GE2020: PAP new candidates Gan Siow Huang, Yip Hon Weng to run in SMCs

SINGAPORE — People’s Action Party (PAP) new candidates Gan Siow Huang and Yip Hon Weng will run in Single Member Constituencies (SMCs), with Ms Gan contesting in Marymount SMC and Mr Yip in Yio Chu Kang SMC. 

On Tuesday (June 30), the pair submitted their nomination papers for the respective single-seat wards at Deyi Secondary School nomination centre. 

Ms Gan, 45, will come up against the Progress Singapore Party’s (PSP) candidate Ang Yong Guan, 65, while Mr Yip, 43, will face PSP’s Kayla Low, 43.

Ms Gan, Singapore Armed Forces’ first woman brigadier-general, was at first expected to stand as part of the team in Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency (GRC). 

Mr Yip is a career public servant and was, until recently, group chief of the Agency for Integrated Care’s Silver Generation Office, and was the advisor of care integration in the Ministry of Health. 

Both were introduced as new candidates by PAP last week.

At a doorstop interview after the nominations were confirmed, the PAP leader for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, Mr Ng Eng Hen, was asked about the party’s decision to put Ms Gan in Marymount.

“The party decides where we go, but I was quite glad that Ms Gan was sent to Marymount. For us, it meant the least disruption because we stay in our divisions and also I think it is a vote of confidence that she is able to hold her own even though she is a new candidate,” said Mr Ng.

“And we have decided, if all four of us and Ms Gan are elected, that we would like to continue as one town council. and that’s for the reasons of economies of scale.” 

Mr Ng is fielded in Bishan-Toa Payoh with fellow incumbent Members of Parliament Chee Hong Tat, Chong Kee Hiong and Saktiandi Supaat. Mrs Josephine Teo was also an MP in the GRC, but she will be contesting in Jalan Besar this time round. The GRC was reduced from five members to four following a change in electoral boundary.

Speaking to reporters before entering the nomination centre on Tuesday, Ms Gan said she felt confident about her chances in the SMC as she has met many residents and formed a bond with supporters and activists on the ground.  

She also pointed out that she has been walking the ground in the last year, engaging with residents and helping out in events alongside Mrs Teo. 

On contesting against Ms Gan in Marymount, PSP’s Mr Ang said he was “very pleased” with the opportunity and was happy that it was a one-to-one contest. 

“People now are saying it’s a colonel versus a general, a lady versus a gentleman. Therefore, people are now paying attention to this new SMC, Marymount”, he stated in a video on Facebook on Tuesday afternoon. 

Mr Ang is a practising psychiatrist who served 23 years in the Singapore Armed Forces and had done 15 years of grassroots work.

Mr Ang said that Ms Gan was “obviously very capable”, but he was “not sure” about how she could contribute to better Singapore’s political landscape. 

Citing his past electoral experiences and his position as a longtime grassroots leader, he said: “I feel that I can contribute better than her in some areas, and I will try my best to emphasise these areas so that the voters in Marymount…will cast their votes for me.”

After his nomination was confirmed, Mr Yip was also asked how he felt about being a new candidate in an SMC.

He said he has been volunteering in the Yio Chu Kang ward for several months. The former civil servant had been shadowing the ward’s incumbent MP Dr Koh Poh Koon, who will be standing in Tampines GRC this time round. 

“It’s usually difficult to be a new candidate, but I have been walking the ground for the last few months, meeting residents, finding out their needs and listening to the ground and finding out what their various concerns and needs are. So in this election I am confident and I will do my best,” said Mr Yip. 

Mr Yip added that his immediate priority is to see how best to improve the living environment in Yio Chu Kang and improve the community spirit. 

PSP’s Ms Low, a chartered accountant, said her priorities are to help the ward's elderly residents cope with Singapore’s high cost of living. 

After her nomination was confirmed, Ms Low wrote in a Facebook post: “I have been and will continue to be here at Yio Chu Kang SMC to be of service to the residents. Your decision will impact you and your family's life.”