The People’s Action Party (PAP) introduced eight new candidates through two virtual press conferences earlier today. The sessions were led by 1st Assistant Secretary-General (1ASG) Heng Swee Keat, and Vice-Chairman Masagos Zulkifli.
Addressing the media at the first virtual press conference through Zoom, 1ASG Heng said that Covid-19 plunged the world into “profound uncertainty” and the Government is doing all it can to protect Singaporeans’ lives and livelihoods. He added that Singapore would face other forms of stressors in the economic as well as the geopolitical system in the post Covid-19 world. Therefore, he added that the upcoming General Elections will allow Singaporeans to select candidates for the next term of Parliament and in turn, selecting the Party to form the next Government that will need to deal with the challenges in the years ahead.
Describing the new faces of PAP for the upcoming General Elections, 1st ASG Heng said, “I’m very glad that this time we have a very interesting and diverse slate of candidates.”
This year, a total of 26 new candidates will be introduced over three days.
The following are the candidates introduced earlier today:
Desmond Tan Kok Ming 陈国明
Desmond Tan Kok Ming, 50, a former civil servant, shared that he felt fulfilled when he can make a difference to people’s lives. He shared his life journey on helping his mother on many jobs, including selling satay in the neighbourhood, just to make ends meet. He was grateful to be awarded the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Merit Scholarship as it allowed him to pursue university education which his family could not afford. The core values that he learnt in serving the people and community spurs him on to take the next step in politics to improve people’s lives.
Edward Chia Bing Hui 谢秉辉
Edward Chia Bing Hui, 36, believes that for individuals and businesses to succeed, society must first be successful. As Co-founder and Managing Director of Timbre Group Pte Ltd, he strongly supports the social mission to support and develop Singaporean musicians and culinary talents. He hopes to be an effective voice for SMEs in Parliament.
Lim Shaw Chuan Ivan 林绍权
Ivan Lim Shaw Chuan, 42, General Manager for Specialised Vessels at Keppel Offshore & Marine, joined Keppel after his GCE ‘O’ Level Examination. He worked through the ranks to his current position. An active volunteer at Henderson-Dawson constituency, he is concerned about the elderly and disadvantaged children, especially those with special needs.
Nadia Ahmad Samdin
Nadia Ahmad Samdin, 30, is an Associate Director at TSMP Law Corporation. She has been serving the community through various organisations in the past 15 years. She shared about the many programmes that she initiated with fellow volunteers to help youths in distress. Passionate about sustainability and environment, she is confident in her generation and she hopes to be the voice for them.
Don Wee Boon Hong 黄文鸿
Don Wee Boon Hong, 43, came from humble beginnings. He spent the first few years of his life in a rental flat with his family. After he obtained a Diploma in Accountancy with Ngee Ann Polytechnic, he went on to further develop himself and enrolled into an undergraduate Accountancy programme. He subsequently got his post-graduate qualifications from local and foreign universities. He wanted to join politics because of a motto he learnt from his alma mater, Nan Hua High School – “to serve the nation when one has the competencies” (他日学成为国家效力).
Hany Soh Hui Bin 苏慧敏
Hany Soh Hui Bin, 33, has been an active volunteer since 2011. She is currently a director at MSC Law Corporation. When she became the Chairperson of Bukit Panjang Zone 2 Residents’ Committee (RC) in 2014, Soh set up her first Community Legal Clinic in the RC Centre. Soh’s late grandmother had always encouraged her to be helpful and to give back to society, especially the old and needy. Through the legal clinic, Soh regularly provides pro bono legal advice to residents. She also conducts regular talks to raise residents’ awareness of legal knowledge, particularly on the importance of estate planning.
Mohd Fahmi Bin Aliman
Mohd Fahmi Bin Aliman, 48, a director at the Administration and Research Unit of National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), was one of Singapore Armed Forces’ (SAF) highest ranking Malay/Muslim regular officers. His biggest accomplishment includes a six-month deployment to Blangpidie for the Aceh Monitoring Mission in 2005, where he was the Deputy Team Leader. Also a former Deputy Chief Executive of MUIS, he participates actively with M3 @Bedok where he got a deeper understanding of the needs of the elderly. He hopes to ensure that our elderly get their support.
Yip Hon Weng 叶汉荣
Yip Hon Weng, 43, a former civil servant, started his career as a teacher in a secondary school and helmed key policy and management positions across the ministries of Education, Manpower and Defence. Most recently, as Group Chief of Silver Generation Office, he mobilised over 500 volunteers to deliver food packs nationwide to over 37,500 seniors and persons with disabilities living alone during the circuit breaker period. He also spearheaded the delivery of health-social programmes for seniors at the local level through the Community Networks for Seniors initiative.
