SINGAPORE: In one of the tightest contests in the General Election so far, People’s Action Party (PAP) candidate Ng Chee Meng clinched electoral victory in Jalan Kayu Single Member Constituency (SMC) with 51.47 per cent of the vote, beating Workers’ Party (WP) candidate Andre Low.
Mr Ng’s result at the polls on the Saturday (May 3) marks the return of the former minister in the Prime Minister’s Office to parliament, after he was defeated by WP in 2020 as part of a four-man team in the newly created Sengkang Group Representation Constituency (GRC).
The 56-year-old clinched 14,113 votes and Mr Low, a former lawyer, took 13,307 votes in the newly formed SMC.
Jalan Kayu SMC was carved out of Ang Mo Kio GRC, which had the most voters across all wards, in the electoral boundaries review last month.
The new ward, which has 29,565 registered voters, includes private estates along Jalan Kayu Road, the Seletar Aerospace Park and a portion of public housing blocks in Fernvale.
It is Mr Ng’s third time standing in an election, but his first time doing so in an SMC.
Speaking in the early hours of Sunday morning, he said to the people gathered to wait for the results at Yio Chu Kang Stadium: “I will serve you with humility and heart. We will build a Jalan Kayu that is stronger, kinder and more inclusive.”
He added: “I want to thank all members of my team that have walked this journey with me. It was a very hard fight and without all of you, this outcome would not have been possible.”
The secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) had previously said he would want to be elected to parliament based on his own merit and not because he was “parachuted into a safer seat”.
Mr Ng remained active in politics after his previous loss and was co-opted into the ruling party’s 38th central executive committee in December last year.
His opponent from WP, Mr Low, had joined the opposition party in 2020 and is a member of the party’s media team. This is his first time standing in an election.
Mr Low previously served as a secretarial assistant to Sengkang GRC MP Louis Chua for over three years, supporting grassroots engagement, policy research and weekly Meet-The-People Sessions.
Speaking to supporters at Serangoon Stadium, Mr Low said that while it is “not what we hoped for”, he respects the outcome as part of the “democratic process that is at the heart of our nation”.
“I would like to congratulate Mr Ng for his victory today. The residents of Jalan Kayu have spoken and I respect their decision.”
