SINGAPORE: The People’s Power Party (PPP) will not contest Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the upcoming General Election, allowing Red Dot United (RDU) to field a team there instead, the two parties announced on Saturday (Mar 22).

The announcement was jointly made by the secretaries-general of the PPP and RDU, Mr Goh Meng Seng and Mr Ravi Philemon, at a press conference at Yishun Town Centre. 

The PPP walked the ground at Chong Pang Market and Food Centre within Nee Soon last Sunday, while Mr Philemon said the RDU has been active in the constituency since August 2024. 

Mr Goh had also previously declared the PPP’s intention to run in Nee Soon GRC, but said in a Facebook livestream last Sunday that he would be “glad” to withdraw his PPP team from contesting in Nee Soon should the People’s Action Party (PAP) not field an “LGBTQ activist” as part of its slate.

LGBTQ is an umbrella term encompassing individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer. 

On Saturday, Mr Goh said that he felt the party’s “objectives have been achieved in certain ways”.

“For the time being, I do not think the PAP will carry out their intention of fielding this LGBTQ candidate,” said Mr Goh.

When asked who he was referring to, Mr Goh would only say: “It’s up to anyone’s guess.”

He added: “I have had several conversations with Mr Ravi Philemon of RDU … and we have concluded that it is time for us to move on and let RDU have a clean fight in Nee Soon.” 

In January, 40-year-old intellectual property lawyer Deryne Sim was spotted alongside Nee Soon GRC Members of Parliament (MPs) from the PAP in walkabouts. 

Ms Sim was previously a committee member of the LGBTQ+ activist group Pink Dot, and is the executive director of Same But Different, a group that offers legal resources to help the LGBTQ community in Singapore. 

Mr K Shanmugam, who leads the PAP team in Nee Soon, did not confirm to the media in January if Ms Sim would be fielded. 

"NOT A STRANGER" TO NEE SOON

Mr Philemon told the media on Sunday that the party has 25 potential candidates that have been “training” with them since February 2024. 

“When we say that we will contest Nee Soon GRC, this means that we have the capability and capacity to do so. We will not make blind and empty promises.” 

But Mr Philemon stopped short of naming any candidates, including himself – but expressed that he is “not a stranger to Nee Soon”. 

The former lead editor for The Independent and The Online Citizen said that he was approached by Mr Shanmugam around 2009 to help with his work in Nee Soon GRC, and that he assisted the Home Affairs and Law Minister with his Meet-the-People Sessions for several months.

“Some people think they can change the system by being in the system. But I felt the PAP was too much of a mammoth to change from the inside, and I felt I would be better if I was outside.

“We had this conversation, which is why we amicably decided to part,” he said. 

On Friday evening, Mr Philemon also introduced Ms Kala Manickam as the member of the party who will be leading its efforts in Jalan Kayu Single Member Constituency (SMC). 

Ms Manickam is a former Progress Singapore Party (PSP) member who ran in Nee Soon GRC during the 2020 General Election. 

Responding to CNA’s query of why Ms Manickam was the leader for the party in Jalan Kayu SMC as opposed to Nee Soon GRC, Mr Philemon said that his party’s candidate placements are “not fixed”, and that the party would decide once the date for Nomination Day is announced. 

Both the RDU and PPP each contested in just one constituency in GE2020. 

RDU fielded its candidates in the five-member Jurong GRC and garnered 25.39 per cent of the votes against a heavyweight PAP team led by former senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. 

Their RDU team comprised Mr Philemon, educator and counsellor Michelle Lee Juen, theatre director Alec Tok Kim Yam, entrepreneur and author Liyana Dhamirah and legal engineer Nicholas Tang. 

As for the PPP, its leader, Mr Goh, received 28.26 per cent of the votes in a losing effort against the PAP’s Tin Pei Ling in MacPherson SMC.