PUBLISHED ONApril 13, 2025 8:45 AMByKhoo Yi-HangA four-member team from the People's Action Party (PAP) led by former senior minister of state Dr Lam Pin Min and comprising three new faces will contest Sengkang GRC in the upcoming General Election.
The new candidates are Associate Professor Elmie Nekmat, venture capital firm director Theodora Lai, and food and beverage company director Bernadette Giam. They were introduced alongside Dr Lam, who is an ophthalmologist, at a press conference on Sunday (April 13) at PAP's Sengkang West branch in Anchorvale.
This team is a "refreshed" one formed after learning from the experience of General Election 2020, Dr Lam said.
"We did post mortem on some of the reasons why we lost, if you look at the refreshed Sengkang team, now you can tell the difference from the last one," Dr Lam explained.
Lai, 39, Giam, 38, and Dr Nekmat, 43, are younger than their counterparts from the previous team that consisted of labour chief Ng Chee Meng, 56; Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs and Health Amrin Amin, 47; and lawyer Raymond Lye, 59.
Dr Lam, 56, also said: "We realised after GE2020 that there is actually a call for younger candidates, as well as female candidates that can best represent female residents within Sengkang GRC."
It wasn't just the candidates that might not have been the best suited for taking Sengkang GRC, however, but also other factors such as Covid-19 restrictions that inconvenienced and frustrated many of the voters in the constituency, he added.
Introducing the team, Dr Lam said: "My team is no stranger to Sengkang residents and to many of you. Over the past three to four years, we have been walking the ground serving the community with the exception of our newest member, Bernadette."
He added that although their professional backgrounds may differ, they share the "same passion to serve Sengkang residents and to win back their trust".
Calling for support from Sengkang residents, Dr Lam also stated: "A vote for our team means experienced leadership, renewed energy and the steadfast commitment to Sengkang's progress."
Sengkang GRC is currently held by a Workers' Party (WP) team led by lawyer He Ting Ru, after their win over the PAP's team led by Ng in 2020. Ng was then minister in the Prime Minister's Office.
WP won 52.13 per cent of the votes against the PAP team then.
He's team consisted of economics professor Jamus Lim, financial analyst Louis Chua and social enterprise founder Raeesah Khan — however, Khan resigned from her position in 2021 after admitting to lying in Parliament.
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