PAP candidates could start unveiling plans for residents: Khaw

SINGAPORE — Over the next few weeks or months, People’s Action Party (PAP) candidates could be expected to start articulating their plans for their constituencies and residents, following yesterday’s release of the electoral boundaries report, said PAP chairman and National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan.

Mr Khaw, who is also a Sembawang GRC Member of Parliment, was speaking to reporters this morning (July 25) on the sidelines of a community event. “As we get closer to campaign period, I will expect local candidates to be able to articulate what are their dreams based on feedback from the residents, what contributions they can make, why they should be supported, what kind of work do expect to deliver to serve the people,” he said.

Having served in the GRC for about a decade, Mr Khaw said he would like to carry on serving residents in Sembawang and without elaborating, he added that he has plans for the area such as, for example, exploring what can be done on the empty fields. “I’ve gotten to know the people extremely well. We’ve done some work together and you can see the changes over the last 10 years but there’s so much more I would like to do,” he said.

While potential new PAP candidates such as Mr Amrin Amin and Mr Ong Ye Kung have been seen helping out in Sembawang GRC for almost a year, Mr Khaw was tight-lipped on whether they would be fielded.

Under the new electoral boundaries, Sembawang GRC remains a five-member GRC. Nevertheless, its Woodgrove division has been carved out to form the new Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC. On the changes, Mr Khaw said that the Sembawang and Woodlands towns have grown too big to be grouped under a single GRC. “But regardless, we’ll continue to work together with the other team so that the residents living in Woodlands town should not feel in any way neglected,” he said.

Mr Khaw said: “As a MP, I too prefer smallness because as a smaller GRC, we can travel round the area frequently. If the area is big, of course you can also travel round the whole place but it takes a bit longer. So small is beautiful.”

Mr Khaw, who is the anchor minister for Sembawang GRC, was coy on whether any of his MPs could be moved out to the neighbouring new GRC. He said that based on the new boundaries, the area looked after by first-term MP Ong Teng Koon would become part of the new GRC. However, there are “bound to be” changes, he said. The other members on his current team are Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Education and Manpower) Hawazi Daipi, Ms Ellen Lee and Mr Vikram Nair.

Mr Khaw said: “We can never assume where will be our stronghold and the key point is serve your people well and you’ll be strong. If you don’t serve people well, you’ll be weak. It’s as simple as that. Whether it’s North, South, East or West, just do your best, that’s the most important thing. Now that the (electoral) map is out, we will have to refine our strategy and I’m sure we’ll always have a good anchor (minister) in whichever GRC, whether it’s old or new.”