Bee Wah and Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim. 

Unveiling the line-up at the Nee Soon East PAP branch today (Aug 26), Mr Shanmugam said the newcomers may come from different backgrounds - Mr Kwek and Mr Ng studied economics and biology, respectively - but they are both committed to serving their causes.

He added that for political parties to stay relevant, they need to have a mix of those with experience as well as the younger generation who represent a new ethos.

Opposition Workers’ Party (WP) has indicated that they will be contesting in Nee Soon GRC again. In the 2011 General Election, the PAP defeated the WP with 58.4 per cent of the votes in Nee Soon GRC.

Asked why the PAP teams who were likely to compete against WP in the upcoming polls were one of the last to be revealed, Mr Shanmugam said he had a choice over which date to reveal his candidates and did not coordinate it with the other teams. 

On holding the General Election after National Day celebrations, Mr Shanmugam said any government will choose what they think is the "right time" for election. Singaporeans will not assess the situation based on the national mood, but if there have been improvements in their lives, he added. 

Mr Ng first announced his move to join politics in October last year and has been helping out in Chong Pang since 2008. He also held previous stints at the Kembangan-Chai Chee ward in Marine Parade GRC before understudying veteran PAP politician Charles Chong in Joo Chiat at the start of this year.

Mr Kwek is currently serving both the Kebun Baru and Chong Pang constituencies. Apart from understudying Mr Singh, Mr Kwek was previously branch secretary in Chong Pang as well.