Never before has a resident's dream been dashed so quickly.

Less than 24 hours ago, potential PAP Aljunied GRC candidate Kahar Hassan revealed on Facebook that he was asked by party leaders to step down as Chairman of PAP Kaki Bukit Branch. This is after Kahar had been toiling the ground for 16 months.

Claiming "insider sources", The Straits Times speculated that the PAP may be fielding bigger names to replace Kahar:

Insiders say a factor behind the shake-ups is the urging from the party rank-and-file for bigger names to be fielded in WP-held territory to show that the PAP is serious about winning the wards back.

"We lost two ministers and one senior minister of state," said one Aljunied activist, referring to former Foreign Minister George Yeo, former Second Minister for Transport and Finance Lim Hwee Hua and former Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed, three of the five losing candidates in 2011. "It's only right that politicians of the same stature come to replace them."

Is ST's PAP insider source reliable? Let's welcome (drum rolls)...

Shamsul Kamar!

Eh? Shamsul who?

According to Channel NewsAsia today, Shamsul Kamar is currently the head of department for student management at Spectra Secondary School and has tendered his resignation with the Ministry of Education.

In fact, Shamsul looks like a nice man whom you don't mind having a nice supper with at Kaki Bukit.

But ex-Chief of Defence Force Ng Chee Meng-material, he is not.

Which brings us back to the question on why Kahar was replaced after 16 months.

PAP strategy: Old or new?

Last Sunday, PAP organising secretary and defence Minister Ng Eng Hen told the media that the party had decided to deploy its new faces in their constituencies as early as possible so that voters have time to assess for themselves the calibre of candidates.

Ng added that the aim was to create "a better type of politics that the PAP wants for Singapore".

But this does not gel with the PAP strategy in Aljunied.

Kaki Bukit residents will have less than two months to assess Kahar's replacement.

And what will happen to Kahar?

Former PAP Minister Lim Boon Heng, who announced Shamsul's "take-over" of Kaki Bukit to the grassroots leaders, told the media after that the decision to replace Kahar was "not because he’s done anything criminal or there’s a scandal".

Lim added that Kahar could be "placed in a better role somewhere else".

Anyway, if we believe in PAP's famous tea sessions for its rigorous vetting of potential candidates, we should not be surprised that Kahar is not a criminal.

But thanks for putting this negative thought in our minds, Mr Lim.

So if there wasn't any scandal or anything criminal, does that mean that Kahar is a decent guy who was unfortunately caught in his party's internal politics?

We do not know, so let's check out how the PAP Aljunied GRC team's reacted to Kahar's sudden departure:

We start with former foreign minister George Yeo's replacement at Bedok constituency, Victor Lye.

Victor Lye Facebook page