DPM Heng says Edwin Tong 'welcome' in East Coast team after Joo Chiat redrawn into the GRC

The East Coast GRC team welcomes Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong to the team, said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat.

While Heng did not explicitly say that Tong — who is also Second Minister for Law — would be part of the People's Action Party's (PAP's) line-up for the General Election, he said that his team in East Coast would work together with Tong, and "welcome Edwin until the Prime Minister announces what exactly will be the detailed changes".

Heng was speaking at a walkabout in Simei Plaza on Mar. 15.

Tong himself was not present at the walkabout due to a work trip to Hong Kong.

Currently, the five members of the East Coast team are Heng himself, Cheryl Chan, Jessica Tan, Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of National Development (MND) and the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) Tan Kiat How, and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Maliki Osman.

New addition

The potential addition of Tong to the PAP's line-up for East Coast GRC comes on the back of the recent boundary changes announced in the Mar. 11 Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) report.

The report saw Edwin Tong's Joo Chiat ward — currently part of Marine Parade GRC — subsumed into East Coast.

However, as East Coast is a five-member GRC, at least one of the existing five will have to be dropped from the slate for Tong to be fielded in East Coast GRC.

As the PAP typically does not field so many cabinet ministers in a single GRC, it's likely that one of the current Cabinet ministers among the East Coast GRC MPs — Heng or Maliki — could be moved to contest in another constituency.

Boundary changes

In total, about 20,000 residents were added to the East Coast GRC under the redrawn boundaries.

These include residents from Chai Chee HDB estates and Siglap private estates.

Meanwhile, the Loyang and Flora estates were carved out from the East Coast GRC, and merged with polling districts from Pasir-Ris Punggol to form the new Pasir Ris-Changi GRC.

This brings the total number of electors in East Coast to 150,691, up from the current 122,888.

Speaking about the changes, Heng said that they are "necessary to reflect the changing profiles of the population".

"There are many new developments in the eastern side of the island, in Tampines and so on...so it's part of the renewal process.

But as to how we will divide the work, it's something which the Prime Minister will decide."

Election season

Considered an election battleground, East Coast GRC was hotly contested in the 2020 General Election.

The PAP won against the Workers' Party (WP) team led by former WP member Nicole Seah, with 53.41 per cent: the party's second-narrowest victory.

It was also a significantly lower vote share than the previous General Election in 2015, when it won with 60.73 per cent.

The WP has not yet unveiled its slate for East Coast GRC, nor said if the party will contest there again.

But the presence of two or even three full ministers in the PAP's line-up means it's unlikely to go down without a fight.

Top image by Mothership