GE2025: Tan See Leng introduces potential candidate for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC (2025)

SINGAPORE – Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng was at a walkabout at Eunos Crescent Market and Food Centre on March 30, accompanied by a potential new face, business development director Diana Pang.

Dr Tan, an MP for Marine Parade GRC, introduced Ms Pang to The Straits Times as a long-time volunteer in next-door East Coast GRC.

Ms Pang, 51, chairs both the Fengshan Women’s Executive Committee and the People’s Association Women’s Integration Network (WIN) Council. She leads initiatives like the WIN Caregivers Network providing support for caregivers, andfosters community building and volunteerism among women from diverse backgrounds.

Professionally, Ms Pang is a business development director with 19 years of experience in audit, tax and business advisory, according to a description on the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations’ (SCWO) website. A serial entrepreneur, she is also an active board member of the SCWO, serving as its second vice-president.

Asked why she was considering entering politics, Ms Pang said she wants to contribute to making a Singapore “where family thrives, and we can build trust and resolve with our heart and passion”.

If given a chance, she is “here to serve the country anywhere and everywhere”, she added.

Also at the walkabout were South East District Mayor Mohd Fahmi Aliman, the MP overseeing the Geylang Serai ward of Marine Parade GRC, and Minister of State for Home Affairs as well as National Development Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, who is an MP in Nee Soon GRC.

The four of them were seen greeting hawkers and residents having their breakfast, in what appeared to be an early introduction of PAP’s potential Marine Parade-Braddell Heights slate for the upcoming general election.

Associate Professor Faishal’s participation in the walkabout sparked speculation that he could be fielded in the new Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC.

The 57-year-old told the media that being back in the east felt like a homecoming. A four-term MP, Prof Faishal entered politics in 2006 as part of the team for Marine Parade GRC before he joined Nee Soon GRC in 2011.

“It feels like the good memories are coming back, and I’m happy to see some of the residents who have recognised me since 2006,” he said.

Dr Tan said Prof Faishal had been very good in familiarising him and Mr Fahmi with Marine Parade following the 2020 General Election, as they were both new, first-term MPs then.

The walkabout on March 30 took place against the backdrop of the latest electoral boundary changes, which will see the new Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC take in the current MacPherson SMC, and parts of the Mountbatten and Potong Pasir SMCs, and cede the entire Joo Chiat ward and Chai Chee Housing Board estates to neighbouring East Coast GRC.

At present, Marine Parade GRC has five wards: Marine Parade, Joo Chiat, Geylang Serai, Braddell Heights and Kembangan-Chai Chee. At the 2020 General Election, the PAP won the GRC with 57.74 per cent against a WP team.

Besides Dr Tan and Mr Fahmi, the other incumbents are Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong, who oversees the Joo Chiat ward, and Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng, who oversees the Braddell Heights ward.

The fifth member, former Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin, resigned in 2023 after an extramarital affair.

The redrawn boundaries mean that a key member of the team, Mr Tong, is set to move out.

This sets the stage for Dr Tan to lead the PAP team at the coming election, in what is possibly a multi-cornered fight.

Both the WP and the National Solidarity Party have announced their intention to contest Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, which will have 131,493 voters.

The WP has continued to walk the ground in the GRC since the last general election.

Whom the WP will field in Marine Parade remains unclear, though several candidates who contested in 2020 could make a return – information technology professional Nathaniel Koh and lawyer Fadli Fawzi have been seen making their rounds in the constituency.

Other WP new faces spotted in Marine Parade include senior counsel Harpreet Singh Nehal, who is widely regarded as the opposition party’s “star catch” for this election.

On March 22, former chief executive of Make-A-Wish Singapore, Madam Hazlina Abdul Halim, 40, was spotted at a walkabout in Marine Parade, raising the possibility that she could also be fielded by the ruling party in the new Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC.

Another possible PAP candidate is Dr Choo Pei Ling, 38, an assistant professor with the Singapore Institute of Technology’s health and social sciences cluster and second adviser to grassroots organisations in Kembangan-Chai Chee.

The next general election is widely expected to be held by mid-year.

JoinST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.