Youngest PAP candidate unveiled
The People's Action Party (PAP) unveiled its third batch of new faces on Monday, with one of them being the youngest PAP candidate to contest in the coming General Election.
Ms Tin Pei Ling, 28, a business and management consultant with Ernst & Young Advisory, is married to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's principal private secretary, Ng How Yue. She has been involved in grassroots and community work since she was 21.
She has also been an active volunteer in the Ulu Pandan grassroots, where she currently serves as the chairperson of the Ulu Pandan Youth executive committee and a member of the community development welfare fund committee.
Former Speaker Tan Soo Khoon was the youngest candidate fielded by the PAP in 1976. He was 27 years old.
Ms Tin is most likely be fielded as a new candidate for Marine Parade GRC.
The second candidate is Mr Gan Thiam Poh, senior vice-president of the Institutional Banking Group, DBS Bank.
Having been actively involved in grassroots activities since 1996, Mr Gan's fluency in Mandarin, Hokkien, Teochew and Cantonese has enabled him to work with many Chinese Singaporeans who are more comfortable with dialects.
He is the vice-chairman of both the Citizens' Consultative Committee and the Community Club Management Committee at Potong Pasir. He received the Public Service Medal in 2001 for his dedication to grassroots activities.
Mr Gan shared why the opposition's presence would be good for the next GE.
"I think the opposition is good for Singapore's development, but they must make sure they propose a programme to serve the people and not just oppose the PAP for the sake of it," he told Yahoo! Singapore.
Mr Zainal Sapari, is the first Malay-Muslim candidate unveiled for the coming GE. He is a former Ministry of Education (MOE) superintendent.
The father of six, ranging from four to 18 years, and married for 18 years, is likely to be fielded in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.
His teaching career saw him teach in Tampines Secondary School for 10 years from 1991, before taking on the vice-principal role for two years at East Spring Primary School.
He was principal of Mayflower Primary School for six years before he was appointed an MOE Superintendent in 2010 to oversee a cluster of 12 schools, prior to joining NTUC earlier this month as Director (Special Duty), Industrial Relations.
Mr Zainal said he was looking forward to the challenge. "Without doubt I'm a bit anxious but I do look forward to the challenge and I am heartened by the fact that more and more people are getting interested in politics."
"The quality of the opposition candidates are also getting better, and at the end of the day, I trust that Singaporeans will choose the candidate that best will serve their needs in the long run."
PAP chairman Lim Boon Heng, who introduced the three candidates at the PAP headquarters said that commitment to serve the public was the most important quality the party looked for in new candidates.
He also went on to thank outgoing party members for their contributions to the party.
