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SINGAPORE: The Singapore People's Party (SPP) hopes to avoid a three-cornered fight at familiar battleground Potong Pasir, but People's Alliance for Reform (PAR) secretary-general Lim Tean said his party “very much plans to contest there” too. 

In a Facebook post on Mar 11, Mr Lim announced that the PAR will contest in two Group Representation constituencies (GRC) and eight Single Member Constituencies (SMC), one of which is Potong Pasir SMC.

The SMC, which is a former stronghold of opposition veteran Chiam See Tong, is one that SPP is going to contest in the upcoming General Election, said its secretary-general Steve Chia during a walkabout in Toa Payoh on Saturday (Mar 29). 

“SPP has been contesting Potong Pasir all these years, ever since Mr Chiam See Tong, Mrs (Lina) Chiam, Jose Raymond,” he said. “This coming election, we will still be contesting in Potong Pasir, we cannot let the people of Potong Pasir down.” 

He said that he had spoken with Mr Lim in the last week to tell his party that SPP is “very firm with our candidate contesting in Potong Pasir”.

Responding to queries from Â鶹, Mr Lim said that Potong Pasir is still one of PAR’s “top priorities”. 

“We very much plan to contest there,” said Mr Lim, founder of Peoples Voice, which is a component party of the PAR. 

Asked to respond to Mr Lim’s stance, Mr Chia said: “I have not heard from him directly (since the last conversation), so we probably have to meet again before nomination day to finalise and tie down."

When queried if giving way to PAR to contest in Potong Pasir is an option, Mr Chia said: “I won’t commit to the media on that.” 

Mr Lim also told Â鶹 that he is glad that Mr Chia “wants to avoid a three-cornered fight”. 

“I am hopeful we will come to an agreement.

“PAR has a very strong candidate for Potong Pasir who can defeat the PAP, and the important thing is for the opposition to win back Potong Pasir after 14 long years,” he added. 

Mr Chiam, who turned 90 earlier this month, held his seat in Potong Pasir for 27 years. First under the Singapore Democratic Party banner from 1984, and then under the SPP banner from 1997 to 2011, when his wife, Mrs Chiam, lost the seat to People Action Party’s (PAP) Sitoh Yih Pin in the 2011 General Election. 

Mr Sitoh would hold the seat for the next two polls, most recently defeating SPP candidate Jose Raymond in the 2020 General Election, winning 60.67 per cent of the votes. 

SPP TO CONTEST IN BISHAN-TOA PAYOH

Mr Chia announced that other than Potong Pasir, the party also plans to contest in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, the same two constituencies it battled in the last election. 

Mr Chia and his party - including past candidates at Bishan-Toa Payoh Melvyn Chiu and Williiamson Lee, walked around various hawker centres, coffeeshops and markets along Toa Payoh Lorong 4 on Saturday morning, shaking hands with residents and handing out flyers. 

Mr Chua, Mr Chiu and Mr Lee, along with past candidate Osman Sulaiman, had contested the GRC against the PAP team comprising Mr Chee Hong Tat, Mr Chong Kee Hiong, Dr Ng Eng Hen and Mr Saktiandi Supaat, losing with 32.77 per cent of the votes. 

He said that while the slate of five candidates for both constituencies - one for Potong Pasir and four for Bishan-Toa Payoh - have already been confirmed, the party is not announcing any names until nomination day. 

“You will know on nomination day,” he said. 

Mr Chia added that he is grateful that there were no major shifts to the boundaries of the constituencies he plans to contest. 

“For us, maybe I will use the word lucky, that for the last five years we have been going to the right places, and speaking to the same residents,” he said. 

He added that Mr Raymond, SPP’s candidate for Potong Pasir in the last election, had left the party since then.

“A new candidate will be going to Potong Pasir,” he said. 

Asked for updates on Mr Chiam’s health, Mr Chia added that the nonagenarian is “as good as he can be for his age”. 

“We wish him the best of health going forward, as what we say, we want to claim back the legacy, so we are working hard,” he added.