SINGAPORE GE2025: SPOTLIGHT ON INDEPENDENTS – CAN THEY SHAKE UP THE RACE?

By Massita Ahmad

KUALA LUMPUR, May 1 (Bernama) -- Two independent candidates will contest in Singapore’s General Election 2025 (GE2025), standing shoulder to shoulder with well-established political parties.

They will be vying for seats in the Mountbatten and Radin Mas Single Member Constituencies (SMCs).

Jeremy Tan, 34, a start-up founder, will be up against Goh Sze Kee, a new face fielded by the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) in Mountbatten SMC.

According to The Straits Times’ “GE2025: Who’s standing where in Singapore’s general election?” multimedia page, Tan is the founder of Tissue SG, a company that claims to sell tissue paper.

An avid advocate of cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, Tan channels the proceeds to charities and allows customers to track the donations on a blockchain.

He previously started and ran a company that distributed products from skincare brand Paula's Choice in Singapore for six years, before the brand was acquired by Unilever in 2021.

He is running for office for the first time.

His contender, Goh, is the associate director of AsiaLegal, a boutique law firm that specialises in maritime law.

She has served as the vice-chairwoman of the Bukit Timah Citizens’ Consultative Committee and the branch secretary of the PAP's Bukit Timah branch.

Meanwhile, Darryl Lo, 28, who will contest in Radin Mas SMC, is facing two other candidates, PAP heavyweight Melvin Yong and Kumar Appavoo from the People’s Alliance for Reform (PAR).

Unemployed, Lo graduated from the Singapore Management University with a law degree in 2022.

He worked as a community manager and trust and safety associate at OpenSea, a marketplace for non-fungible tokens and other digital collectibles, until 2023.

A first-time contender, he hopes to secure a seat as a full-time Member of Parliament.

Lo’s PAP contender Yong is an assistant secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress and a former police officer.

In GE2020, his team won 74 per cent of the vote (16,864 votes) against Kumar of the Reform Party.

Yong entered politics in 2015.

Kumar, on the other hand, is a businessman.

He was formerly the treasurer of the Reform Party and a member of the Singapore People’s Party’s central executive committee before joining PAR.

 Let us see if Tan and Lo, who involved in tech-related industries, can spring a surprise.

Across all parties, a record 89 new faces are contesting this election, reportedly the highest ever, surpassing the 76 introduced in 2020.

There will be 211 candidates standing for election in Singapore GE2025.

There are 2,758,846 registered voters for the upcoming May 3 polls, the Elections Department (ELD) announced on April 18.

-- BERNAMA