Trio of NCMPs formally announced
Opposition candidates Lina Chiam, Gerald Giam and Yee Jenn Jong have officially been announced as Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs).
The Returning Officer for the General Election, Mr Yam Ah Mee, made the announcement in the online edition of the Government Gazette.
Chiam is from the Singapore People's Party while Giam and Yee are from the Workers' Party.
Mrs Chiam, 62, is a former nurse and wife of SPP leader, Chiam See Tong. She contested in the Potong Pasir single member constituency and was the opposition's top loser with 49.6 per cent of valid votes cast in the ward, losing by a mere 114 votes to the People's Action Party's (PAP) Sitoh Yih Pin, 47.
Yee, 46, is an entrepreneur who runs educational start-ups and he lost to the PAP's Charles Chong with 49 per cent of valid votes in the Joo Chiat single-seat ward.
Giam, 33, is an IT consultant and former civil servant. He was part of the WP five-member team that contested and lost in East Coast GRC. He was nominated by the WP team to take up the NCMP position.
Singapore's Parliamentary Elections Act provides for the appointment of up to nine NCMPs from among the best losers in an election if no opposition candidates are elected during the general elections.
As six opposition candidates -- five in Aljunied and one in Hougang -- were elected during the May 7 polls, the three seats were offered as NCMP positions by the Returning Officer.
