GE2025: PSP top leaders Tan Cheng Bock, Leong Mun Wai, Hazel Poa to contest West Coast-Jurong West GRC

SINGAPORE: The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) on Sunday (Apr 20) announced its slate for West Coast-Jurong West GRC, signalling a highly anticipated rematch in one of the most closely watched battlegrounds for the election. 

The party's top three leaders – chairman and founder Tan Cheng Bock, secretary-general Leong Mun Wai and vice-chairperson Hazel Poa – will stand for election in the West Coast-Jurong West GRC. All three were part of the PSP team that nearly clinched West Coast GRC in 2020.

They will be joined by newcomers Sani Ismail and Sumarleki Amjah, rounding up the five-member slate. 

Their opponents are expected to be a People’s Action Party (PAP) team led by National Development Minister Desmond Lee. He will be joined by former West Coast MP Ang Wei Neng and Mr Shawn Huang, whose Taman Jurong division was moved over from Jurong GRC, and two newcomers – orthopaedic surgeon Hamid Razak and lawyer Cassandra Lee.

This election marks a return to the fray for Dr Tan, Mr Leong and Ms Poa, who were part of the PSP’s 2020 team that came within a few percentage points of winning.

That contest – the most tightly fought race of GE2020 – saw the PAP narrowly retain West Coast GRC with 51.69 per cent of the vote. The PSP secured two Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) seats as a result.

The PAP team they are likely to face has seen significant changes – former transport minister S Iswaran resigned in January 2024 after he was charged with corruption. He had been an MP in the GRC since 1997. MPs Foo Mee Har and Rachel Ong will not return to the slate. It remains unclear if they will contest elsewhere.

The GRC has also seen significant boundary changes. Renamed West Coast-Jurong West, it now includes parts of Jurong West and Taman Jurong, and has an expanded electorate of 158,581 voters.

To maintain voter-to-MP ratios, areas such as Harbourfront and Sentosa were shifted to Radin Mas SMC, while Dover and parts of Telok Blangah were moved to Tanjong Pagar GRC.

The PSP team acknowledged that it would be an uphill battle to wrest West Coast-Jurong West from the PAP, with Taman Jurong - the ward of now-President Tharman Shanmugaratnam - being added to the GRC.

Dr Tan said: “When they pushed us here, at first we were a little bit worried.”

But he noted that the area is familiar to him, as he has practiced in clinics here.

“When I look around, (I feel like) I’m coming home, and when I go around, I am so cheered by the fact that many of the residents call me their doctor,” he added. 

“So I hope they will now allow me and my team to look after them as parliamentarians, and help to bring this particular place to a higher level of growth and also maintenance.”

Mr Leong reiterated that it will be “a tough fight” with the new boundaries and the short runway, but said the team is prepared to take it on. 

Addressing why he and Ms Poa decided not to contest an SMC, Mr Leong said: “We have decided that Dr Tan, Hazel and I contesting together in West Coast-Jurong West GRC will be the best way to thank West Coast GRC residents for having supported us strongly in the last election.”

He added that it will probably be the last General Election for Dr Tan. The 84-year-old political veteran previously served as an MP under the PAP banner for 26 years.

“We continue to need (Dr Tan) to be with us in parliament, to guide us to be outstanding MPs like him, always having the interest and welfare of residents at heart,” added Mr Leong.

Ms Poa said that she felt it was a “matter of principle” that she thought she should be fielded at an SMC, and this plan was initially considered.

“But subsequently, as a party, we came to a decision together… After all, it is the West Coast residents who put both of us into parliament as NCMPs, and we should continue to offer ourselves to serve the residents if they would give us this opportunity,” she said. 

SANI ISMAIL 

Mr Sani has participated in PSP walkabouts in both Chua Chu Kang GRC and, more recently, in West Coast-Jurong West GRC. 

The 49-year-old, who is managing director and legal counsel of a condominium management firm, has been featured regularly on the party’s Facebook pages for Chua Chu Kang and Hong Kah North. 

Mr Sani read law at Thames Valley University in the United Kingdom. Subsequently, he worked in executive positions in various sectors there. 

His career spans from private firms to a regional development agency with exposure in many areas, including trade negotiations within the European Union. 

Mr Sani returned to Singapore in 2013, and has worked as an in-house legal counsel for various industries. 

Mr Sani said that he joined the PSP due to his “political passion” and “alignment of values” to the party.

He said that if elected, he would advocate for “employee centric” proposals such as increasing the statutory annual leave from seven days to 14 days, implementing a minimum living wage, and increasing the number of public holidays.

“As an employer, I think these are measures that would help to improve the well-being of the workforce, and in return, it could increase productivity,” he said.

Mr Sani added that he also wants to cultivate a spirit of entrepreneurship among Singaporeans.

“It could turn the tables (from) Singaporeans asking, ‘where are the good jobs’ to Singaporean entrepreneurs themselves being the jobs creator, creating those good jobs for fellow Singaporeans,” he said.

He added that his wife is originally from Poland and has now settled in Singapore, and as such, he would also like to speak up on issues surrounding transnational marriages here.

SUMARLEKI AMJAH 

Mr Sumarleki is a first-time election candidate and a former volunteer with the Workers’ Party. 

The 53-year-old has been seen at PSP ground engagements in West Coast-Jurong West GRC. 

Professionally, he is the head of processed business and business development covering Southeast Asia and the Middle East at a multinational food and beverage company. 

Mr Sumarleki has more than 25 years of strategic marketing, sales and general management experience in senior positions at international companies.

Mr Sumarleki shared with the media that he is active in the Malay community, being a long-time Silat practitioner. 

He previously served as assistant secretary-general of the Singapore Silat Federation for a term. He also set up the Macan Association in 1998, which now has eight silat clubs under its umbrella, and continues to serve as its president.

Mr Sumarleki said he wants to champion the priority of jobs for Singaporeans.

“I think this is one of the most important, critical areas (to) address as a nation,” he added.

When asked to elaborate, he said he has “not heard from the government a new economic direction for the country”.

“Rather, we’ve been very reactive with our economic policies,” he said, citing the new task force to study the new tariffs by the US.

He added that he has been walking both in his own capacity and with the PSP.

“For the past one year, the biggest worry amongst us Singaporeans is job security and job opportunities,” he said.

“I think it is just right for us to champion this course so that our fellow Singaporeans can live a life with dignity.”