The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) has elected its new central executive committee (CEC) on 20 Mar 2025, with six fresh faces joining the party’s highest decision-making body alongside six re-elected members.
PSP Leadership Renewal Brings New Blood to Top Decision-Making Body
The election took place at the PSP headquarters at Bukit Timah Shopping Centre, where 90 party cadres voted to select 12 members from a pool of 24 candidates. The voting process was highly competitive, with cadres required to surrender their mobile phones before entering the premises.
The CEC election saw six members from the previous committee retain their positions: party founder and chairman Dr Tan Cheng Bock, 84; Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) Mr Leong Mun Wai, 65, and Ms Hazel Poa, 54; as well as Mr A’bas Kasmani, 71; Ms Wendy Low, 48; and Mr Phang Yew Huat, 65.
Advertisements
The six newcomers to the committee are: Mr Samuel Lim, 29; Mr Anthony Neo, 57; Mr S Nallakaruppan, 60; Mr Soh Zheng Long, 36; Mr Jonathan Tee, 50; and Mr Joseph Wong, 68.
Eight members of the previous CEC failed to secure re-election, including several who had been candidates in the 2020 General Election. These included Dr Ang Yong Guan, Mr Harish Pillay, Mr Jeffrey Khoo, Mr Nadarajah Loganathan, and Mr Lim Cher Hong. Among them, only Dr Ang had not sought re-election.
Dr Ang had informed the party in January that he would not seek re-election or contest in the upcoming General Election. His decision came after his suspension as a psychiatrist was extended beyond the initial two-year period following an appeal.
The voting ended at around 10pm, with the final count completed before 11pm. Cadres cheered as the names of the new CEC members were announced one by one.
Leadership Positions and General Election Preparations Remain Under Wraps
The newly elected 12-member CEC will serve for two years until March 2027. The committee may co-opt two more cadres to form a 14-member body, which will then decide the party leadership positions, including who will serve as secretary-general.
When approached by reporters after the election, Mr Leong stated that the party would announce the leadership positions at a later date. He declined to comment further, saying journalists should “wait for the new CEC,” but added that the PSP remained “always ready” for the general election.
The PSP has had four secretary-generals since its founding in 2019. Dr Tan was the first to hold the position, leading the party through the 2020 General Election. He was succeeded by Mr Francis Yuen, who held the post for two years before vacating it in March 2023.
Mr Leong then became secretary-general but stepped down in February 2024 after receiving a correction direction under Singapore’s fake news law for a social media post. Ms Poa, who was previously the party’s vice-chairman, then became its fourth secretary-general.
Advertisements
According to party observers, Ms Poa and Mr Leong are the only serious contenders for the secretary-general position. If Mr Leong reclaims the role, it would mark the fifth leadership change for the party since its inception.
The PSP is expected to contest several constituencies in the upcoming general election, including the newly redrawn West Coast-Jurong West GRC and the neighboring Chua Chu Kang GRC, though their candidate slates have not been confirmed.
In the 2020 General Election, the PSP team—which included Dr Tan, Mr Leong, and Ms Poa—was narrowly defeated by the People’s Action Party (PAP) team led by then-Transport Minister S Iswaran in West Coast GRC, with the PAP winning 51.69 percent of the vote. This close result allowed the PSP to send Mr Leong and Ms Poa to Parliament as NCMPs.
Here's a summary of the Chocolate Finance saga, simplified so even a non-finance kid can understand:
Read Also:
- Malaysia-Bound Travellers Face 2-Hour Delays at Woodlands Checkpoint as March School Holidays Begin
- Kim Soo-hyun’s Agency Denies Dating Minor Kim Sae-ron, Refutes Financial Pressure Claims Following Actress’s Death
- Man Jumps onto Boon Lay MRT Tracks During Rush Hour to Retrieve Phone as Passengers Activate Emergency Stop
- Two Women Disrupt Shanmugam’s Meet-the-People Session with Confrontational Protests over Gaza
- Luxury Bukit Timah Bungalow Converted to High-Stakes Gambling Den; 12 Northern Chinese Suspects Arrested in Police Raid
- Singapore Airlines and Scoot Ban In-flight Power Bank Usage from April 2025 over Safety Concerns
