GE2025: Desmond Lee responds to Leong Mun Wai's invitation to national policy debate
Lee and his team also launched their West Coast-Jurong West Community Manifesto.

On Apr. 23, Progress Singapore Party (PSP) candidates for West Coast-Jurong West group representation constituency (GRC) extended an invitation to their opponents from the People's Action Party (PAP) for a policy debate.
In the PSP team's nomination speech, PSP secretary-general Leong Mun Wai said such a debate with Minister for National Development Desmond Lee and his team will "let voters decide who has better ideas" in General Election (GE) 2025.
Earlier during the speech, PSP first vice-chair Hazel Poa also extended the same invitation in Mandarin.
The PAP team for West Coast-Jurong West GRC, helmed by Lee, comprises three-term Member of Parliament (MP) Ang Wei Neng, Senior Parliamentary Secretary Shawn Huang, surgeon Hamid Razak, and lawyer Cassandra Lee.
Details of PSP nomination speech
In the PSP team's speech, Leong expressed the party's gratitude for the residents' "strong support" in GE2020, adding:
"The [electoral] boundaries have changed a lot, but we are not discouraged.
We worked very hard and will strive to make a breakthrough in West Coast-Jurong West GRC in this election."
Toward that end, Leong said PSP launched "a strong manifesto with many policies that will help Singaporeans to have better lives".
PSP introduced its 78-page-long manifesto with the slogan "Progress for All" on Apr. 6.
Response from Lee
Lee released a statement to the media after the launch of the PAP team's manifesto, saying "there are platforms during GE for political parties to debate policies".
He added that "parties also publish their policy ideas in their manifestos" and that "voters can scrutinise these plans during GE".
Lee also said that "political parties who say they have walked the ground should also be able to put out detailed proposals and local plans to benefit residents".
"We (the PAP team) have done so. We ask PSP to publish these local plans for residents to study," added the minister.
PAP's West Coast-Jurong West Community Manifesto
At around 3:30pm on Apr. 23, Lee published a Facebook video introducing the PAP team's West Coast-Jurong West Community Manifesto titled "Securing a Better Tomorrow, Together".
In the video, Lee and his team made several promises to the residents, which include helping them cope with cost of living pressures and building "a green, sustainable, and inclusive" West Coast and Jurong West with them.
According to CNA, Lee also elaborated on these points during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
For instance, his team will launch S$3 value meal vending machines in Nanyang, half-price grocery shopping in Boon Lay, and distribute groceries to lower-income households in West Coast and Jurong Spring.
The GRC will also have a new Clementi Stadium and a redeveloped Gek Poh Shopping Centre, integrated with an MRT station along the upcoming Jurong Region Line, according to the team.
Top images via Leong Mun Wai & Desmond Lee/Facebook
MORE STORIES