SINGAPORE: Ms Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, promised voters in Pasir Ris-Changi Group Representation Constituency (GRC) that she would revitalise the town and improve transport connections, adding that this can only happen with support from voters.
At a rally by the People’s Action Party (PAP) on Monday (Apr 28) held at Tampines Meridian Junior College, she also said that her team would continue plans started under Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, who was the incumbent MP for the GRC for 28 years.
“To put these into action, we need your support. We need your vote. And at the broader national level, we need a good leadership team.”
Among the PAP’s five-year plans for the constituency are ways to address “last mile gaps” such as linkways and barrier-free access, she said.
Also in the works are better connectivity options – the constituency will be getting four new MRT stations and will be linked to Changi Airport, Punggol and Jurong by rail.
In addition, the Loyang viaduct, which is under construction, will connect Loyang and Changi to Tampines.
Although PAP has plans to address concerns such as cost of living and jobs at a national level, her team would also explore plans at a local level, Ms Indranee said.
Other speakers at the rally included her PAP teammates contesting the GRC. Ms Indranee leads the team comprising Mr Desmond Tan, Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, one-term MP Sharael Taha and new face Valerie Lee.
Pasir Ris-Changi GRC, which has 100,639 voters, was formed by merging some districts under the former Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC with adjacent areas in East Coast GRC, after electoral boundaries were redrawn.
PAP faces a straight fight against a team from the Singapore Democratic Alliance comprising the opposition party’s chairman Desmond Lim, secretary-general Abu Mohamed, Mr Harminder Pal Singh and newcomer Chia Yun Kai.
At an earlier speech on Monday at PAP’s lunchtime rally in Raffles Place, Ms Indranee spoke out against the idea that voting for opposition parties is necessary to bring alternative voices into parliament.
She said that such voices were already “guaranteed”, referring to the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) scheme, where the “best losers” from among the opposition candidates are declared elected as NCMPs if fewer than 12 opposition members are voted into parliament.
TAKING OVER FROM TEO CHEE HEAN
Ms Indranee had moved from Tanjong Pagar GRC where she had served for 24 years to anchor the PAP team in Pasir Ris-Changi GRC. This was after Mr Teo, former anchor minister in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, announced his retirement from politics after 33 years.
Mr Teo had been an MP in Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC since 1997.
He spoke at the rally on Monday night, as did Dr Maliki Osman, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, whose former ward in East Coast GRC was folded into Pasir Ris-Changi GRC under the redrawn electoral boundaries.
Both Mr Teo and Dr Maliki are not standing for the upcoming polls, which will take place on Saturday.
On replacing Mr Teo as anchor minister, Ms Indranee said: “Some have asked me, ‘Can you fill his shoes? Have you seen how tall and how big SM Teo is?’ The answer is, ‘No, no, I can’t’.”
However, she vouched to serve residents with the same dedication and passion as he did.
She said that she had a personal history with Mr Teo, because he was the one who started her journey into politics.
He was a “very generous, very calm”…
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