GE2025: Voters should be clear about facts that parties put forward, says Shanmugam (2025)

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SINGAPORE – Voters should be clear about the facts put forward by various parties during the election period, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam.

Mr Shanmugam, whose PAP team will face Red Dot United (RDU) in Nee Soon GRC, made the comments on April 24 when asked about what residents should consider when looking at the proposals of both parties.

RDU had said that it intended to call for the goods and services tax (GST), currently at 9 per cent, to be reverted to 7 per cent, which the party said would put more money in people’s pockets.

At an event to launch the PAP team’s manifesto for Nee Soon, Mr Shanmugam said the GST is primarily paid by the top income earners and redistributed across the population, and he wished that the opposition would “make that clear too”.

“I think it’s important that we make that clear, rather than saying some things which are maybe only partially accurate,” he said at the launch at the party’s Chong Pang branch.

He is leading a PAP team with four political newcomers, namely Mr Jackson Lam, 40, head of a pest control and cleaning firm; former Nominated MP Syed Harun Alhabsyi, 40; Ms Lee Hui Ying, 36, director of communications at Temasek Foundation; and Ms Goh Hanyan, 39, a former director at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information.

Mr Shanmugam, who was joined by his team as well as former Nee Soon GRC MPs Carrie Tan and Derrick Goh, said the manifesto addresses residents’ concerns such as cost of living, jobs, housing and healthcare.

Under the manifesto, more childcare and eldercare facilities, better access to key transport nodes including the North-South Corridor, and improved infrastructure such as sheltered walkways and barrier-free spaces are some of the new developments coming to Nee Soon if the PAP team is elected.

The manifesto, titled “Nee Soon: Residents First”,also detailed upcoming works in the area that included 25 new covered linkways and upgrades to 20 playgrounds and 22 elderly and adult fitness corners.

The PAP team highlighted enhancements made over the past five years, including more than 1,800m of new linkways, 14 fitness corners and spaces, 26 new playgrounds, a 26.5km cycling path network and nine community gardens.

On the upcoming contest against RDU, Mr Shanmugam said the election is ultimately about what each team can offer Nee Soon residents, who now have a choice.

He said: “The residents will have to say who they believe can do the best for them. Both at a national level, because we are part of a larger team in Parliament, and at the local level.”

In the upcoming general election, Mr Shanmugam’s team will take on an RDU team led by Mr Ravi Philemon.

The RDU team includes party chairman David Foo, 60, and three first-timers – Dr Syed Alwi Ahmad, a 57-year-old private school teacher who is the party’s head of policy and its Malay bureau; Mr Pang Heng Chuan, 56, a tech start-up business director; and Ms Sharon Lin, 40, a senior consultant in the IT sector.

In the 2020 General Election, the PAP secured 61.9 per cent of the vote against the PSP in Nee Soon GRC.

On April 23, Nomination Day, after the candidates’ nominations were confirmed, Mr Shanmugam told the media that on top of the Budget 2025 vouchers announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to help with cost of living, additional resources are available to Nee Soon residents.

Mr Shanmugam said: “We have, at the local level, many assistance schemes as well, targeted at those who need help, both on the education side as well as on the cost-of-living side, and to deal with multiple issues.”

These include initiatives such as the Nee Soon Cares vouchers programme, which allows eligible residents to redeem a one-off $40 voucher that can be used at selected market and food stalls in the area.

On April 23, PAP’s Sembawang GRC team also launched its manifesto, titled “Sembawang, For Everyone”.

The five-member PAP team announced several new developments in Sembawang, such as a rail line to Johor Bahru, the North-South Corridor, new cycling trails and integrated development Woodlands North Coast.

The manifesto also detailed updates to the area over the past five years, including replacing or enhancing 765 lifts, upgrading 3,138 HDB flats and disbursing $2,527,683 through local assistance schemes.

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