GE2025: Desmond Lee's PAP team to defend West Coast-Jurong West GRC in rematch against Tan Cheng Bock's PSP
This election marks a return to the fray for Dr Tan Cheng Bock, Mr Leong Mun Wai and Ms Hazel Poa, who were part of the Progress Singapore Party team that came within a few percentage points of winning West Coast GRC in 2020.
Top row from left: PAP's Ang Wei Neng, Hamid Razak, Desmond Lee, Cassandra Lee and Shawn Huang. Bottom row from left: PSP's Leong Mun Wai, Sani Ismail, Tan Cheng Bock, Sumarleki Amjah and Hazel Poa. (Photos: CNA/Jeremy Long)
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SINGAPORE: The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) will once again challenge the People's Action Party (PAP) in the redrawn West Coast-Jurong West GRC, setting up a high-profile rematch from the 2020 General Election.
Candidates from both parties successfully filed their nomination papers at Nan Hua High School on Wednesday (Apr 23).
PSP chairman Tan Cheng Bock, secretary-general Leong Mun Wai and first vice-chairperson Hazel Poa – all part of the team that nearly unseated the PAP in 2020 – will return to the fray. Joining them are newcomers Sani Ismail and Sumarleki Amjah.
They will go head-to-head with a PAP team led by Minister for National Development Desmond Lee. The slate includes former West Coast MP Ang Wei Neng, former Jurong GRC MP Shawn Huang and two new candidates – orthopaedic surgeon Hamid Razak and lawyer Cassandra Lee.
"Thank you for giving us the privilege to serve you over the past five years," said Mr Lee, addressing the crowd at Nan Hua High School, as PAP supporters cheered and waved party flags.
"We are here to serve you and we seek your support over the next five years, to look after your estate and continue to serve you for five years and onwards."
The five PSP members took the stage next, taking turns to address the crowd in English, Mandarin, Tamil and Malay.
"We are back and ready to serve you," said Dr Tan, starting off the speeches to raucous cheers from supporters clad in red.
Addressing the crowd in Mandarin, Ms Poa invited PSP's opponents to "a clean debate".
"We are grateful for the strong support," said Mr Leong, noting that the electoral boundaries have changed but the team is not discouraged.
"We have a strong manifesto, with many policies to help Singaporeans to have better lives."
In 2020, the PSP came within a few percentage points of victory in what was the tightest race of the election. The PAP retained West Coast GRC with 51.69 per cent of the vote, while PSP secured two Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) seats as the best-performing losing team.
The PAP team they face has seen significant changes. Former transport minister S Iswaran, a West Coast MP since 1997, resigned in January 2024 after he was charged with corruption. MPs Foo Mee Har and Rachel Ong are also not returning to the slate.
The GRC's boundaries have also been redrawn. 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.
Before 2020, West Coast GRC had traditionally been a PAP stronghold since it was formed in 1997. At the 2015 election, PAP won 78.57 per cent of the votes against the Reform Party. The four-member PAP team led by Iswaran was among the best-performing PAP teams that year.
