Confirmed: Yishun’s Ah Hua Jie Retiring from Politics & Won’t Be Contesting in This GE

By
George Yang
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Lest you’re wondering why we’ve inserted the word “confirmed” in the headline, it’s for two reasons:

  1. Clickbait you in
  2. There have been rumours about her retirement

The first rumour came from Hardwarezone forums, whereby someone claimed that a Chinese newspaper has confirmed the news a few days back. However, that thread was later removed.

The second hint came when MustShareNews saw Lee Bee Wah posting a retirement earlier today, but removed it immediately.

And at about 3pm today, our dear Ah Hua Jie finally confirmed her retirement:

Lest you can’t read:

Dear Nee Soon South residents,

The candidates for Nee Soon GRC have been announced.

I am not running this term and am retiring from politics.

As part of Party renewal process, I am glad that a much younger candidate has been fielded.

I have received many messages of support from Singaporeans. I am very touched. It has been a privilege to serve you for the last 14 years. You have become my family. I will miss all of you. Let’s keep in touch on my personal social media.

I will have more time with my family especially my 80-year old mum.

This election will decide who will lead Singapore through a major crisis. I hope you can continue to support the PAP. The PAP Nee Soon GRC team is still led by Minister K Shanmugam Sc and the candidate for Nee Soon South is Carrie Tan.

I have shared my advice and experiences with several PAP candidates, including Carrie. I hope to see them asking tough questions in Parliament in the future. Over the next few days, you might see me walking the ground with them.

These 14 years, so many of you have served alongside me. I have always told you, “Together we can make a difference.” I think we really have.

Thank you.

Well, now you know the reason: she could have been waiting for the announcement of the new candidates before announcing her retirement.

Ms Lee has been in Nee Soon GRC since 2011. Prior to that, she was also kind of in Nee Soon: from 2006 to 2011, she was elected into Ang Mo Kio GRC, whereby her ward was in Nee Soon South. That ward (Nee Soon South) was absorbed into Nee Soon GRC so she’s technically been a Nee Soon South Jie since she entered politics.

Before Parliament dissolve last week, her comrades in Nee Soon GRC were K Shanmugam, Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Louis Ng and Henry Kwek.

In this election, Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam will still take the lead. Mr Kwek will be standing in a new SMC alone that’s craved out from the GRC, while Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim and Louis Ng will continue the fight in their home ground.

Ah Hua Jie will be replaced by Carrie Tan. You can read more about all the PAP candidates here, or just download our app lah.

Image: PAP

The Hong-Hui-Fang-lookalike is the founder of Daughters of Tomorrow (DOT), a charity organisation that facilitates livelihood opportunities for underprivileged women in Singapore. According to the documentary, Tan left her 10 thousand dollars per-month-job to focus on her social enterprise DOT.

Tan has a BA in History from NUS and is currently obtaining a Master’s in Public Administration at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy under a scholarship from Li Ka Shing Foundation.

The 38-year-old was awarded the Most Investment-worthy Social Enterprise by the Asian Centre for Social Entrepreneurship & Philanthropy (ACSEP) under NUS in 2015.

The next year, Tan was awarded Honoree for the Children, World Peace, and Human Rights category in the Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award by Junior Chambers International in Singapore.

Now, of course you’re wondering: okay, one MP is retiring. So? All good things come to an end.

But Ah Hua Jie isn’t just a typical MP. With Liverpool winning its first title in 3 million years, we thought we could finally hear her speak about it in Parliament soon.

Unfortunately, we won’t get the chance.

Reader Bao: Wait, she talks about Liverpool in Parliament?

Yes, indeed she did. Read on.

Ah Hua Jie, the Outspoken & No-Nonsense Sister Flower Who Questions Parliament About the Taste of Desserts

Ah Hua Jie looks and talks like the auntie you meet once a year during Chinese New Year, and if you’re single, you’d try to avoid her because even when she doesn’t speak, her eyes are asking, “Ah Girl ah, when getting a boyfriend?”

She’s not that, but she really takes care of her resident like that auntie.

Many remember her as a storyteller in Parliament, like how she used a story to explain why Singapore shouldn’t sell our land to boost our revenue as it’s a short-term solution:

But all remember her for the quirky ways she expresses her views in Parliament.

Like how she channelled her Liverpool spirit to talk about the first budget mentioned this year:

(Yes, the “wahs” were really from the MPs)

Hearing her speak is like reading a Goody Feed article: the main information is there but it’s peppered with entertainment to keep you engaged.

Reader Bao: You’ve got to be kidding

Yes, that’s the entertainment.

Just recently, she went viral again after questioning the authorities on why dessert shops can be opened during the Circuit Breaker period but not TCM shops:

And of course, she didn’t just question: she wanted an answer and when she didn’t get one, she said if she should ask the question in English again so that the authorities would address her question directly.

To drive home her point, she even asked if ice cream and cakes shops are able to open because they taste better than TCM.

Image: gfycat

Eventually, TCM halls were able to be opened earlier than projected.

Now you know why we’d miss Ah Hua Jie.

And in the meantime, here’s a (disclaimer: sponsored by…Yishun) video about Yishun, the place that she’s served in since she was elected (also please subscribe to our YouTube channel so that you can watch more…sponsored videos?):

Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:

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George Yang
Email: [email protected]