Singapore election: Ng Chee Meng, Andre Low battle marks where action lies – single wards

With three days until Singapore’s general election and political parties scrambling to seize on the star power of popular candidates as they bet big on multi-seat constituencies, the battle for the city state’s single-member constituencies (SMCs) could yet produce some of the poll’s most surprising results.

Electoral boundaries in the country comprise SMCs and group representation constituencies (GRCs). The GRCs are made up of between three and six candidates per contesting party, including a member of a minority race. There are 18 GRCs and 15 SMCs in this year’s election.

In the northeastern Jalan Kayu SMC, analysts have described a “David vs Goliath” contest with People’s Action Party (PAP) candidate Ng Chee Meng, the labour chief and a former cabinet minister, facing Workers’ Party (WP) newcomer Andre Low. Even a sudden controversy erupting over Low may still make it a tight race, they say.

“He has three stars to his name from his military career. I only have three chevrons – sorry, third sergeant here,” Low said at a rally on Tuesday night, referring to Ng’s illustrious military career as the armed forces chief before his political debut in 2015.

Ng was voted out of parliament in the 2020 election when the WP clinched its second GRC in Sengkang – a milestone achievement for the country’s main opposition group.

Independent political observer Felix Tan told This Week in Asia: “It’s a David vs Goliath kind of situation. Ng Chee Meng has the full backing of a very strong political party, a very well-established brand name for himself and a support group throughout Singapore. Andre is a very new face, so there is a lot more work he has to do.”