The new PAP candidates include (clockwise from top left) Goh Hanyan, Dr Hamid Razak, Hazlina Abdul Halim, David Neo, Jasmin Lau, Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi, Jeffrey Siow and Dinesh Vasu Dash. ST/ANN
SINGAPORE: Three elections ago, the PAP brought in a slate of candidates who would eventually form the core of the party’s fourth-generation leadership.
This 2011 group included Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing and National Development Minister Desmond Lee.
That year, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung was also fielded but lost in Aljunied GRC.
Fast forward to 2025, and the party is set to field a group of young candidates pulled from the public service who could form the core of its nascent 5G if elected.
It has also moved to fill potential gaps by bringing in more minority candidates tipped for political office, and recruited beyond the usual professions to flesh out its slate.
PM Wong said when introducing them: “If elected, a number of our new candidates can become more than backbenchers.
“They will help to strengthen my team, and some of the younger ones will form the core of the next 5G team – they will make sure Singapore continues to be in good hands.”
The party’s slate is younger on average, with more women.
Some have professional backgrounds that mirror those of current office-holders, said Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan.
These individuals could be tapped to be junior office-holders after the general election, he added.
Top civil servants who have left their jobs to don party whites this election include permanent secretary for trade and industry and manpower Jeffrey Siow, Health Ministry deputy secretary Jasmin Lau, Finance Ministry director Shawn Loh, Digital Development and Information Ministry director Goh Hanyan and Transport Ministry director Foo Cexiang.
Also in the mix are former army chief David Neo, former chief of staff – joint staff Goh Pei Ming and former Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) chief executive Dinesh Vasu Dash.
The group is relatively young. The oldest is Dinesh at 50, while the rest are in their 40s, and the youngest are Loh at 38 and Goh at 39.
The professional journeys of these new faces, a mixture of top public servants and high-ranking military men, closely mirror those of the current Cabinet.
Siow was principal private secretary to then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong – a role also previously held by PM Wong and Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat.
Chee and DPM Heng were also permanent secretaries at the Ministry of Trade and Industry – Siow’s last held role.
Neo’s career trajectory mirrors that of Chan, who was also chief of army before retiring to stand under the PAP banner. Chan was 41 when he left the armed forces – Neo is slightly older at 47.
The move to renewal comes later than expected. The party’s transition to its 4G leader was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic and DPM Heng stepping away from being PM-designate in 2021.
Bringing in a slate of ministerial-calibre candidates is not a new strategy for the PAP. It has done so in cycles over its 66-year rule.
Before the 2011 batch, there was the 2001 cohort which yielded a group later dubbed the “super seven”. This included President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and former transport minister Khaw Boon Wan. They also entered politics in their 40s, and quickly rose up the ranks into Cabinet.
Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Social Lab research fellow Teo Kay Key said of the current crop: “The lowered age does send a signal that these individuals are likely to have a longer runway in politics.” She added that this helps to give assurance about the sustainability of the party in the longer term.
IPS senior research fellow Gillian Koh said succession planning is essential for parties that are serious about their long-term national impact, and preparation for political office should start sooner rather than later.
She said: “Because voters are demanding, the policy space is getting more complex, the more time the younger generation of leaders have to pick up some key skills for political engagement and policymaking expertise, the better.”
PM Wong was part of the 2011 class of the PAP recruits. The length of time it took to have him and his peers come into positions to lead the party and country was almost 15 years, she noted.
For this reason, early exposure to being an MP for key roles in government is important as it takes a decade to do it and ensure that it is done right, she said.
“For the PAP, it is not too early to groom 5G leaders who would be in their late 30s and early 40s.
“They will already be in their early or mid-50s by the time they are ready, if they have not already been very senior civil servants or leaders in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).”
SMU’s Associate Professor Tan said the process to establish the party’s next generation will take at least two to three elections.
He said: “The sooner the process is started, the better it is for renewal and succession.”
The party will also field more minority candidates and individuals beyond the usual professions and sectors.
There are four new Malay candidates – Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi, Hazlina Abdul Halim, Dr Faisal Abdul Aziz and Dr Elmie Nekmat – and three new Indian candidates – Dinesh, Dr Hamid Razak and Jagathishwaran Rajo.
Of this crop, at least two could eventually become political office-holders if elected, based on their current trajectories.
Dinesh, who is slightly older than the rest and has a background in the SAF and the Health Ministry, and in helming the AIC, could find himself in government relatively quickly.
The Tamil speaker has also spoken of his intent to champion issues and work on integration in the Indian community.
The additions are needed by the party, which fielded no Indian new faces in 2020 and two in 2015. Since then, Murali Pillai, who first contested in 2015 in Aljunied GRC and later won in Bukit Batok SMC in 2016, has been appointed Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Ministry of Transport.
The other Indian political office-holders are Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam, 66, who has been in Cabinet since 2008, and Foreign Minister Balakrishnan, 64, who became a full minister in 2005.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah, 62, became a minister in 2018.
Among the Malay candidates, Dr Syed Harun was tipped by Shanmugam as someone who can “easily be an office-holder”.
While there were six new Malay MPs elected in 2020, none of them has risen from the backbenches. The youngest Malay officer-holder is Minister of State for Health and Digital Development and Information Rahayu Mahzam, who entered politics in 2015.
Dr Maliki Osman announced his retirement on April 21, while Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli and Senior Minister of State for Defence and Manpower Zaqy Mohamad will seek re-election.
Outside of its future leadership, the party also appears to have brought in more candidates from outside established routes into politics.
Dr Teo said: “This time, we seem to be seeing more individuals from a community background, such as Cai Yinzhou, Hazlina Abdul Halim, David Hoe and Elysa Chen.
“There seems to be efforts to reach beyond the usual industry choices like civil service, law and entrepreneurs.”
What is for sure is that the party and its secretary-general are putting it to the electorate that voting for this slate is also a vote for the country’s future leadership.
How much water this argument will hold with Singaporeans will be tested on May 3. - The Straits Times/ANN
