SINGAPORE: The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) on Sunday (Apr 6) unveiled the five candidates who will contest in Sembawang Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the upcoming General Election.

They are party vice-chairman Bryan Lim Boon Heng, treasurer Surayah Akbar, deputy head of policy James Gomez, as well as members Damanhuri Abas and Alfred Tan.

The candidates were presented by party chairman Paul Tambyah before a walkabout at Kampung Admiralty on Sunday afternoon.

"This is the Sembawang GRC team ... I think we are pretty confident that we have an experienced team of political veterans," Professor Tambyah added.

"We are not getting some CEOs parachuted in at the last minute, but we have people who have walked the ground in Sembawang, in (Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC) and in Sembawang West, and so regardless of how the EBRC (Electoral Boundaries Review Committee) carved up the constituency, we think that we have a team who will be able to serve the residents well."

Prof Tambyah described Mr Lim as a "veteran in politics", having contested in his first election in 2001. SDP said the 49-year-old is an assistant director in a public hospital and has been a member of the party since 1999.

Mr Lim was part of the SDP's Marsiling-Yew Tee team that lost to the People's Action Party (PAP) in the 2020 General Election. 

As the anchor member of the party's Sembawang GRC team, Mr Lim said that the constituency was "no new stomping ground" for himself and Mr Damanhuri, who have met Sembawang residents during their walkabouts in Marsiling Yew-Tee GRC. 

"Some of the Sembawang residents we met up there were so excited to see us again. So this is like a homecoming since we have been here since 2006," he told CNA.

SDP contested in the constituency in the 2006 and 2011 elections, losing to the PAP with 23.3 per cent and 36.1 per cent of the votes respectively.

Last month, SDP secretary-general Chee Soon Juan said the party would embark on a "northern strategy" for the 2025 General Election.

He is contesting the new Sembawang West Single Member Constituency (SMC), which is among the six new single-seat constituencies that have been carved out.

Sembawang GRC is currently helmed by a five-member team from the PAP led by Health Minister Ong Ye Kung. The other members are Mr Vikram Nair, Dr Lim Wee Kiak, Ms Mariam Jaafar and Ms Poh Li San.

On the chances of winning the GRC, SDP's Mr Lim said the party was confident and had deliberated over its slate of candidates "for quite a long time".

"We want to complement Dr Chee's Sembawang West thrust … Like what he said, if we win Sembawang West and Sembawang, we will have a mega town council, for economies of scale," he added.

"So we want Sembawang residents to give us a chance to realise that." 

Ms Akbar, 42, has been an SDP member for more than 18 years and is also the party's head of fundraising. She runs her own music publishing business.

She has been actively engaging with residents in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, as seen on her social media accounts in February, where she led a team distributing dates at Marsiling Market ahead of Ramadan.

"Surayah is the new face, who is probably the worst-kept secret about SDP's new faces. She is an entrepreneur and a mum," said Prof Tambyah.

Ms Akbar told CNA that she has been walking the ground in Marsiling-Yew Tee for about five years as well as in Sembawang for the past few years.  "This isn't just speaking up about my family, my friends, my close ones, my loved ones but also for the Singaporeans," she said. 

She added the party will bring up issues that "needed attention", such as the cost of living, housing and healthcare policies.

Political scientist Dr Gomez has contested in elections over the last 20 years, said Prof Tambyah. He is the regional director at the Asia Centre, a research institute.

Dr Gomez, 60, was part of SDP's Holland-Bukit Timah GRC team in 2020 and the Sembawang team in 2011. He has been a party member for about 15 years.

Dr Gomez said he was happy to be returning to the team and that the party has received a "good reception" in the constituency. 

"I think what the residents generally remember often is the brand. (They) definitely remember the SDP brand and they talk about it quite nostalgically," he added. 

Mr Tan was described by Prof Tambyah as a "serial entrepreneur" and someone who "has his pulse on the business environment in Singapore".

According to the SDP, he has many years of international banking, corporate finance, business management and industry experience in the region.

Mr Tan, 59, has been a volunteer with SDP since 2015 and joined the party four years later. He told CNA that he has walked the ground in Sembawang.

"The party decided that there's something that they can utilise … my advantages here, so they moved me here," said Mr Tan, adding that he was glad for an opportunity to contribute. 

Asked about chances of winning the GRC, he said: "If we have thought that we will not be able to win … they will not have sent me here. They will not have so many people here today. So it's something we are very confident (about)."

Mr Damanhuri, 54, contested in the 2015 and 2020 General Elections as part of the SDP teams in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC. 

According to his LinkedIn profile, he is a regional educational consultant, having previously been a director at Muhammadiyah Islamic College.

He said in March 2023 that he was "withdrawing from active party politics" and had resigned from being a member of a political party, but he was seen at SDP events in recent weeks.

Mr Damanhuri said that he brings 10 years of political experience to the team. He added that Mr Lim has been in politics even longer while Dr Gomez was a "thinker". 

As a mother figure, Ms Akbar represents the "heart" of the team, while Mr Tan comes from a background in business, like himself, he said.

Besides Sembawang GRC and Sembawang West SMC, the SDP has said it would also contest in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC and Bukit Panjang SMC this year.

Sembawang GRC will have 133,919 voters in the upcoming election and the constituency may see a three-corner fight.

The National Solidarity Party (NSP) contested Sembawang GRC in 2015 and 2020 and lost to the PAP both times.

On Sunday, the NSP questioned SDP's intention to contest in the constituency.

In a separate event, NSP secretary-general Spencer Ng told reporters that he respects SDP’s decision about where it wants to run in the upcoming General Election, but that he wanted to know more about why they chose Sembawang.

He said the party would want to avoid three-corner fights "as much as possible", and that it was "committed" to Sembawang.

“We are not the ‘fly by night’ kind of party, and we will not retreat just because of tactical reasons and without strategic substance,” Mr Ng said. 

“We are here to stay because of the promise that we made to our residents. We are here to serve them.”

Prof Tambyah said he was happy for others to contest in the same constituency.

He added: "That’s the essence of a mature democracy ... We want to give people a choice, and so we welcome anybody who wants to contest and who is sincere about doing something good for Singapore."