PUBLISHED ONApril 30, 2025 6:50 AMByAmierul RashidProgress Singapore Party (PSP) founder Tan Cheng Bock has called for calm after a boisterous cheering contest broke out between PSP and People's Action Party (PAP) supporters who crossed paths during a walkabout at Block 964 Jurong West Street 91 on Wednesday (April 30) morning.
Supporters from both parties were heard chanting while pumping their fists in the air, trying to outdo each other as they rallied behind their respective candidates at a hawker centre.
The PSP team, led by party chief Leong Mun Wai, began chanting "PSP" as the rival PAP team, headed by incumbent PAP MP Ang Wei Neng, passed by.
In response, some PAP team members enthusiastically chanted their own party's name.
Urging restraint after the encounter, Dr Tan said: "I think we should avoid all that. Honestly, we have gone beyond that. We should up ourselves [and] not be so rowdy."
When asked what was going through his mind after the incident unfolded, the 85-year-old noted that he's fought many battles throughout his political career and such animated exchanges belong to the past.
"During the early days, yes, there was a lot of shouting [during campaigning]. There was even fighting. But now, no more," Dr Tan said, describing political battles since then as "cordial".
"We even help our opposition because sometimes their posters would be down and we picked it up for them. Because that is the quality of grown and matured country," he added.
Speaking to the media this morning, Leong also said that National Development Minister Desmond Lee has yet to respond to the party's queries on national issues including the affordability of HDB flats, lease decay and the GST hike.
Lee later responded with a statement, calling Leong's claim that he had remained silent on national housing issues throughout the campaign "untrue".
"I have addressed national housing issues on multiple occasions over the course of the campaign, including at the launch of our GRC Manifesto on April 23, in a press doorstop on April 25, and in my speech at the PAP Rally for West Coast-Jurong West on April 27," he said.
Lee noted that he recognised the concerns that many have about housing and assured Singaporeans that the government is clear about keeping housing "affordable" and "accessible".
He added: "It is indeed a matter of concern when the PSP makes assertions with little regard for facts. I would like to urge the public to consider the facts and concrete plans that each side has presented when making their choice during this General Election."
Lee is helming PAP's team for the newly redrawn West Coast-Jurong West GRC, alongside Ang, Cassandra Lee, Hamid Razak and Shawn Huang.
At GE2020, Dr Tan led the now-defunct West Coast GRC, narrowly losing to the PAP with 48.31 per cent of the votes.
Despite contesting in a new area this time around, Dr Tan is optimistic and upbeat about their chances.
He noted that many West Coast-Jurong West GRC residents remember back when he looked after them as their former doctor.
Dr Tan ran a clinic in Jurong West which subsequently closed in 2012.
"So if I do come back here, I will continue to look after them but this time, I hope as a Parliamentarian."
Present at the walkabout were fellow West Coast-Jurong West GRC candidates Hazel Poa, Sani Ismail and Sumarleki Amjah.
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