Comment: Just showing up is not enough, S'porean voters want credible candidates

The results of GE2025 will be hotly debated for years to come, but the more interesting story may be what it demonstrates about the growing maturity of the Singaporean voter.

GE2025 may finally bury the myth of the "Anyone But PAP" voter, and send an emphatic message to our political parties that credibility in a candidate will be rewarded with votes, while a lack of said credibility will be pragmatically punished.

PAP's performance

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, in his first general election as the prime minister, has led the PAP to an impressive victory.

His vote share of 65.57 per cent (minus overseas votes) represents a substantial increase over the PAP's 2020 performance of 61.23 per cent.

PM Wong also bucked a trend of dips in the PAP's vote share after a new PM takes office.

On national vote share, he did better than former PM Goh Chok Tong's debut election in 1991 (60.97 per cent), and was close to Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong's debut score of 66.6 per cent in 2006.

Several PAP candidates also managed to record victories in the high 70s and even over 80 per cent, which was unthinkable in 2020.

Just to take one example, PAP's Eric Chua recorded a victory of 81.12 per cent in the new Queenstown SMC.

This is some distance ahead of Tin Pei Ling's 71.74 per cent victory in MacPherson SMC in 2020, which was then considered one of the most impressive PAP results.

No matter which way you slice it, the PAP did remarkably well in 2025.

WP's performance

So if the PAP did well, then surely it must follow that their biggest opponents, the Workers' Party (WP), did poorly.

Not so.

The WP maintained good performances in their strongholds of Hougang and Aljunied.

In the latter, despite the loss of Leon Perera and the re-deployment of Faisal Manap to Tampines, the voters returned Aljunied to WP with a similar vote share to 2020.

The sound and fury of Punggol petered out in a relatively comfortable PAP win, although a vote share of nearly 45 per cent is nothing to be ashamed of for a team with four political newcomers.

While the party did worse in East Coast, which had seen "major boundary changes" this time round, their debut performance in Tampines was good enough to snag an NCMP spot, a result some might say was made more impressive by the fact that it was a four-cornered fight.

Although the multi-corner factor might not be that great, we'll get to this later.

Speaking of NCMPs, another neophyte managed to score the other spot in Jalan Kayu for the party.

But it was perhaps Sengkang of which the WP can be proudest.

Despite the Raeesah Khan saga, and the task of running a four-member GRC with just three MPs, Team Sengkang managed to increase their vote share.

No vote splitting with the WP involved

So what's going on?

The old idea of the "PAP voter vs the Opposition voter" may no longer hold true.

Someone not voting for the PAP may not automatically back the opposing candidate, just for opposition's sake.

Instead, I believe that voter wants to back candidates she deems credible, not just anyone with a badge.

This new facet of Singaporean politics is perhaps best glimpsed in the multi-cornered fights of GE2025.

In Tampines, which saw four parties facing off, much was written about a possible vote split that would harm the chances of the biggest non-PAP party there, the WP.

But look at what happened.

The PPP and the NSP not only performed poorly, they were wiped out by the voters of Tampines.

The combined efforts of 10 candidates netted just under a thousand votes, or something like less than 1 per cent of the total vote share.

It recalls the 2013 by-election, where WP's Lee Li Lian not only beat PAP's Koh Poh Koon, she did so in a four-corner fight.

Credibility comes in different forms

But what defines credibility? Perhaps there's no one answer.

It could be an association with a strong party, as seen in Jalan Kayu.

Despite WP's Andre Low's lack of political experience, the 33-year-old did well enough against PAP's Ng Chee Meng that he could be on his way to Parliament.

Credibility could also mean long years of political experience, and subsequently, greater name recognition.

Chee Soon Juan of the SDP, who made his political debut back in 1992 and has been a mainstay in the local political scene, put up a fierce fight in Sembawang West, coming within inches of an NCMP seat despite having just a few weeks to walk the ground.

But name recognition isn't everything.

Look at Potong Pasir SMC, where despite Lim Tean's arguably high name recognition, he too lost his deposit with a little over 8 per cent in a three-corner fight.

Perhaps voters were reluctant to back a candidate with past controversies, a conviction and pending court cases.

No such worries for SPP's Williiamson Lee, who safely kept his deposit with a respectable 22.47 per cent (and perhaps a lingering boost from SPP's legacy in Potong Pasir).

Good performance by independents show that party isn't everything

More evidence may be found in the good performances of both independent candidates, Jeremy Tan in Mountbatten and Darryl Lo in Radin Mas.

After all, here are two guys not associated with strong parties, nor possessing long years of political experience (both are first-time candidates).

But Tan impressed many with his political rally, and also his numerous podcast appearances.

He also took the unusual step of personally replying to online commenters, even managing to win some of them over.

Meanwhile, Lo's efforts in walking the ground and speaking to residents despite his self-professed shyness and lack of an entourage did not go unnoticed.

Both men kept their deposits, with Lo coming in second in a three-corner fight, and Tan recording the best result for an independent in over 50 years.

It goes to show that there is no single definition of credibility.

But if you put in the work and have something to offer the voters of Singapore, they will at least give you a chance to be heard.

Singaporean voters want more from their politicians

No matter your political convictions, I believe GE2025 is an important milestone in Singapore's political journey, and one that deserves to be celebrated.

No longer can someone accuse voters of "blindly" going against the PAP. There may be some, but less than one might think.

And an "Opposition voter" may have to do more "homework" in future elections. Take the time to read up the proposals and ideas espoused by a candidate, even if they're not from big parties.

Only then can one judge their credibility.

It may be tempting, in a crab bucket-ish way, to point to things like vouchers and memes and the PAP's unbroken reign since independence and dismiss the political sophistication of the Singaporean voter.

I have no doubt that international commenters will just chalk GE2025 up to "PAP dominance" and move on.

But as someone in Singapore, I think I'm either seeing something that's slowly growing, or maybe it was there all along.

The Singaporean voter would like to see more from her political candidates.

It would not be wise to ignore her.

Top image by Mothership.