WP candidate Alia Mattar shares photo of dinner with uncle Ahmad Mattar, ex-PAP cabinet minister

Familial ties that cross political divisions are not unknown in Singapore.

Health minister Ong Ye Kung is the son of Ong Lian Teng, a Barisan Sosialis politician. The elder Ong was elected as a Member of Parliament before resigning his seat in 1966.

There is also the example of Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State, whose father was an ex-PAP member who left the party to join the Barisan Sosialis.

Alia Mattar and her uncle

Another such connection was revealed on Sep. 14, when Workers' Party member Siti Alia Binte Abdul Rahim Mattar (Alia Mattar) shared a photo of herself with her uncle, Ahmad bin Mohamed Mattar (Ahmad Mattar).

Ahmad Mattar happens to be a former PAP Member of Parliament and cabinet minister, having served as both Environment minister and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs in the 1990s.

Alia Mattar shared that her uncle discussed his experiences with her, including his time as the founding president of Mendaki.

"Of course, being from different political parties, I did ask for his permission before publishing this (familial relationships aside!), which he readily agreed to.

I'm sure there is still much to learn and tap on from his life experience, which I plan to continue doing in the years to come."

She added that her uncle recently celebrated his 86th birthday and wished him good health.

Ahmad Mattar's career

Prior to his start in politics, Mattar worked at Singapore Polytechnic as a lecturer and earned his doctorate at the then-University of Singapore (now National University of Singapore).

Mattar's doctoral thesis on the study of traffic noise would later influence legislation passed on traffic noise within the community.

He was then persuaded to join the PAP and met with then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1972.

Mattar stood for election later that same year, and defeated two opponents from the United National Front and the Workers' Party to become the MP for Leng Kee constituency.

He rose in the ranks, becoming acting minister for social affairs and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs in 1977. He was also concerned with children's education, and helped to form Mendaki in 1982, becoming its founding president.

He was made a full cabinet minister in 1984, and became Environment minister in 1985.

In this new role, Mattar helped to pass stricter laws on restricting the sale of CFCs and leaded petrol. His tenure also saw the creation of the Corrective Work Order for litterers.

Mattar retired from cabinet in 1993, having attempted to do so in 1991 but was persuaded to reconsider by then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.

He became a backbencher and retired from politics altogether in 1996.

Alia Mattar's campaign

His niece Alia Mattar was announced as a WP candidate in the 2025 campaign.

Alia was introduced as a volunteer of one year, having worked as a lawyer, advocate and solicitor for close to two decades.

She also served as legal counsel for the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Alia was fielded as a candidate in the newly-minted Punggol GRC, teaming with Harpreet Singh, Alexis Dang and Jackson Au.

They faced a team with Deputy PM Gan Kim Yong, Janil Puthucheary, Sun Xueling and Yeo Wan Ling, ultimately losing with 44.8 per cent of the vote.

During the campaign, Alia was the target of a fake news post by a Facebook page called Singapore Matters.

The post was fact-checked by AFP and deleted.

Top image from Alia Mattar's Facebook page.