GE2025: Maliki Osman to be replaced by PAP new face Hazlina Abdul Halim on East Coast slate

GRASSROOTS EQUIPPED TO SUPPORT NEW FACES

East Coast GRC was one of the most closely fought constituencies in the 2020 General Election.

The five-person PAP team led by Mr Heng took 53.4 per cent of the vote, defeating a Workers’ Party (WP) slate.

On Saturday, Mr Heng said that his team has been working hard on the ground for the past five years, helping residents and getting their feedback.

“So I would say that sentiment is better than before. But you never, never take any election for granted – never, never take our voters’ support for granted,” he said.

Mr Heng added that the world is now living in a “very turbulent environment”, citing the tariff war as one example of such turbulence, adding that the next few years “will be difficult”.

“So it’s important for us to stay united. I’m confident that the East Coast residents will understand all this and give us their support.”

Asked by CNA if it would be a risky move to potentially replace the current slate of MPs with two new faces – given the backdrop of global uncertainties and the team’s last election results – Mr Heng said that the final line-up will be decided by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, as secretary-general of the PAP.

Mr Edwin Tong acknowledged the interest in retirements and new candidates during elections, but emphasised the party’s focus on leadership renewal.

“For the PAP we also focus on renewal and refreshing, and I think that’s equally important,” he said, citing his own experience serving in different GRCs – first Moulmein-Kallang, then Marine Parade – over three terms as an MP.

“There is a regular cadence of change, and our branches, our activists, our structures, are equipped to deal with that,” he added. “And whoever will be the candidates, whichever is the team that is fielded, the support will be strong.”

On the PAP’s margin of victory in East Coast at the last election, Mr Tong said the team would have to work hard regardless of which opposition party contests the constituency.

“We have to assume that any place that is contested between the PAP and opposition, any opposition, will be heavily contested. The margin is something that we can never take for granted and we will have to work very hard to win every vote to ensure that all our residents’ interests are met, and that they will be comfortable with the team that we will ultimately field at East Coast.”

Both Mr Goh and Mdm Hazlina, when asked how they planned to get up to speed with the community if fielded in East Coast, pointed to their ongoing community work in the area.

According to the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee’s report last month, East Coast GRC will take in Chai Chee HDB estates and Siglap private estates from Marine Parade GRC for the next election.

The constituency will remain a five-MP ward.