GE2015: PAP's Lim Biow Chuan to defend his Mountbatten SMC seat
Lawyer Lim Biow Chuan of the People's Action Party (PAP) will defend his Mountbatten single member constituency (SMC) seat in the upcoming election.
Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin introduced Lim as the ruling party's candidate for the constituency in a press briefing Friday morning outside the PAP's branch at Old Airport Road.
Lim defeated Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss for the seat in 2011 when she was under the National Solidarity Party (NSP). He will likely face her again, as she has said she intends to contest the constituency under the banner of the Singapore People's Party (SPP).
One of the issues that Lim has been championing over the past nine years in Mountbatten is education, and the importance of character development in schools.
"I think you can be a very intellectual person and do well in studies, but if students grow up without basic core values, it will do Singapore a disservice," he said.
Making public transport more accessible
Lim also highlighted the issue of of public transport accesibilitly, saying that the frequency of busses have increased through his feedback to the Land Transport Authority (LTA), and a new pedestrian crossing had been implemented for residents, which had benefitted residents, especially the elderly.
He made a commitment to make trains and busses more efficient and comfortable so that more Singaporeans would choose to take public transport, instead of owning cars.
"I acknowledge that we are a small nation, we need to restrict vehicle ownereship, therefore COE is something we cannot do away with ... but we can do more to make public transport a preferred choice," he said.
Tackling consumer issues
As the president of the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE), Lim said that he has always been championing consumer rights and would continue to do so in reviewing the policies surrounding consumer issues.
"We conduct surveys on the price of food, educate consumers so that they know that they have choices and work with businesses to come onboard to have fair business policies," he said.
On what edge he may have over the opposition, Lim pointed out he has been more visible than his rival.
"I have been here every week. I'm here on the ground four to five times a week," he said. "If you can work hard, I think citizens can see and decide what is in their best interest."
"In terms of policies, I know I have easy access to ministers, and that I think allows me the opportunity to impact policies directly," he added.
When asked about his confidence on winning the upcoming election, Lim replied, "I try never to relate results to the work I do. Ultimately it is the residents' choice and a prediction of results is not useful."
