SINGAPORE – Some residents waved from their flats and cars, while others ran from the void deck to catch a glimpse of Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his team on an open-top bus as they thanked residents after their electoral success.
With SM Lee on May 4 were fellow Ang Mo Kio GRC MPs Darryl David, Nadia Ahmad Samdin, Jasmin Lau and Victor Lye.
The MPs of the “Ang Mo Kio extended family” – Mr Henry Kwek from Kebun Baru SMC, Mr Yip Hon Weng from Yio Chu Kang SMC, and Mr Ng Chee Meng from Jalan Kayu SMC – were also on board.
The bus departed from PAP’s Teck Ghee branch office in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3, after supporters were treated to a lion and dragon dance performance. Over three hours later, it stopped in Hougang Street 61, where a community getai event was held by the Hougang Village Merchants’ Association.
Speaking to residents at the final stop, SM Lee expressed his gratitude for their support at the general election on May 3.
“We promise we will do our best,” he said. “We promise that we will work hard with you, and we ask you to work closely together with us to make this a good Ang Mo Kio and a good Singapore for many years to come.”
He said Hougang Village was where newcomers Ms Lau and Mr Lye were spotted with him in April. He had stopped short of confirming them as part of his Ang Mo Kio team then.
“Now I introduce you to my team,” he said. “We are very honoured and touched to get the trust and support of the residents here.
“We should work hard not just for ourselves but for our children and grandchildren, building a better future for Singapore together.”
The PAP team secured a resounding victory in Ang Mo Kio GRC, garnering 78.95 per cent of the votes against the Singapore United Party (SUP) and People’s Power Party (PPP). This is a 7.04 percentage point increase from the last contest in 2020, when it won with 71.91 per cent of the votes against the Reform Party.
This is also its best performance in the constituency since it was first contested in 2006.
The largest of the 18 group representation constituencies with 161,499 electors, Ang Mo Kio GRC was contested by three parties for the first time since it was created in 1991. The PAP won unopposed in the 1991, 1997 and 2001 elections.
Kebun Baru and Yio Chu Kang SMCs did well too, garnering 68.5 per cent and 78.73 of the votes, respectively.
Jalan Kayu, a newly-minted seat carved out of Ang Mo Kio GRC, was won by Mr Ng with 51.47 per cent of the vote, beating WP newcomer Andre Low in a fierce contest.
Speaking to reporters at the event, Mr Ng, who is labour chief, said it had been an eventful nine days.
“Now I’m going back to Jalan Kayu to focus on my residents, going to hit the ground running,” he said.
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