PAP - THE WEAKEST LINK

IDENTIFY PAP'S WEAKEST LINK IN SEMBAWANG GRC - VOTE NOW!

The Sembwang GRC is considered a PAP stronghold after the party swept 76.7% of popular votes in 2006 against the SDP. Back then Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan was riding on a high of popularity after many promises of better and more affordable health and medical care. Since then, he has not delivered on these promises
and decided instead to encourage elderly Singaporeans to go to Johor (a place once infamously depicted by Lee Kuan Yew as crime infested) for cheaper medical treatment.

The scale of its previous victory at Sembawang has convinced the PAP leadership that a repeat is on the cards. Confidently they have partitioned out parts of the GRC to the new Nee Soon GRC, with Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and incumbent MP Lim Wee Kiak expected to make follow in the move. Taking their places are lawyer Vikram Nair and Ong Teng Koon, son of PAP veteran Ong Ah Heng.

Is this weakened PAP Sembawang team ripe for plucking by the Opposition? If so, who amongst them will be the like cause of defeat?

Who is The Weakest Link? Your votes will determine.

Candidate 1: Ong Teng Koon

Ong belongs to an increasingly common breed of PAP princelings, and he spent several years studying and working abroad. He is the only son of outgoing Nee Soon Central MP Ong Ah Heng. According to Ong junior, his father is his inspiration for joining politics. This is indeed a worrying prospect for aging Singaporeans, who will do well to remember how Ong Ah Heng once boasted in parliament that he sacked “lazy and too old” local cleaners in his precinct, whom he replaced with foreign workers.

Highest Education Qualifications

Masters degree in Finance, Princeton University

Career

Past	Trader, Goldman Sachs
Present	Commodities trader, Morgan Stanley

Candidate 2: Hawazi Daipi

A former teacher, who made his rise in Singapore politics through the usual route of journalism and trade union. According to an online profile, Hawazi’s duties as Senior Parliamentary Secretary at MOM includes overseeing the Ministry's work in workplace safety and health, chairing tripartite committees on low-wage workers and promoting work-life harmony among companies.

Highest Education Qualifications

BA. Hons. (Geography) (University of Singapore)

Diploma in Education (Institute of Education)

Career

1983-1997	Senior Leader/Feature Writer, Special Assistant Editor, Berita Harian
1997-2001	Director, International Affairs Department, National Trades Union Congress (NTUC)

Government Office

Nov 2001- Aug 2004	Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education
May 2003- Aug 2004	Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education
Aug 2004- May 2006	Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education
Aug 2004-Present	Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Manpower
Apr 2008-Present	Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Health

Board Directorships

Board Director, Housing & Development Board (HDB)

Board Director, PSA Corporation

Other Key Appointments

Chairman of the Malay Language Council, Singapore,

Chairman of Sembawang Town Council

Candidate 3: Ellen Lee Geck Hoon

A career lawyer, Ellen is currently a consultant at Ramdas & Wong doing an amazing variety of work including family law, Bankruptcy & Insolvency Law, Corporate & Commercial Law, Conveyancing & Property Law, Landlord & Tenant, Counselling & Referral, Personal Law and Employment and Immigration Law etc, etc.  Like several PAP MPs, she graced a special visit to The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum in Chinatown in 2008, even after experts confirmed that the tooth is probably from a water buffalo or cow, and therefore a fake relic.

Highest Education Qualifications

LLB (HONS) (National University of Singapore)

Career

1981-1984	Legal Assistant, Messrs Lim Kiap Khee & Co
1984-2005	Sole Proprietor, Messrs Ellen Lee & Co
2005-Present	Consultant, Ramdas & Wong

Other Key Appointments

President, Singapore Association of Women Lawyers

Chairman, People's Association's Community Clubs' Women's Executive Committees

Chairman, Law Society of Singapore Family Law Practice Committee

Advisor, Juvenile Court of Singapore

Chairman, Kaki Bukit Prison School and Changi Women's Prison Reading Clubs

Legal Advisor and Consultant to numerous NGOs and VWOs, e.g. Samaritans Of Singapore, Family Service Centres, Singapore Action Group for Elders (SAGE), Clans, Associations & Temples, etc.

Vice-President, Promoting Alternatives to Family Violence Management Committee Member, Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centre

Candidate 4: Vikram Nair

Nair, 33, is an associate at British law firm, Norton Rose. He made the switch to the international set-up after leaving Singapore firm Allen and Gledhill. The media has spotlighted his involvement in a number of high-profile cases, such as the NKF’s against its former directors, but omitted the fact that he was then only a junior laywer.  Nair is said to be on the committee of non-profit societies, including one dedicated to fostering the Malayalam language, and sits on the panel member of the SDU's Partner Connection Fund. His father is a senior partner of law firm Messrs Ong Tan & Nair and Independent Director of Kingsmen Creatives Ltd

Highest Education Qualifications

Law, University of Cambridge

Career

2002	Business Analyst, McKinsey & Company
2005	Associate, Allen and Gledhill
2008-Present	Associate (dispute resolution, specialising in international arbitration in Asia), Norton Rose (Asia) LLP

(Note: As you are participating in a free and open forum, you would agree to take full personal responsibility for the contents of your contribution. Defamatory statements, unsubstantiated allegations, unwarranted vulgarities, racist comments, denigration of other contributors and other posts of no relevance will be removed.)