SINGAPORE: Political party Red Dot United (RDU) will send its "best candidate" to contest the new Jurong Central Single Member Constituency (SMC) in the upcoming General Election, its secretary-general Ravi Philemon said.

After a walkabout on Sunday (Mar 23), Mr Philemon told reporters the party is not revealing its candidates yet, but party councillor Emily Woo was introduced to residents as the team lead for RDU’s activities in the SMC.

The opposition party said she will be doing most of the ground work in the constituency in the lead-up to the election.

The 59-year-old former school teacher shook hands and chatted with residents having breakfast at Yuhua Market and Hawker Centre and visited shops in the surrounding area.

When residents asked if she will be the RDU candidate for Jurong Central SMC, she replied that the decision is up to the party leadership.

When pressed by reporters asking if Madam Woo will be fielded, Mr Philemon said: “It’s too early to say. But I mean, it's plain for everyone to see that Emily is here. We have highlighted Emily to be the team lead for Jurong Central SMC.

“It’s too early to reveal (who) will be our possible candidates because we don't know when is nomination day (and) polling day. A lot of things can change from now until nomination day.”

RDU’s meet-and-greet session was its first in the area following the release of the electoral boundaries report earlier this month.

The new Jurong Central SMC is carved out from Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC). It has 29,620 voters, mostly from Jurong GRC and some from Yuhua SMC.

Mr Philemon said his party is disappointed that Jurong GRC has been split up.

“We really wish we have Jurong GRC intact because in the past five years we have done extensive work in Jurong GRC … with teams putting boots on the ground every week,” he said.

“But we take a little consolation in the fact that Jurong Central SMC is here, because this is a constituency that we have put a lot of work in as well,” he added.

“So, we'll send our best candidate to contest in this constituency.”

In GE2020, Mr Philemon led RDU against the People’s Action Party (PAP)-held Jurong GRC led by now-President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, attaining less than 26 per cent of the vote.

At Yuhua SMC, Singapore Democratic Party's Robin Low lost to PAP’s Grace Fu, who is currently the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment.

Mr Philemon reiterated the importance of opposition unity and efforts to avoid multi-cornered fights. 

“I believe there will be very little or no three-cornered fight because opposition parties are very mindful that any three-cornered fight will only be advantageous to the incumbent. We will do our very best to avoid that,” he said.

WHO IS EMILY WOO, THE POTENTIAL CANDIDATE?

According to RDU’s profile sheet, Mdm Woo holds a bachelor’s degree in music from the Catholic Institute University in Paris.

She has over 30 years of teaching experience in the school systems of both Singapore and France, and has taught at primary and secondary levels.

She has also written two books about music composers.

She told reporters that music is her first love and she left her teaching job at a Ministry of Education (MOE) school to teach music.  

Today, she is an independent piano teacher to both children and adults.

Mdm Woo said she is a Jurong Central resident who has been actively involved in community outreach.

She joined RDU as a volunteer in June 2020.

She said she champions smaller class sizes and wants to push for fair employment opportunities for seniors, adding it is difficult for the elderly to find jobs.

“I interact very, very frequently with the residents here. In the coming weeks, (we will) accelerate our activities and engagement,” she said.