SINGAPORE: The People’s Action Party’s Gan Siow Huang will again contest the single-seat ward of Marymount in the upcoming election.

Speaking at the PAP branch office of Toa Payoh West-Thomson on Friday (Apr 18), Ms Gan said: “For the past five years, I’ve done my best to walk the ground, helping the vulnerable residents, and also creating a new Marymount identity.”

She said she was touched by the words of an elderly resident who told her in Mandarin during a house visit that the duty of a Member of Parliament is to take care of Singaporeans, no matter how daunting the challenge. 

She said that the ward has worked hard to "turn ideas into action", introducing new community initiatives and upgrading common infrastructure to make the environment more inclusive and accessible.

Ms Gan added that the journey has been deeply meaningful for her and that she hopes to have the opportunity to continue to work alongside Marymount residents and fellow Singaporeans.

“I hope that together, we can make every day a good day in Marymount and create a bright future for Singaporeans."

Ms Gan, 50, is the Minister of State for Education and Manpower.

In the last election, Ms Gan beat Progress Singapore Party’s (PSP) Ang Yong Guan with 55.04 per cent of the votes.

She hails from a military background, having joined the Singapore Armed Forces in 1993 before becoming the first woman Brigadier-General in the SAF in 2015.

In March 2020, she resigned from her post as Chief of Staff, Air Staff, of the Republic of Singapore Air Force to join NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute before leaving to enter politics the same year.

Marymount SMC’s boundaries have not changed since the last election. The ward has 23,219 registered voters, a dip from the 23,439 electors in 2020.

On Thursday, PSP said that its candidate Jeffrey Khoo will stand in Marymount SMC in the coming election.

Mr Khoo, 56, contested as part of PSP’s West Coast GRC team in 2020. The five-seater constituency saw the closest fight of that election, with the PAP team winning with 51.68 per cent of the votes.

A father-of-three, he currently serves as CEO of a regional risk consulting firm and has held various leadership roles at the National University of Singapore Society (NUSS) in the past 15 years.

Singaporeans will go to the polls on May 3 for the country’s 14th General Election.