The People's Action Party (PAP) is making strategic changes in its Aljunied GRC team, replacing branch chairs in a bid to strengthen its position ahead of the upcoming general election. The moves reflect a shift in the PAP's approach to contesting opposition-held wards, emphasizing grassroots connections and candidate performance.
The People’s Action Party ( PAP ) is set to replace the chairmen of its Paya Lebar and Bedok Reservoir-Punggol branches within the opposition-held Aljunied GRC, just six months after the last reshuffle. Current Paya Lebar branch chair Kenny Sim Mong Keang, who assumed the role in August last year, will be stepping down due to health reasons, CNA understands. Political newcomer Daniel Liu is expected to take over the position.
Bedok Reservoir-Punggol branch chair Victor Lye, who has contested the last two elections in the constituency, is also set to hand over the reins to his vice-chairman Adrian Ang. Mr Liu is the managing director of urban planning consultancy Morrow Architects and Planners, and also executive director of Morrow Intelligence, an urban planning data analytics firm. He is the current Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC) chairman of the Nee Soon East ward in Nee Soon GRC. CCCs plan and lead major grassroots activities within constituencies, oversee local assistance programmes, and organise major fund-raising projects and national campaigns. Mr Liu has been volunteering in Nee Soon East – currently represented by Member of Parliament Louis Ng – since October 2014. He is the son of Singapore's former chief planner Liu Thai Ker. He is the organising chairman for the ongoing Springtime Splendor Chinese New Year carnival in Nee Soon.Mr Lye was part of the PAP teams that faced the Workers’ Party (WP) in the five-member constituency in 2015 and 2020. Dr Ang, the 41-year-old director of facility and environmental management company Chye Thiam Maintenance, was previously branch secretary of Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat’s Toa Payoh West-Thomson division in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, before he joined the Aljunied team.Aljunied GRC is not the only opposition-held ward in which the ruling party has made changes in key personnel recently. For example, the PAP recently replaced the Sengkang East branch chair, about a year and a half after he took over from his predecessor Ling Weihong. Political observers told CNA the changes show that the party will not hesitate to switch up its potential line-up in those wards, in order to put together a slate which would give them the best chance of winning back the constituencies. The branch chairs in such wards are typically the party’s candidates when the general election comes around. Singapore Management University’s associate professor of law Eugene Tan said: “I don’t look at these changes as weakening the team. “I think there’s a combination of both, that some of these individuals may not be able to commit their time, and that if the party thinks the current configuration is not going to work for the ward then they will push for a change.” He noted that the new faces being flocked out are given enough time to walk the ground, and for the party to assess their performance. “If the party doesn’t think it’s working out, such as if the residents do not view you favourably, then they have to swap,” said Assoc Prof Tan. Independent observer Felix Tan, who has written about Singapore’s political landscape, said that it also represents a shift in how the PAP fields its candidates. “Instead of bringing in people whom they think can win, such as those with impressive CVs and qualifications, they rather suss out the ground to see who are the ones that are actually in touch and can connect with residents,” he said. He added that figuring out its strategy in opposition-held wards is ultimately quite a new challenge for the PAP. “After all, it is a relatively recent development, just three GEs ago that they lost the first GRC,” he noted. He said that PAP candidates in opposition-held wards have been shifted to run in other constituencies in subsequent elections, after gaining sufficient political experience. For instance, current Senior Minister of State for Manpower and for Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon contested and lost the 2013 by-election in Punggol East. Tampines GRC MP Desmond Choo had also stood unsuccessfully in Hougang for the 2011 General Election and the 2012 by-election. “If they win, they become the M
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