Xie Yao Quan replaces Ivan Lim in PAP's Jurong GRC slate

Singapore

THE People's Action Party's (PAP) general election team for the five-member Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC) has two new faces, including 35-year-old Xie Yao Quan who replaces Ivan Lim.

The other new candidate is Shawn Huang, 37, a director for enterprise development at Temasek International, who was introduced earlier, according to the party on Monday.

With the entry of the two new faces in Jurong GRC, Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee is tipped to be fielded in West Coast GRC to shore up the PAP team there.

Incumbent Member of Parliament Ang Wei Neng will also leave the Jurong GRC.

But Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who's been in there for 19 years, will stay to lead the team which is likely to see its hold on Jurong challenged by new opposition party Red Dot United, led by former Progress Singapore Party members Ravi Philemon and Michelle Lee.

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Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Trade and Industry and Foreign Affairs Tan Wu Meng and Rahayu Mahzam also remain. Both are MPs of Jurong GRC since the last General Election in 2015, when the PAP team trounced the Singaporeans First party, winning 79.3 per cent of the votes cast - the best performance for PAP in that election.

Ivan Lim dropped out of the race last Saturday in the face of online criticisms which he said had eclipsed the core issues of this election.

Mr Tharman, who introduced Mr Lim's replacement at the PAP branch in Bukit Batok East, said: "We respect and appreciate the decision he made. He put the interests of the party and of Singapore ahead of his own."

Mr Xie, who has a Master's degree in Engineering Management from Duke University and heads the healthcare redesign at Alexandra Hospital, is an easy choice for Jurong because he has "been here working very hard for the last five years" and is known to residents and grassroots volunteers, according to Mr Tharman.

It's not the first time that the party has made a last-minute change to its lineup, he noted. What's more, Mr Tharman added, the replacement is "fully suitable to be fielded" and still "part of the first team".

"I will say frankly that Yao Quan is equal to our other candidates," he said.

A PAP press release pointed out that at Alexandra Hospital, Mr Xie has been leading the hospital's Covid-19 operations in a major community care facility and other areas on the frontline. As an active grassroots volunteer since 2015, he has launched several initiatives to support lower-income families in Jurong, according to it.

He is also "a board member of SG Enable and co-leads a task force to promote products made or designed by persons with disabilities".

Before his current job, the release said Mr Xie worked in an investment company which included stints in Beijing. He was also a regular in the Singapore Armed Forces for six years.

"The reason why I'm stepping forward today is because I believe in the role of a Member of Parliament in the local community - bringing people together and just making extraordinary things happen for the benefit of residents and creating a better home for everyone," Mr Xie said.