Viewers anticipating the Progress Singapore Party's constituency broadcast for the hot seat of West Coast GRC had to wait till July 8, the last day of the campaign.

The five members who spoke were PSP's leader Tan Cheng Bock, Jeffrey Khoo Poh Tiong, Nadrajah Loganathan, Hazel Poa Koon Koon, and Leong Mun Wai.

The main theme that emerged from the candidates' speeches was the past experience of Tan Cheng Bock, as well as his leadership, which was touted as the key element underpinning the PSP's plans for West Coast GRC.

Here's what they said.

A man who has implemented many initiatives beneficial for Singaporeans

Leong Mun Wai:

"We are a group of loyal Singaporeans who want to serve you and steer Singapore in a new direction under the guidance of the highly experienced and respected Dr Tan Cheng Bock."

Jeffrey Khoo Poh Tiong:

"Dr Tan has started many important initiatives as an MP, such as free HDB parking on Sundays to strengthen family bonds and allowing parents to use their CPF funds for their children’s tertiary education. Dr Tan made these proposals based on his compassion for the ordinary Singaporeans. Have you benefited from these measures?"

Tan himself also spoke about his previous experience in serving as the MP for Ayer Rajah, and described his time as such:

"We can rekindle the West Coast spirit – where solutions come from ground-up.

This was what happened when I was an MP 26 years ago. Ayer Rajah was a sleepy town when I took over in 1980. The residents of Ayer Rajah and I made many changes together. We built a community with a soul – with facilities like the first barrier-free community centre. We also pioneered a special day care centre for the young and old to bond together. The community spirit then was very strong. And we will draw on this community spirit to help each other through these tough times.

Now I am back home in West Coast. I bring with me, my experience as a past Chairman of the Jurong East Town Council as well as South West CDC. I also bring with me an outstanding team with fresh ideas for West Coast."

The PSP intends to help West Coast residents in their hunt for jobs

With regard to the PSP's plans itself, Khoo further elaborated that much of the focus was geared towards helping residents in terms of jobs and businesses.

He stated:

"Firstly, we plan to offer and promote Town Council jobs for Singaporeans within West Coast GRC. We will also work closely with local SMEs to help match their jobs with residents in West Coast GRC.

Secondly, we also hope to create communities of local startups and SMEs and help them grow with financial, office management, and legal support. For example, we can help them participate in government procurement and overseas market development.

Thirdly, COVID-19 has accelerated the digital and virtual work trends. But many people encounter difficulties working from home due to a lack of space and privacy. We can transform void deck areas into co-working spaces with telecommunication facilities to support residents who have to work from home. From “Reading Corners” for kids, we now have Working Corners for adults. We can even locate community clinics, and training and career centers at Void decks to service our residents. By eliminating the need for commute, we support climate change in reducing the transport carbon footprint."

Top image collage from PSP website