GE2015: Then & Now: The faces of GE2011 and this GE

These Singapore politicians were among the most-talked about candidates at the 2011 general elections. We look back at how they fared at the last elections and what has happened since.

By Hong Xinying

Tin Pei Ling

Image: Facebook

Then: She was one of the youngest and most controversial personalities at the 2011 elections. Tin, then 27, drew much flak for her youth and inexperience. She contested and was elected as part of the People’s Action Party (PAP) team for the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency (GRC), alongside former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.

The former Ernst & Young associate was accused of getting into politics through connections (her husband Ng How Yue who was the former Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong). Another oft-heard criticism: That Tin was riding on the wave of support for Goh.

Tin’s poor sound bites at her first doorstop interview – she said her “biggest regret” was her failure to visit a theme park with her parents – didn’t win her any fans either. She was even called materialistic, after a photo of her posing with a Kate Spade bag was unearthed by netizens.

Tin was also often compared to 24 year-old National Solidarity Party (NSP) candidate Nicole Seah, who was also contesting for Marine Parade GRC. They were poles apart, critics observed. Unlike Tin, Seah was articulate, composed and media-savvy.

Image: Grace Fu/ Facebook

Now: She won the ticket. Now 31, Tin has served a member of parliament (MP) for over four years and has won favourable reviews from residents.

She recently gave birth to her first child, a baby boy on 5 Aug, and was seen active on walkabouts while she was heavily pregnant. In a recent interview, Tin told radio channel 938 Live that she was currently on her one-month confinement period.

Tin turned up at a PAP conference on 21 Aug to confirm that she was the party’s candidate for the MacPherson SMC (single-member constituency). MacPherson was previously part of Marine Parade GRC for the 2011 elections. She is contesting against the Workers’ Party’s (WP) Bernard Chen, and National Solidarity Party’s (NSP) Cheo Chai Chen.

Nicole Seah

Then: Seah was seen as the poster girl of NSP at the 2011 elections and was among one of the most prolific and popular opposition leaders.

The then 24 year-old contested for the Marine Parade GRC as part of the NSP team at the last elections. Although the opposition party eventually lost the constituency to PAP, NSP garnered a respectable 43.4 per cent of the votes.

This result was part of what then Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong referred to as “a sea of change in the political landscape” in May 2011. Goh also admitted that Seah’s persuasiveness made her a factor that helped pulled votes for NSP.

Image: File photo from Yahoo Singapore

Post-elections however, things did not go as smooth sailing for Seah. In 2013, she spoke openly on Facebook of the rape and death threats she had received after the elections, along with personal problems she had dealt with, including her grandmother’s cancer diagnosis.

In the same Facebook post, Seah also admitted to feeling “arm-twisted” into bad decisions, citing her endorsement of presidential hopeful Tan Jee Say as one of them. Tan, a former presidential hopeful, is leading the Singaporeans First (SingFirst) team to contest in the Tanjong Pagar GRC in GE2015.

Now: Seah left NSP as of 2014 and is now based in Thailand. She moved to work for the Bangkok branch of advertising firm IPG Mediabrands in 2013, reported The Straits Times newspaper.

The 28 year-old has told The Straits Times that she will not be participating in the coming elections.

Vincent Wijeysingha

Then: Academic and civil activist Vincent Wijeysingha contested for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, as part of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) team, facing off the PAP team led by Vivian Balakrishnan.

During the elections, the 41 year-old opposition politician’s support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights became a talking point when Balakrishnan questioned if Wijeysingha would pursue a “gay agenda”, were he to be elected into government.

This was in response to a YouTube video that featured Dr Wijeysingha at a forum speaking for LGBT rights.

In a video response, SDP secretary-general Chee Soon Juan countered that Wijeysingha was speaking in a private capacity at the forum and considered Balakrishnan’s remarks as “smear tactics”. He stated that neither SDP nor Wijeysingha will pursue the gay agenda and that the party’s “only agenda” was to act as an alternative voice for Singaporeans in parliament.

Shortly after, Wijeysingha reacted to the point of contention at a SDP rally covered by Yahoo Singapore. “Let me assure you all and Singapore from this place. I have no other agenda than your agenda. Why? Because I am one of you,” said Wijeysingha. The SDP team lost, winning only 39.92 per cent of the votes cast.

Image: File photo from Yahoo Singapore

Now: He’s out: Wijeysingha left SDP in 2013, after being in the party for three years from 2010. He announced his resignation in a letter posted on Facebook and the SDP website, to focus on his work for “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and other human rights issues”.

He will be remembered as Singapore’s first openly gay politician: Wijeysingha had made public his sexual orientation in a Facebook post in 2013, where he had also mentioned that he would be attending Pink Dot, a non-profit awareness event held annually in support of LGBT rights.

Although he keeps out of the limelight, Dr Wijeysingha took to Facebook in June 2014 where he alleged that a Catholic priest tried to molest him when he was a teenager. No police report was filed, however, as he had “no confidence in church agencies” and could not see “any good” from lodging a report.

Chen Show Mao

Then: He was a Harvard-educated lawyer, who came off as eloquent and charismatic at the political rallies, had completed his postgraduate studies as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford. The 50 year-old stood for election in Aljunied GRC as part of the Workers Party WP) ticket dream team – along with party chief Low Thia Khiang – and won.

Image: Chen Show Mao/ Facebook

Now: It’s safe to say the People’s Action Party politicians are no fans of Chen and his WP team mates. In a 2013 book ‘One Man’s View of the World by Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Lee had described Chen as a “talented person” who “has not turned out to be so brilliant.” He also said that Chen came off as well-prepared for his speeches at parliament but his follow-up on the discussed matters did not “gel” as well.

The ongoing Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) saga is another source of ongoing Government criticism. The Ministry of National Development (MND) is currently appealing to have independent accountants to co-sign future funds for AHPETC, which is run by WP. Points of contention raised by the MND include the way the town council funds were managed by WP, arrears in sinking fund transfers and some discrepancies in the sums declared for lift-upgrading expenses.

The last application put forth by MND in May 2015 was rejected by the High Court, as only residents of Aljunied GRC and the Housing and Development Board (HDB) could take legal action against the town council. As of August 3, the court reserves judgement on the appeal. WP chairman Sylvia Lim addressed the issues arising from the saga in a recent letter to Aljunied residents.

The residents, however, were unaffected by the AHPETC matter, according to a July report by The Straits Times. Most of the 100 residents that the newspaper spoke to felt that there was little day-to-day difference between the WP and PAP governance.

As for the coming elections, Chen, Low, Lim, Muhamad Faisal Manap and Pritam Singh will defend their seats for Aljunied GRC.

Chen has his share of fans. The 54 year-old has over 41,000 Facebook fans and more than 14,200 Twitter followers.

Desmond Lim

Then: Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) secretary-general Desmond Lim contested for the Punggol East SMC at the 2011 elections, against PAP’s Michael Palmer and WP candidate Lee Li Lian.

This was the only three-way fight at the last general election. Opposition candidates in Singapore typically avoid three-corner contests, where two or more opposition parties will field against incumbent party PAP, as it can divide votes for the opposition voice.

At the 2011 elections, the 43 year-old had to forfeit his $16,000 election deposit as a nominated candidate based on electoral laws, after he garnered the lowest number of votes cast (4.45 per cent).

When a by-election for Punggol East SMC was called after Michael Palmer’s surprise resignation as MP — he stepped down after he confessed to having had an extramarital affair — Lim stood for the ward again.

He contested in a four-way fight with WP’s Lee Li Lian, PAP candidate Koh Poh Koon and Reform Party (RP) head Kenneth Andrew Jeyaretnam at the 2013 by-elections. Again, Lim had to forfeit his election deposit of $14,500, after he gained just 0.57 per cent of votes.

Image: Singapore Democratic Alliance/ Facebook

Now: At the coming elections, the 47 year-old SDA chief is leading a team to contest the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC against incumbent party PAP.

SDA last fielded for the GRC in 2011 and won 35.2 per cent of total votes cast for the constituency.

Desmond Choo

Then: PAP candidate Desmond Choo stood for but failed to win the Hougang SMC seat at the 2011 elections.

He then lost another chance to win the seat the following year: Hougang MP Yaw Shin Leong was expelled from the Worker’s Party after details of an affair emerged. Choo made a bid for the Hougang seat under the PAP ticket but lost the by-election to current WP MP Png Eng Huat.

Image: File photo from Yahoo Singapore

Now: The former high-ranking police officer moved out of Hougang and is part of the PAP slate for Tampines GRC led by Education Minister Heng Swee Keat at the coming elections. He has been serving as second advisor to the grassroots at Tampines East since September 2014.

The 37 year-old previously held a grassroot position in Hougang GRC from 2011.

Lui Tuck Yew

Then: Former Housing and Development Board (HDB) head Lui Tuck Yew was fielded and elected as MP for Moulmein-Kallang GRC at the 2011 elections.

He was part of the Tanjong Pagar GRC team headed by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew that won in the 2006 elections. The Tanjong Pagar ward was then split to become part of the Moulmein-Kallang GRC at the 2011 elections.

Lui also rose quickly up the political ranks. He was named Minister of State for Education in the same year. In 2010, he was made full minister of Information, Communications and the Arts, after serving as its Acting Minister for a year.

In 2011, he became Transport Minister.

Image: File photo from Yahoo Singapore

Now: On August 14, Lui announced that he was quitting politics. It was a shocking decision for many. However, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong took to Facebook earlier this month to say he “reluctantly accepted” the resignation after he and other Cabinet ministers had failed to convince Lui to stay on.

When interviewed by Today newspaper after the news broke, 54 year-old Lui said it was a personal decision to quit. The speculation over his resignation continues: Some cite his difficult term as transport minister as one of the possible reasons for his resignation.

In a letter addressed to Lee, Lui acknowledged the “setbacks” he had faced during his tenure as transport minister. A series of large-scale disruptions to train services have been occurring since 2011. Just last month, services for the North South and East West Lines stopped simultaneously for three hours on a weekday evening.