The two men will be trying to win the hearts of Hougang residents for the right to be the Member of Parliament for the single member constituency.
Desmond Choo is the pick of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), while Png Eng Huat is the bet of the opposition Workers’ Party.
Residents will troop to the polls on 26 May to make their choice.
Here’s a closer look at the candidates.
Choo
PAP candidate Desmond Choo (Yahoo! photo)
34-year old Choo has long been a member of Singapore’s labour movement.
In his current post at the National Trades Union Congress, he deals with issues related to wages, community engagement and labour market monitoring. He is also concurrently the executive secretary of the Union of Security Employees and of the Singapore Shell Employees Union.
Prior to NTUC, he had served in various roles in the Singapore Police Force and Ministry of Manpower. Choo was the deputy commander at Clementi Police Division from 2009 to 2010.
Before his appointment as the Second Adviser to Hougang Grassroots Organisations in February 2011, he had worked extensively in the Marsiling and Tampines East constituencies.
In Hougang, he has initiated a healthcare scheme to benefit poor residents, and coffee sessions for residents to be directly involved in building their community.
Choo studied in Ai Tong Primary School, Catholic High School and National Junior College. He was awarded the SPF Overseas Merit Scholarship in 1997 to study Economics at the University of Chicago.
He is married to Pamela Lee.
The PAP candidate lost to then Workers’ Party Yaw Shin Leong in last year’s General Elections (GE), as he garnered just 35.2 per cent of the votes -- the lowest share of votes by a PAP candidate in the constituency.
Png
WP's Png Eng Huat, third from right. (Yahoo! photo)
50-year-old Png joined the Workers’ Party in 2006.
He was first fielded by the opposition party in last year’s general election. His team garnered 45.17 per cent of votes in the East Coast group representation constituency, getting the third-highest result for his party.
Png graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Radio-TV-Film from the University of Texas at Austin. He has work experience in public service TV production, multimedia design and programming, data broadcasting and business development.
He has worked in various firms, from smaller joint ventures to big companies like Philips Singapore and NTUC Income. Currently, he is semi-retired and manages his own businesses.
Png has been part of the Hougang Constituency Committee since 2007, helping to organise grassroots activities and taking care of needy residents in the ward. He also work with volunteer organisations to distribute food to lower-income residents several times a week.
After former Yaw was expelled from WP, Png took over as chairperson of the committee, and has been present at the Hougang weekly Meet-the-People Sessions.
Png is married and has a son and daughter, aged nine and 10. He is English-educated, and is fluent in Hokkien (his main dialect) and Cantonese, although he also understands Teochew, as his wife's family is from that dialect group.
The two men will be trying to win the hearts of Hougang residents for the right to be the Member of Parliament for the single member constituency.
Additional reporting by Melissa Aw
