SINGAPORE: Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim on Friday (Apr 11) announced he would be moving from Nee Soon GRC to contest in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC for the coming General Election in Singapore.
Associate Professor Faishal, 56, has been seen walking the ground in the newly formed Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC in recent weeks.
The Nee Soon Central ward is currently under Assoc Prof Faishal, who’s a four-term MP.
During his first term as an MP from 2006, he had been part of the Marine Parade GRC team. He later joined the Nee Soon team in 2011.
On Friday, he was accompanied by former Nominated Member of Parliament Syed Harun Alhabsyi and former government ministry director Goh Hanyan at a media event.
Assoc Prof Faishal’s announcement came amid a series of potential candidate introductions in the past few weeks from both the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and opposition parties, with Red Dot United having declared its intention to run in Nee Soon GRC.
Nee Soon GRC is now helmed by Mr K Shanmugam (Chong Pang branch), Assoc Prof Faishal (Nee Soon Central), Mr Louis Ng (Nee Soon East), Ms Carrie Tan (Nee Soon South) and Mr Derrick Goh (Nee Soon Link).
Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi, 39, a consultant psychiatrist at the Starfish Clinic of Psychiatry & Mental Wellness, quit his NMP post on Feb 14 amid speculation that he will be contesting the general election.
His resignation, along with that of fellow NMP Raj Joshua Thomas, raised concerns among some former NMPs that them entering politics under the banner of political parties could tarnish the premise of non-partisanship during their time in the House.
In response to such concerns, Mr Shanmugam said the Constitution “expressly provides” for a NMP to join a political party after resigning from the position.
Dr Syed Harun started appearing alongside Mr Shanmugam, who is also Home Affairs and Law Minister, at Nee Soon GRC community events from end-March.
Former senior civil servant Goh Hanyan, 39, was previously spotted on Apr 7 at a Meet-the-People Session at the PAP’s Nee Soon Central branch.
Ms Goh’s last post was a director in the Smart Nation Strategy Office in the Ministry of Digital Development and Information, from December 2023 until she left the service reportedly on Apr 3.
She was also director for policy and strategy in the ministry’s National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Group.
Before that, she had been in the Strategy Group of the Prime Minister’s Office, and she spent about a decade in the Economic Development Board (EDB) before that.
