SINGAPORE: The ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) always has more potential candidates for each general election than space to field them, Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam said on Saturday (Feb 15).

He was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a walkabout in Khatib, within Nee Soon GRC, where he is the anchor minister.

During the walkabout, Mr Shanmugam interacted with residents at the market there, alongside the other members of the Nee Soon team – Minister of State for Home Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Mr Louis Ng, Ms Carrie Tan and Mr Derrick Goh.

NEW FACE INTRODUCED

With them was Mr Daniel Liu, the Citizens’ Consultative Committee chairman of Nee Soon East, who will take the helm of PAP’s Paya Lebar branch in opposition-held Aljunied GRC on Monday.

Mr Shanmugam said Mr Liu has been helping out in Nee Soon for about a decade, and was one of the political talents he spotted.

“He’s one of those that I identified, and then I sent him to Louis,” said the minister. Mr Ng is the current member of parliament for the Nee Soon East ward.

“He could easily have stood earlier, but we always have more potential candidates than spaces.”

He said that the 2015 hustings was “too early” for Mr Liu to be considered for candidacy, and that he “might have been considered” for the 2020 contest.

“It doesn’t mean he is confirmed for 2025. The process is still ongoing,” said Mr Shanmugam.

He added that the final decision on Mr Liu’s deployment will be made by the party’s central executive committee.

Mr Liu is the managing director of urban planning consultancy Morrow Architects & Planners, and also executive director of Morrow Intelligence, its data analytics division.

He was formerly the assistant secretary of PAP’s Nee Soon East branch. He is the son of former chief planner of Singapore Liu Thai Ker.

CNA first broke the news of Mr Liu’s move to Aljunied on Tuesday.

NOT NECESSARILY CONTESTING WHERE THEY ARE SEEN

Mr Shanmugam added that just because a new face is spotted in one place, it does not necessarily mean they will be a candidate there for an electoral contest.

“Whether anyone is a candidate will be decided, but they’re all on the ground in different places,” he said. “Where they will stand will also be decided later.”

“You see Daniel in Yishun, doesn’t mean Daniel is going to stand in Yishun,” he said of Mr Liu’s presence at Saturday morning’s walkabout.

Mr Shanmugam added that in his 37 years of walking the ground in Nee Soon, issues that have mattered to residents included the cost of food and the cleanliness of estates.

There has also been a focus on jobs and the economy, he said.