With the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP)’s Chee Soon Juan saying that there was a possibility that he might contest, as well as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chief Benjamin Pwee and independent Samir Salim Neji confirming their place in the ballot, a potential PAP candidate will naturally have to be "very strong" to defeat the candidates in a four-cornered fight.

After all, PAP cannot be too complacent as it has been a long time since PAP won in a by-election, the last time being 24 years ago when they won in the Marine Parade by-election in 1992.

Who might the candidate be? We look at the PAP’s past mistakes in by-elections and its current available slate of candidates to make an educated guess:

1. The PAP won’t field an inexperienced outsider

Remember Koh Poh Koon?

The MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC and the Minister of State for National Development & Trade and Industry was touted as the "Son of Punggol" but was considered by many Punggol grassroots leaders as an outsider.

Though Koh had been born and bred in Punggol, he was "parachuted" into Punggol East SMC like a guardsman, two weeks before the by-election and was considered an elitist after his "everybody has a car" remarks.

That, and the fact that Workers’ Party (WP) candidate Lee Li Lian had been a familiar face in Punggol East (having contested there in GE2011), led to the PAP’s loss.

It’s likely that the PAP would not make the same mistake again by fielding an outsider touting himself or herself as a "Child of Bukit Batok’"; nor would it parachute a "scholar" into the area, despite Ong’s strong showing of 72.99% of the vote in the last GE.

2. Enter Muralidharan Pillai, "heavyweight" and GE2015 veteran

Muralidharan Pillai, 47, was part of PAP's "Aljunied GRC suicide squad" who narrowly lost to WP's 'A' team in GE2015.

In fact, Murali acquitted himself well during the GE. He beat WP's GE2011 "star catch" Chen Show Mao in his Paya Lebar ward by about 300 votes.

His name was used as rejoinder by former Minister Lim Boon Heng in GE 2011 when Lim needed to highlight that the team lacks a “heavy-weight”.

Lim argued that Murali is a “heavyweight” as he heads the litigation department at one of Singapore’s largest law firm, Rajah & Tann and has 100 lawyers reporting to him.

But what really stood out is his familiarity with the Bukit Batok constituency and its residents.

As IPS Deputy Director Gillian Koh pointed out in her commentary ("Bukit Batok By-Election and the 'Jurong Family' Factor"):

"... 95 percent of its residents live in public housing; 71 percent live in one to four room flats. In our surveys, this is the demographic that rallies around the People’s Action Party."

This is where Murali's experience will come in handy.

He was the Branch Secretary of PAP Bukit Batok Branch, who was then under the late Ong Chit Chung who was the Bukit Batok SMC and Jurong GRC MP between 1988 to 2008.

Branch secretaries are the most senior political volunteers next to the MP.

They are the go-to guys that help the MPs call the shots in each of the PAP’s branches. They are usually seen as potential politician material as the position is high-profile and a good training ground.

Current MPs who are former branch secretaries include: MPs Gan Thiam Poh, Patrick Tay, Alex Yam, Sitoh Yih Pin and Henry Kwek.

3. Lianhe Zaobao is already on to the story.

Lianhe Zaobao, the paper who scored the Wendy Lim scoop, was already sniffing around for hints.

Amazingly, Zaobao managed to reach Murali on Monday (March 14), who is currently overseas for vacation.

When asked by Zaobao about the Bukit Batok situation, Murali said that he was very familiar with the Bukit Batok activists, having been together with them during Ong Chit Chung's passing.

Murali added that the activists would have to unite and take care of the residents' needs.

In fact, it was Murali and not Victor Lye or veteran MP Yeo Guat Kwang, who was the Aljunied GRC speaker profiled at PAP's manifesto launch in 2015.

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Will the son of a leftist activist be the face of the new PAP in Bukit Batok? Murali, of course, was the son of P.K. Pillai, a unionist who was detained under Operation Coldstore in 1963.

If chosen and elected, he will follow the footsteps of Minister of State Janil Puthucheary (son of a founding PAP member who was detailed under Operation Coldstore) and Acting Education Minister Ong Ye Kung (son of a Barisan Sosialis MP).

Top photo by Ng Yi Shu.

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