On Sunday (6 Apr), the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) officially revealed its five-member team set to contest Sembawang GRC in the upcoming General Election (GE2025).
The five candidates are:
Source: Bryan Lim Boon Heng on Facebook
Channel News Asia (CNA) reported that the candidates were introduced by party chairman Paul Tambyah, ahead of a walkabout at Kampung Admiralty.
“This is the Sembawang GRC team. I think we are pretty confident that we have an experienced team of political veterans,” said Professor Tambyah.
Leading the charge is Mr Bryan Lim, SDP’s vice-chairman and seasoned campaigner, who previously contested in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC for nearly a decade.
In a Facebook post, he acknowledged that crossing constituency lines wasn’t easy, and urged Marsiling-Yew Tee residents to support their new candidates vying for the constituency.
Joining him is Ms Surayah Akbar, an entrepreneur and SDP’s treasurer. Despite being a party member for 18 years, this will be her first time contesting in a General Election — marking her as the team’s fresh face.
Also in the line-up is Mr Damanhuri Abas, who previously contested in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC with Mr Lim, while Mr Alfred Tan was from Holland-Bukit Timah GRC.
Another political veteran in the lineup is James Gomez. He is the party’s deputy head of policy, and has been contesting for 20 years.
In March, secretary-general Dr Chee Soon Juan announced that the party will pursue a “Northern strategy” ahead of the 2025 GE.
This strategy involves focusing on constituencies in the northern region of Singapore.
Besides Sembawang GRC, they will also contest in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, while Dr Chee will contest in the newly carved out Sembawang West Single Member Constituency (SMC).
Dr Chee, who had been walking the grounds of Bukit Batok for the last decade, announced that he is leaving the ward “with a heavy heart” to contest in Sembawang West SMC.
Source: Bryan Lim Boon Heng on Facebook
Professor Tambyah called the party’s northern focus its new “cornerstone”.
In a TikTok video, Mr Lim demonstrated the proximity between the three northern constituencies, showing how he covered Sembawang GRC, Sembawang West SMC, and Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC in under five minutes simply by crossing a few roads.
Despite being rather new to Sembawang, the party is confident. According to CNA, SDP took time to carefully deliberate over its candidate line-up.
“We want to complement Dr Chee’s Sembawang West thrust. Like what he said, if we win Sembawang West and Sembawang, we will have a mega town council, for economies of scale,” Mr Lim said.
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Featured image adapted from Bryan Lim Boon Heng on Facebook and Singapore Democratic Party on Facebook.
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