GE2025: 'It's homecoming', says Tan See Leng of Faishal's move to Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC
Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, who helms Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, says the other candidates will be announced in due course.
Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng taking a group photo with residents at a get-together at Koon Seng Park on Apr 12, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Ooi Boon Keong)
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SINGAPORE: Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said on Saturday (Apr 12) that he welcomes Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim to the Marine Parade-Braddell Heights team.
These are his first comments on the upcoming candidate movement after Assoc Prof Faishal, currently a Nee Soon GRC MP, confirmed on Friday that he will move to the Group Representation Constituency helmed by Dr Tan.
Dr Tan said that Assoc Prof Faishal will "anchor" the former Kembangan-Chai Chee ward within the GRC.
Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC has seen some boundary changes, giving up some areas in Chai Chee to East Coast GRC while taking in MacPherson SMC and a small number of polling districts from Potong Pasir and Mountbatten.
"Professor Faishal ... It's homecoming. You know, we really welcome him back to Marine Parade GRC ... I think it's an excellent and a very welcoming return for him to help us with Kembangan."
Assoc Prof Faishal served his first term as part of Marine Parade GRC after the 2006 General Election, before moving to Nee Soon GRC in 2011.Â
The Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC currently has MPs - Dr Tan (Marine Parade), Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng (Braddell Heights), Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman (Geylang Serai) and Mr Edwin Tong (Joo Chiat).
Former Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin, who was MP for Kembangan-Chai Chee, stepped down in 2023 after an extramarital affair.
After the electoral boundaries were redrawn, Mr Tong is widely expected to contest in East Coast GRC, while Ms Tin Pei Ling, currently MP for MacPherson SMC, is seen to be joining the GRC team.
Some new faces from the People's Action Party (PAP) have also been spotted in Marine Parade in the run-up to the election, such as business development director Diana Pang.
When CNA asked about the other candidates in the GRC, and the prospect of having two minority candidates in the line-up, Dr Tan said: "As far as the line-up of the other candidates, I think you will see in the ensuing days ahead. A lot of it, of course, depends on what happens in the run-up to the big day itself."
When pressed further, he added: "You're seeing some of our volunteers in other constituencies as well, right? In fact, much earlier on, we had Dr Choo Pei Ling, you see her now walking around over at Chua Chu Kang, then Miss Diana Pang, she was in East Coast GRC," said Dr Tan.
"In time to come ... when the slate of candidates is firmly lined up, we will, of course, announce it to you at the first port of call, the first available opportunity."
When asked when would be an appropriate time to announce the potential candidate line-up, he said he wants to introduce them "as early as possible", but it is not a "light decision" to take.
"Actually, for us it's more waiting for the right moment, the right opportunity, and getting the alignment with the residents before we can announce," Dr Tan said.
Both the Workers' Party (WP) and the National Solidarity Party may challenge the PAP incumbents in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC.Â
The PAP team beat a WP team in the 2020 General Election with 57.74 per cent of the votes.
Responding to a reporter's question about his team's chances in the upcoming polls, Dr Tan said that they have built up a "good rapport" with the residents in the GRC over the last five years.Â
"I think we built up significant rapport, and we continue to engage them, never for a moment, becoming comfortable or complacent, and we will continue to work hard," he said.
"We continue to take in the feedback ... residents will come up with fresh ideas, we take them on board."
No other MPs or potential candidates were seen at the community event at Koon Seng Park in Joo Chiat where Dr Tan mingled with residents and gave more details about an Estate Upgrading Programme.
Residents were seen coming up to the minister to take photos and give feedback about possible improvements to the estate.
The Ministry of National Development (MND) had in February announced that it would be upgrading 32 older private estates around the island, including parts of Joo Chiat.
Dr Tan said on Saturday that they will be gathering feedback from residents and relaying it to the relevant authorities for the upgrading programme, citing examples like more shelters, better lighting for footpaths and improved drainage.
"When I was walking around networking with the residents, some of them wanted the dog run park, for instance, to be bigger ... How can we improve the walkways?" he said.
"How do we think about continually building up that vibrancy? How do we get our elderly to age very nicely, gracefully in place near home (and) at the same time, the younger generation to build a network, engage them."
