By Evelyn Choo | Posted: 25
February 2011 2239 hrs
SINGAPORE : PAP Chairman Lim Boon Heng has said his
party plans to field at least 20 new candidates in the upcoming
General Election so that they can gain experience working on the
ground while the older ministers carry on.
He hopes the new candidates will be ready in five to ten years to
take the country forward.
Mr Lim, who is also the MP for Jurong GRC, spoke on the sidelines
of a community event at his constituency on Friday.
"We have a list of possible candidates, including reserves. And as
to the actual positioning of who stands where, there is some idea
about what we want to do. But we do not take this as the final
list. The final list is confirmed only on Nomination Day," the
chairman of the People's Action Party (PAP) said.
"If you recall in 2001 in Jurong GRC, the slate was decided hours
before Nomination Day. So it can happen to any of the seats we are
contesting," Mr Lim added.
On possible candidates, two new faces were spotted on Friday
evening - 29-year-old Alex Yam and 35-year-old Desmond Lee.
Both have been serving as grassroots leaders in Jurong GRC for
about a month.
Mr Yam is currently coordinating the new media activities of the
various resident committees of Jurong, while Mr Lee oversees active
ageing events.
On current MPs in his Jurong team, Mr Lim commended Ms Grace Fu -
who is the Senior Minister of State for National Development and
Education - on her work in Yuhua over the past five years, saying
she has done well.
He said her ward saw the most significant change in terms of being
carved out as a Single Member Constituency.
Responding to the re-drawing of electoral boundaries, Mr Lim called
the report "logical" and "sensible", as there are changes in
population.
- CNA
