PAP new candidates united 'in their passion to serve': Chan

Singapore

THE People's Action Party (PAP) rolled out its final batch of new candidates for the General Election on Friday, unveiling four candidates of "diverse" backgrounds but united "in their passion to serve Singapore".

The candidates are Mariam Jaafar, 43, the Singapore managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group; Carrie Tan, 37, founding executive director of charity Daughters of Tomorrow (DOT); Chan Hui Yuh, 44, marketing director at Jingslink Marketing; and Shawn Huang, 37, director for enterprise development at Temasek International.

While these candidates come from different walks of life, PAP second assistant secretary-general Chan Chun Sing said at a Zoom press conference that they share "this passion to serve Singapore, to not only help fellow Singaporeans overcome challenges today, but take Singapore forward to the next lap and distinguish ourselves from the rest of the competitors".

Ms Chan, who is also PAP's Serangoon branch chairman, helped out in the party's campaign in Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the 2015 General Election, but did not stand for election because her two children were too young then. If elected, she hopes to focus on the elderly and explore issues relating to women: "We have women who, because they have to look after their children, cannot go out to work, so we need to have more childcare facilities and negotiate affordable childcare so women can have the peace of mind to go out and earn a living."

Ms Chan, who has been active in grassroots work since 2000, said the government has to continue to listen to people and find new ways to meet their needs and aspirations.

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"I look forward to be able to help make the process, the system, friendlier and easier to our citizens and businesses to get help to fulfil their needs, dreams and hopes."

Ms Mariam, who has degrees from Stanford University and Harvard Business School, believes education is a great leveller of social mobility - and a country's best investments are in its people.

She was introduced in March on Facebook by Amrin Amin, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs and a Member of Parliament for Sembawang GRC.

She is standing for election "because I want to give back (to society). I've thought about it and concluded that politics is the unique platform where I can make a difference to the lives of many".

She is the daughter of a Malay teacher and a nurse.

Ms Tan, who has helped "hundreds" of women secure jobs through DOT, wants to focus on low-income workers and the "sandwich generation" which bears the brunt of caregiving in Singapore's fast aging society. She is single. Her mother was a housewife and her father a taxi driver who later became a contractor.

Ms Tan, who has been seen walking the ground in Nee Soon GRC, said: "I hope to bring my experience and skills in community building into politics and create a slightly different space where, beyond the efficiency and the task-driveness of solving problems, we can create a space for people's feelings to be valued and acknowledged."

Mr Huang has has been an active volunteer in Taman Jurong constituency. The father of two and former Singapore Air Force fighter pilot dedicated most of his free time to mentoring children from low-income homes and helped former prison inmates to restart their lives.

As chairman of the Community Arts and Culture Club, he promoted arts and culture activities in the community.

Mr Huang topped the aeronautical engineering class in the US Air Force Academy, the first non-American to do so.

If elected, he wants to focus on sustainability and inequality issues. He also believes digitisation is the greatest leveller of social mobility and hopes to push for further growth of e-commerce and improvements in home-based learning.