The Straits Times reported on Monday (15 June) that incumbent ruling party parliamentarians Lim Swee Say and Lee Yi Shyan will leave East Coast GRC and will not contest the ward in the coming election.
A former public servant, Mr Lim entered politics in 1997 and was elected in a walkover at late founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s Tanjong Pagar ward. He subsequently contested Holland-Bukit Timah GRC in the 2001 and 2006 elections, before anchoring the ruling People’s Action Party’s (PAP) East Coast GRC team in the 2011 and 2015 elections.
In the two decades since he entered politics, Mr Lim rose up the ranks of the PAP and became a prominent member of the cabinet and the PAP’s Central Executive Committee. He served as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and secretary-general of the government-linked labour movement, NTUC, before he was appointed Minister for Manpower in 2015.
Mr Lee Yi Shyan, another former public servant, has been at East Coast GRC since he joined politics at the 2006 general election. He has served as the minister of state at the ministries of manpower, national development, and trade and industry before he was promoted to Senior Minister of State (SMS) in 2012.
Mr Lim retired from the cabinet on 1 May 2018 and handed over his Manpower portfolio to Josephine Teo, as part of the ruling party’s leadership renewal process. Mr Lee had already stepped down from his post by that time – he gave up his role as SMS after suffering a mini stroke in May 2015.
Mr Lim and Mr Lee’s departure from East Coast GRC would leave the ward with just two incumbents in the next General Election – Maliki Osman and Jessica Tan Soon Neo.
A former public servant, Mr Lim entered politics in 1997 and was elected in a walkover at late founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s Tanjong Pagar ward. He subsequently contested Holland-Bukit Timah GRC in the 2001 and 2006 elections, before anchoring the ruling People’s Action Party’s (PAP) East Coast GRC team in the 2011 and 2015 elections.
In the two decades since he entered politics, Mr Lim rose up the ranks of the PAP and became a prominent member of the cabinet and the PAP’s Central Executive Committee. He served as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and secretary-general of the government-linked labour movement, NTUC, before he was appointed Minister for Manpower in 2015.
Mr Lee Yi Shyan, another former public servant, has been at East Coast GRC since he joined politics at the 2006 general election. He has served as the minister of state at the ministries of manpower, national development, and trade and industry before he was promoted to Senior Minister of State (SMS) in 2012.
Mr Lim retired from the cabinet on 1 May 2018 and handed over his Manpower portfolio to Josephine Teo, as part of the ruling party’s leadership renewal process. Mr Lee had already stepped down from his post by that time – he gave up his role as SMS after suffering a mini stroke in May 2015.
Mr Lim and Mr Lee’s departure from East Coast GRC would leave the ward with just two incumbents in the next General Election – Maliki Osman and Jessica Tan Soon Neo.
