 |
| Low Thia Khiang |
The WP team has filed their nomination papers at the Deyi Secondary School in Ang Mo Kio.
The other candidates in the team are chairman Sylvia Lim, 45, corporate lawyer Chen Show Mao, 50, Mr Pritam Singh, 34, a postgraduate law student, and Mr Muhamad Faisal Manap, 35, a freelance counseller.
WP party candidate Yaw Shin Leong will take Mr Low's place in Hougang. Mr Yaw, 34, owner of an enrichment programme developing who stood in the 2006 elections, will square off PAP's Desmond Choo.
Mr Low, 54, was the four-term MP for Hougang, which he won in 1991.
Asked by reporters if he was contesting Aljunied earlier on Wednesday morning, Mr Low told reporters moments before boarding the bus to Deyi centre: 'By now, you should know where I'm going.'
The WP team in Aljunied will face off the PAP's team led by Foreign Minister George Yeo, whose teammates include Minister Lim Hwee Hua, 52, Senior Minister of State Zainul Abidin Rasheed, 63, Ms Cynthia Phua, 52, and newcomer Ong Ye Kung, 41, a unionist.
They will be fighting for the hearts and minds of 143,148 voters, who include 20,000 from Marine Parade's Kaki Bukit ward. The Aljunied GRC is made up of Bedok reservoir-Punggol, Serangoon, Eunos, Paya Lebar and Kaki Bukit wards.
In the 2006 general election, the PAP team beat the Workers Party with 56.1 per cent of the votes.
As news of the WP team entering the Aljunied fray spread among PAP supporters, there was a heightened sense of excitement . 'It will be a big battle,' said one.
Mrs Jennifer Yeo, wife of Mr George Yeo, told The Straits Times at the nomination centre: 'We will look forward to a good fight.'
PAP's Hougang candidate Desmond Choo, said he would have to fight hard.
'WP has been there for 20 years. People are attached to Low Thia Khiang. But nothing has changed.'
Asked about his chances he said: 'I can't count my chickens before they are hatched. Voters will have to decide whether they want Yaw Shin Leong or PAP who can give them a better future.'
