Yaw Shin Leong

Yaw Shin Leong

By mid-morning, word was already out that Workers' Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang was moving out of his stronghold Hougang SMC to contest in Aljunied GRC.

The question at Dunman Secondary School nomination centre then was: Who would defend the Hougang SMC seat for the WP?

At 10.20am, the answer came when a bus carrying some 40 WP supporters - many of them middle-aged - showed up at the school gate.

Sitting in the last row of the bus was WP organising secretary Yaw Shin Leong - a candidate which Today had this morning identified as the replacement for Mr Low. He alighted from the bus and entered the school, clutching his nomination papers in a brown envelope.

The change of opponent, however, did not mean any less pressure for the People's Action Party (PAP) man contesting in the Opposition-controlled ward.

Since 1991, Mr Low had held the ward which now has 24,560 voters - many of them in the working class.

"The pressure doesn't change," said the PAP's Mr Desmond Choo, speaking to the media before filing his nomination papers. "We have always wanted to take back Hougang, for the primary reason that the people will do better under the PAP care than the Workers' Party."

Mr Yaw, who has been helping Mr Low at the Hougang Town Council, was part of the WP "suicide squad" that contested in 2006 against Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's Ang Mo Kio GRC, winning 34 per cent of votes.

"Now the Workers' Party supporters have to decide if Shin Leong is still the best person to serve them now, or does the PAP provide them with a better alternative," Mr Choo said.

Even if he loses to Mr Yaw, Mr Choo said he will continue to serve residents of Hougang. "My mission wasn't to come in here for three months, put up a fight, and then go.

Addressing a clutch of blue-clad WP supporters after filing his papers, Mr Yaw thanked them for supporting Mr Low in Hougang for the past 20 years.

"I will do my very best to strengthen the foundation and build upon the foundation Mr Low Thia Khiang has laid for us. This is a very significant election. We must do our best to battle for every single heart, every single mind and every single vote."

He declined to speak to reporters, and invited them to ask questions at a WP press conference in the afternoon.