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Everything About the Losing PAP Team in Sengkang GRC, Which Includes 3 Political Office Holders

2020-07-11 , 2:00 pm

Right now, Singaporeans all across the nation are sleeping like newborn babies after staying up until an ungodly hour to learn the results for the 2020 general election.

One hour before the polls were supposed to close, the Elections Department announced that voting hours would be extended due to long queues at a small number of stations.

So, we tuned in at 10pm hoping to hear some results, but watched videos of buses ferrying polling agents and cats news-bombing instead.

Finally, after what seemed like a decade, the results started coming in, a few of which surprised electors and the parties contesting.

Many hadn’t foreseen such a close fight between the Worker’s Party (WP) and the People’s Action Party (PAP) in East Coast GRC, for example, with PAP’s team winning just 53.41% of the votes despite being led by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat.

The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) also put up respectable numbers against the PAP in West Coast GRC, with 48.31% of the votes.

But the biggest shock of the election was WP’s capture of the newly-formed Sengkang GRC, with 52.13% of the votes.

The main reason why this was a major upset is that the losing PAP team had three political office holders, while WP had three newcomers.

So, who exactly are the candidates that were kept out of parliament?

Raymond Lye

54-year-old Raymond Lye Hoong contested in his first-ever general election this year.

Now Managing Partner of Union Law LLP, Lye said he has benefited from Singapore’s meritocratic system.

When he was younger, his father’s business suffered after the British withdrew from Singapore, saying he remembers “moving from rental housing to rental housing,” and eating “plain noodle lunches”.

“The experience toughened me,” he said. “I worked hard, got some breaks in life and hoped to have improved the lives of my family.”

He graduated with a Bachelor of Law from NUS and has a Graduate Certificate in International Arbitration from NUS as well.

According to CNA, Lye has been volunteering with clans, societies, associations, boards and committees in healthcare, law, education, and media.

Ng Chee Meng

You might be familiar with Ng Chee Meng, the leader of PAP’s team in Sengkang GRC.

Ng joined the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in December 1986 and was a fighter pilot in the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF).

The 51-year-old held many appointments during his time there and was eventually named Chief of Air Force on 10 December 2009 and Chief of Defence Force (CDF) in 2013.

Ng entered politics in 2015 and was part of a six-member PAP team that contested in Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC in GE2015.

The PAP team won 72.89% of the votes in the constituency.

In his five years as MP, Ng has served as the acting Minister of Education (Schools) and Second Minister for Transport and Minister of Education (Schools).

The former fighter pilot joined NTUC in 2018, and was later elected Secretary-General. He’s also a Minister in Prime Minister’s Office.

Reader Bao: What is a Minister in Prime Minister’s Office?

A Minister in Prime Minister’s Office is a minister in the Prime Minister’s office.

Reader Bao: …

Okay, it’s just a minister who works with the PM office because the PM office is very bigly lah.

Reader Bao: I hate Goody Feed

Lam Pin Min

PMD riders will be very familiar with Dr Lam Pin Min.

As Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Transport, Lam was a lightning rod for public anger after a ban on PMDs on footpaths was announced last year.

Earlier in his career, Lam served as a regular medical officer in the SAF and held several appointments in the RSAF.

While in the RSAF, he led the medical team to serve in the United Nations Military Hospital in East Timor during pre-independence.

Lam was part of the PAP team that won Ang Mo Kio GRC in the 2006 general election, defeating WP’s team with 66.1%.

In GE2011, Lam contested in the newly-formed Sengkang West SMC and defeated WP’s Koh Choong Yong with 58.1% of the votes.

He retained Sengkang West SMC in the following election, beating out the same WP candidate.

Lam has served as a Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Transport (which explains why he was there to announce the PMD ban).

Do note that a Minister of State is not a full minister, but kind of like a junior minister. For example, in this case, the “full” Minister of Health was Gan Kim Yong and the “full” Minister of Transport was Khaw Boon Wan.

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Amrin Amin

After graduating with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the National University of Singapore (NUS), Amin attained an LLM from Columbia University in New York.

He became a corporate lawyer and partner at Joseph Tan Jude Benny LLP in 2015 before making a foray into politics.

In GE2015, Amin replaced the outgoing PAP MP Ellen Lee and was part of the team that won resoundingly over the National Solidarity Party (NSP), with 72.28% of the vote.

In his time as an MP, Amin has been appointed Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs and subsequently the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Health.

While a Minister of State is a “junior minister”, a Parliamentary Secretary is like an “assistant minister”. If you watch US political drama often, it’s like the Chief of Staff.

“A Major Loss”

PM Lee, who urged voters last week not to pick “PAP-lite” (i.e WP), said it was a “major loss” to his team and to the “4G leaders.”

The Prime Minister, however, is determined to win back all three constituencies captured by the opposition this election.

“PAP will strive to win back Sengkang GRC. We will also continue to fight to win back on Aljunied GRC and Hougang Single Member Constituency,” he added.

Will that happen? You’ll only have to wait five to six years to find out.

We can only hope that ELD won’t extend the voting hours to 10pm again. It’s no joke having to stay up until 4am just to confirm the results we’ve already known.

And on a side note, politicians have been talking about NCMP (Non-Constituency Member of Parliament) in recent days. So, what’s an NCMP? Do you know that it’s just like an MP but the allowance is much lower? Watch this video to find out more: