GE2025: PAP unveils Chua Chu Kang GRC team, Hong Kah North’s Amy Khor to step down

SINGAPORE: The People’s Action Party (PAP) on Monday (Apr 14) introduced its slate of candidates for Chua Chu Kang GRC, led by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong.

Joining him are incumbent MP Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim and two new candidates – former senior civil servant Jeffrey Siow and Assistant Professor Choo Pei Ling from the Singapore Institute of Technology’s health and social sciences cluster. 

Current MP Don Wee, who entered politics as a first-time candidate in the 2020 General Election, will not be standing this year. His departure was confirmed by Mr Gan during the candidate announcement held at the PAP branch office at Block 10 Teck Whye Avenue. 

Senior Minister of State Amy Khor, the current MP for Hong Kah North SMC, will also step down.

Senior Minister of State Low Yen Ling, who previously served in Chua Chu Kang GRC, will contest the newly formed Bukit Gombak SMC, which was carved out during the recent electoral boundaries review. She previously represented the Bukit Gombak ward under the GRC.

NEW FACES

Mr Siow, 47, is the former second permanent secretary at the Ministries of Manpower and Trade and Industry. He retired from public service on Apr 2 after 24 years, during which he also served as principal private secretary to then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong from 2017-2021. 

“Working in the public service holds special meaning for me. I did not come from a well-off family. My parents, like many in their generation, did not have much formal education,” he said at the press conference on Monday. 

“I’m not sharing my life story to ask for sympathy. I’m doing so because this is my story. It is truly who I am, and explains why I spent my career in the public service, and why I am now joining politics.” 

Dr Choo, a neuroscientist and physiotherapist, has been active in the Marine Parade ward under Manpower Minister Tan See Leng since March last year. She was a grassroots adviser for the GRC and has been a community volunteer for more than 20 years. 

“From a young age, I have found meaning in helping people, especially people who cannot help themselves,” she said.

Chua Chu Kang GRC, which has 93,368 voters, will see boundary changes in GE2025. It now includes parts of Hong Kah North – including Tengah estates – and areas from Holland-Bukit Timah. 

These changes follow recommendations by the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee, which cited housing developments in areas like Tengah and Bukit Batok West.

KHOR TO STEP DOWN

Hong Kah North SMC, previously helmed by Dr Khor, has been dissolved. Its remaining districts – including Bukit Batok West – have been folded into the new Jurong East–Bukit Batok GRC.