SINGAPORE GE2025: FROM 24 TO 85, IS THIS SINGAPORE’S MOST DIVERSE ELECTION YET?

By Massita Ahmad

KUALA LUMPUR, May 1 (Bernama) -- At just 24 years old, Heng Zheng Dao is the youngest candidate in Singapore’s General Election (GE2025).

A horticulturist making his electoral debut under the People’s Power Party (PPP) banner, Heng represents the growing presence of youth in Singapore politics.

Heng will contest at the Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency (GRC) with his four other teammates, opposing the PAP’s incumbent, which 73-year-old Former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong leads.

In GE2020, Lee’s team won 71.9 per cent of the vote (124,597 votes) against a Reform Party team.

Reportedly, the largest of the 18 GRCs with 161,499 electors, Ang Mo Kio GRC will be contested by three parties for the first time since it was created in 1991.

Another party is the Singapore United Party (SUP).

Will Heng help draw younger voters for PPP, a party led by veteran opposition politician Goh Meng Seng, this time?

This year’s election sees a stronger push by parties to renew their ranks, with 44 candidates under the age of 40, up from 32 in GE2020.

Candidates’ ages range from 24 to 85, with a median of 48, slightly down from 49 in the previous election.

At the other end of the age spectrum is 85-year-old Dr Tan Cheng Bock, chairman of the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), who is once again the oldest candidate contesting the polls.

The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) has the highest median age of 59.

All of its candidates are above 40, except 27-year-old legal executive Ariffin Sha, founder of alternative news site Wake Up Singapore.

In contrast, the Workers’ Party (WP) and Singapore People’s Party (SPP) are presenting the youngest slates, each with a median candidate age of 45.

As in GE2020, WP leads in youth representation, with about one-third of its candidates under 40.

The candidates’ brief profile data, including age, was sourced from The Straits Times’ “GE2025: Who’s standing where in Singapore’s general election?” multimedia page.

-- BERNAMA