GE2025: PAP new faces David Neo & Charlene Chen join Tampines GRC slate, Desmond Choo to stand in Tampines Changkat SMC

Former army chief David Neo and academic Charlene Chen will join the People's Action Party's (PAP) candidate line-up in Tampines GRC, Minister Masagos Zulkifli announced on Apr. 16 at a candidate introduction session at a multipurpose hall in Tampines North.

The Tampines GRC PAP team for GE 2025 will be led by Masagos, along with former Tampines MPs Baey Yam Keng and Koh Poh Koon, and new members Neo and Chen.

Meanwhile, former Tampines MP Desmond Choo will contest in Tampines Changkat SMC.

Choo, who has been serving the ward for the past 10 years, said that residents' voices have shaped his team's work.

"Our deep ties with Tampines GRC continue," Choo added, saying that the SMC will share resources with the GRC, should he get elected again.

Other former Tampines MPs Koh and Baey also highlighted efforts and improvements they have made to the residents' lives.

"While I may look young, I've walked several paths," Chen said, assuring residents that she can serve them well with her diverse past experiences.

Chen added that she believes her "baby face" can also help her relate to younger residents.

Neo shared that he grew up with his uncle and aunt, after his mother passed away when he was five.

He also shared that he's guided by "purpose, people and (being) practical" at work and in serving the residents, and will show this should he get elected.

Neo spoke in English, Mandarin, Hokkien, and Malay during his introduction.

The changes

The two new faces fill the gaps left behind by Choo, whose ward was carved out into the new SMC in the recent Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) report, as well as former MP Cheng Li Hui's resignation in 2023 following the exposure of her extramarital affair.

Both new faces were previously spotted at events in Tampines leading up to today.

Neo, one of the three Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) leaders who stepped down to purportedly be fielded in the election, was seen accompanying Baey Yam Keng.

Meanwhile Chen, an assistant professor of marketing at Nanyang Technological University, was earlier appointed a member of the Tampines Town Council and has been serving at Tampines East since June 2024.

Both of them attended a recent Hari Raya celebration at Our Tampines Hub too.

A multi-cornered fight is expected in Tampines for the first time in GE2025, with Workers' Party, National Solidarity Party, and People's Power Party possibly contesting against PAP.

Top image by Hidayat Anuar