GE: NSP unveils 2nd batch of candidates
Of the six candidates unveiled, four of them stood in the 2006 General Election.
The four are: 49-year-old entrepreneur Christopher Neo, 33-year-old industrial trader and managing director Elvin Ong, 64-year-old businessman Ong Hock Siong, and 60-year-old businessman Yip Yew Weng.
Mr Neo contested the last election in 2006 under the Singapore Democratic Party banner at Sembawang Group Representation Constituency (GRC) while Mr Elvin Ong stood at Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC under the Singapore
Democratic Alliance (SDA) banner.
Mr Ong Hock Siong ran under the SDA ticket in 2006 at Tampines GRC while Mr Yip contested the Yio Chu Kang single member constituency (SMC).
The fifth candidate introduced is 69-year-old businessman Abdul Rasheed, who last contested an election in Singapore in 1988 under the Singapore Democratic Party banner at Punggol SMC.
The only newcomer is Noraini Yunus, a 43-year-old sales and marketing professional.
She said: "I [want to champion] Malay issues. It is about our level of confidence, like MM Lee said, integration and so on. Not many will come out even as opposition candidate...I hope to bring out better platforms for Malays to showcase themselves in the economic world."
On her role as a woman candidate, she said: "We believe that women would only go for the gentler touch...so maybe this time they would vote for me because I believe in (a) gentler approach to progress."
Except for Mr Yip, who will be contesting in Radin Mas SMC, the other five will be part of the NSP team for Jurong GRC. This brings the number of NSP candidates announced so far to 11.
Jurong GRC is held by the ruling People's Action Party and helmed by experienced ministers like Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Lim Boon Heng.
The other member of the PAP team in Jurong is NTUC Assistant secretary General Halimah Yaacob. Two new faces, Desmond Lee and Alex Yam have been spotted walking the ground, rounding up the PAP's five-member team for Jurong.
It looks to be a straight fight for Jurong for now, as no other opposition party has expressed interest in the constituency.
The last time Jurong was contested was in 2001 when the PAP faced off with the Singapore Democratic Party. The PAP won about 80 per cent of the valid votes.
Mr Neo said: "We go back a long time ago when I first contested [for] NSP in 1997. NSP has started walking in Jurong way back then...most of the time when we do our Sunday walkabout, most residents ask, are we serious? Let me quote, politics is serious and we are serious.
"We prepare notes, we prepare our walkabouts, we are serious. That's why we form a good team, hoping that residents would give us a chance because we have given them a chance to vote."
The NSP Jurong team said they would be full-time MPs, if voted into Parliament.
It has also issued a manifesto for the constituency, pledging support for single parents, the unemployed and the elderly as well as a promise to put aside at least 30 per cent of the MP allowance for fund social assistance programmes.
The opposition has said that the grand prize would be to capture a GRC. If that happens, the PAP could potentially lose an office holder. But at this point, problems still remain, with many constituencies are seeing three-cornered fights because the opposition parties cannot agree on where they should stand.
A three-cornered fight would dilute the opposition chances of winning against the PAP. In fact, the Radin Mas SMC could see a four-cornered fight. NSP has confirmed that 60-year-old businessman Yip Yew Weng is its candidate there.
Mr Yip said: "I have experienced four-cornered fights when I first participated in a general election in 1997 at Chua Chu Kang. So I have the experience in handling the three-cornered, four-cornered fight."
Mr Yip said he is a suitable candidate for Radin Mas because his party has been working the ground in the area since 1997. In the 2006 General Election, he contested Yio Chu Kang SMC against incumbent Seng Han Tong. PAP's Mr Seng won about 70 per cent of valid votes.
The Singapore Democratic Alliance and the Reform Party have said that they are gunning for the Radin Mas seat, with Nazem Suki and Alex Tok as their respective candidates.
NSP said it is in talks with other opposition parties to avoid three-cornered fights.
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