PAP rolls out General Election heavyweights
Two new candidates that could form the core of Singapore's fourth-generation leadership were revealed to the People's Action Party activists on Friday night, and another two are set to be introduced on Saturday.
According to The Straits Times, former army chief Chan Chuan Sing was introduced in Buona Vista on Friday night, and former Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) head Heng Swee Keat was present at a closed-door meeting at Tampines.
Major-General Chan joined the Singapore Armed Forces in 1987 and stepped down as army chief last Friday. He is expected to contest in Tanjong Pagar GRC in the coming General Election.
"I've started on this new path, but the work that I do will be no different from what I had to do 20 years ago, when I had to go down to each and every soldier to win their trust," he said to an audience of PAP grassroots leaders.
Switching effortlessly between English, Mandarian and even a smattering of Bahasa Indonesia, he said he would work the ground at Buona Vista "to get to know the residents... their concerns and aspirations... then we can build a team together."
Heng, 49, has not been officially announced as a PAP candidate but Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong welcomed him to politics in a Facebook post on Friday.
SM Goh described Heng, who spent six years in MAS, as a "high-flier and sound central banker" with the "potential to be a minister and core member of the fourth generation team".
On Thursday, Heng bade farewell to his MAS staff by going floor to floor to say goodbye.
Likely to be fielded in Tampines GRC, now anchored by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan, Heng could be set to follow in the footsteps of former civil service high-fliers such as Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan.
On Saturday, SM Goh will introduce Brigadier-General Tan Chuan Jin to Kampong Ubi branch activists as their prospective Member of Parliament.
Former Energy Market Authority chief executive Lawrence Wong will also be meeting Boon Lay residents at an evening event.
The paper noted that all four candidates will be placed in GRCs where the current anchor minister is a senior politician but who does not have second-in-command to take over the helm.
As SM Goh, who asked the Prime Minister for a strong new candidate, wrote in his Facebook page last weekend,"In this general election, I am planning for someone to succeed me in leading the GRC one day."
