The People's Action Party concluded its annual party conference, as well as its biennial leadership election, on Sunday, Nov. 11.

In case you were busy sleeping through your Sunday and missed the news about it, catch up here:

But that isn't what we're really here to talk about. It's this:

The group photograph

You see, after the announcement of the 12 Central Executive Committee (CEC) members voted in by the PAP's cadres (plus an additional two who were co-opted), the newly-elected committee gathered on stage for a group photograph.

This also happens to be an annual affair — we'll show you what we mean in a bit.

Now, first, we note that the following party veterans stepped down from the CEC:

• Treasurer Lim Swee Say
• Vice-chairman Yaacob Ibrahim
• Chairman Khaw Boon Wan
• First assistant secretary-general Teo Chee Hean, and
• Second assistant secretary-general Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

And so, the positions in the photo that were taken by Ministers K Shanmugam and Chan Chun Sing, standing closest to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (apart from Khaw), resulted in some speculation from Lianhe Wanbao:

Wanbao went one step further to state that Chan was a "hot favourite" to be the next Prime Minister.

Who's been standing next to PM Lee?

In 2017, it was Khaw (PAP Chairman, Co-ordinating Minister for Infrastructure) and Tharman (PAP second assistant secretary-general, Co-ordinating Minister for Economic & Social Policies and Deputy Prime Minister).

Two years ago, in 2016, it was Khaw (PAP chairman, Co-ordinating Minister for Infrastructure) and Teo (PAP first assistant secretary-general, Co-ordinating Minister for National Security and Deputy Prime Minister):

In 2014, it was Khaw (PAP chairman and Minister for National Development) again, and Yaacob Ibrahim (PAP vice-chairman and Minister for Communications and Information):

And in 2013, it was Khaw (PAP chairman, Minister for National Development) and Tharman (second assistant secretary-general, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister):

Do positions denote position?

Here's our first observation: Khaw is the party's "standing-next-to-PM-Lee" MVP, having held that physical position over five conferences in a row.

Also, anyone standing next to PM Lee has always held key leadership appointments within the party (Chairman, Vice Chairman, and Assistant Secretary-General) and/or important political appointments (Co-ordinating Minister or Deputy Prime Minister).

In Parliament, PM Lee is also flanked by his deputy prime ministers:

Journey to the centre

And here's our second observation: Back in 2013, Chan was near the wings of the photograph. Between him and PM Lee stood seven others.

In 2014 and 2016, the seven-person gap for him was reduced to three.

In these three photographs (2013, 2014 and 2016), Chan was standing on the right side of PM Lee.

But last year, he switched to the left flank, although this time there were four men between him and PM Lee.

And on Sunday, we see Chan next to PM Lee — on his left. Shanmugam is the right hand man man to the right of PM Lee, after Khaw.

Now if we averaged the people gap separating PM Lee and Chan over the past five years, Chan was, on average, 3.4 persons away from PM Lee.

On the other hand, Grace Fu was 2.8 persons away.

0.6 persons closer to PM Lee than Chan.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Top image from PAP Facebook page