Tan Cheng Bock, chairman of the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), confirmed that he will run again in the coming General Election (GE).

The 83-year-old was responding to media queries during his walkabout at West Coast Food Centre on Saturday morning, Jan. 27.

Tan, who was previously a Member of Parliament for Ayer Rajah SMC when he was with the incumbent People's Action Party, said: "If you believe in active ageing, I shouldn't retire, right? Because if you all think age is not a problem, I'll be around."

The next GE is due to be held in Singapore no later than November 2025.

The retired doctor had previously made clear his intention to contest again in electoral politics, as he had said back in July 2023 he is going to run again, and it will likely be in the West Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC) as he did in the 2020 GE.

Asked about S Iswaran

When asked about the party's chances at West Coast GRC with the departure of former Transport Minister S Iswaran, who has been charged with corruption, Tan said: "It all depends on the electorate, and now we've got Parliament for them to assess us."

"We don't want to form the government because we are such a young party. But we must show to Singaporeans we are a capable people."

Tan added: "We believe that we must come and do something for this particular area that used to be part of my Ayer Rajah [SMC]."

And the party is not taking any chances, or betting on Iswaran's case as the game changer.

Hazel Poa, 53, a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) and PSP vice-chairman, said: "In politics and election, there are many, many factors affecting the results and it will be complacent for us to think that just because of this one incident, we will get a better chance at getting into Parliament."

"A lot depends on what the PAP does, who they send in as a replacement, and they might come up with a West Coast plan."

Leong Mun Wai, 65, a fellow NCMP and PSP's secretary-general, echoed the same view: "The election is not going to be decided by just one event, but a whole package of things."

The potential candidates also revealed that they will be stepping up the frequency of their walkabouts now that the elections are coming.

Leong said: "Our focus is serving the people. We will continue our walkabout and house visits. We have been doing that after the last election actually, from monthly visits now we are stepping up to weekly visits."

And it was not just the PSP that was active on a weekend morning.

Chua Wei-Shan, 36, a likely PAP candidate, was seen walking the ground with volunteers at the same time at the West Coast food centre and market.

At one point, members of both parties met and exchanged pleasantries.

Asked about backing Tan Kin Lian

During the post-walkabout interview, Tan was also asked about whether he regretted backing presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian, who ran in the September 2023 presidential election and secured 13.87 per cent of votes.

The PSP chairman replied: "I think it's the principle involved. I wanted somebody who is independent, who is not linked to the political party."

"Or else, it will be just a repeat every year, the same group of people running the country."

Tan also used a Hokkien expression to characterise this state of affairs, saying "Hua tng boh hua leow", which he later translated as, "You change the soup, but don't change the ingredients".

All photos by Matthias Ang