SINGAPORE — Three new faces have been unveiled by the People's Action Party (PAP) to chair its party branches in Sengkang GRC, a sign that they will be the ruling party's candidates there in the next general election.

In a party statement issued by chairman of the PAP HQ Executive Committee Chan Chun Sing on Sunday (March 27), it was revealed that Associate Professor Elmie Nekmat, Ms Theodora Lai and Mr Ling Weihong will replace Mr Ng Chee Meng, Mr Amrin Amin and Mr Raymond Lye, who were part of the team that was fielded against the Workers' Party in GE2020.

Prof Elmie will be the branch chair of Sengkang Central, while Ms Lai will chair Sengkang North and Mr Ling Sengkang East.

Dr Lam Pin Min, branch chair of Sengkang West, will lead the PAP Sengkang GRC team.

Mr Ng, Mr Amrin and Mr Lye will continue to assist the new team.

Mr Ng will also be the adviser to the PAP Sengkang GRC team.

"The Party would like to thank the outgoing branch chairs for their service and contributions to Sengkang GRC, and we look forward to their future contributions in other capacities," said the statement.

Prof Elmie, 40, is an associate professor of Communications and New Media and assistant dean of research in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the National University of Singapore.

He has been a party activist since 2016, including with the Young PAP and Malay Affairs Bureau.

He is a board member of Sport Singapore, council member of Ngee Ann Polytechnic and district councilor for Central Community Development Council.

He is also a member of the Malay Language Learning and Promotion Committee for the Ministry of Education, Malay Language Examination Syllabus Review Committee for Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board and Adviser for the Steering Committee of Community Leaders Forum Leadership and Benefactor Scheme for Yayasan Mendaki.

Ms Lai, 36, is the chief strategy officer of food app company Burpple, and has been a party activist since 2009, including as Chairperson of the PAP Policy Forum from 2019 to 2020.

She is a founding member of the Young Women's Leadership Connection, and of Prep Junior - a free-to-download app which helps to teach Chinese to preschoolers through interactive stories around Singapore.

Ms Lai is also an Advisor with Safespace, a mobile platform that connects people who are going through mental health issues, with mental healthcare professionals.

The party statement also said she is an active community volunteer including as a District Councillor in Northeast Community Development Council.

Mr Ling, 41, is a lawyer in private practice, and has been a party activist since 2015, including as Branch Secretary of Sengkang Central Branch since April 2021 and Assistant Branch Secretary of Woodlands Branch from 2016 to 2018.

He helped to launch the Woodlands Mentoring programme which paired children from low-income families with youth mentors in the community, and was an Assessor for Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act from April to October 2020 and a volunteer with the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme between 2007 and 2016.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.