PAP team for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC in coming election remains unchanged

SINGAPORE - People's Action Party (PAP) members who contested the Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the previous general election will be defending the GRC at the coming polls.

The four-man team consists of Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of State Sim Ann, MP Liang Eng Hwa and MP Christopher de Souza.

Dr Balakrishnan, 54, was elected in 2001 and has been an office holder since 2002.

Ms Sim Ann, 40, was a new face in the previous election. Mr de Souza, 39, is a lawyer and Mr Liang, 51, is a managing director at DBS. Both are second-term MPs.

In the 2011 election, the PAP won the GRC with 60.08 per cent of the vote, beating opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).

According to The Straits Times, SDP has signalled interest in contesting the ward again, but three in the team that stood in Holland-Bukit Timah in the last election have left the party.

The GRC remains largely unchanged but has expanded to 104,397 voters, having absorbed some areas from the dissolved Moulmein-Kallang GRC and West Coast GRC.

klim@sph.com.sg