SINGAPORE: The National Solidarity Party (NSP) will bow out from Sembawang West and Tampines-Changi Changkat SMCs and only contest Sembawang and Tampines GRCs, party chief Spencer Ng announced on Sunday (Apr 20).
Speaking to journalists outside Kampung Admiralty, the party’s secretary-general confirmed that the NSP will also not field teams in Jalan Besar and Marsiling-Yew Tee GRCs for the upcoming General Election.
“This is not an easy decision but a necessary one. We do this not because we are weak, but because we are strong enough to put country before self, unity before ego and progress before position,” he added.
“This decision is not about giving up. It’s about showing up differently.”
NSP has “consistently demonstrated what it means to walk the talk”, and has been transparent about where it will contest, said its chief, adding that it has respected the “gentlemen’s rules of engagement” in every election it has participated in under current party leadership.
“Even when not every opposition party has chosen to do the same, we have stayed true to our principles,” said Mr Ng.
With its current plan, NSP will need to field 10 candidates.
Mr Ng previously said that the party has about 30 members who are interested in standing for election, but that the party was only “very sure” of the constituencies in Sembawang and Tampines.
The NSP team is expected to face a three-corner fight with the incumbent People’s Action Party (PAP) and the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) in Sembawang GRC.
SDP has announced its potential candidates for the five-member ward. Party chief Chee Soon Juan intends to contest the new single seat in Sembawang West.
NSP had previously questioned SDP’s intention to contest Sembawang GRC. On Apr 12, Red Dot United pulled out of informal opposition alliance The Coalition, citing concerns about NSP’s decision to face off with SDP in the three-cornered fight.
In response to a question about why NSP will not give way to SDP in Sembawang GRC, Mr Ng said his party has already "invested a lot of time, effort and resources" in the area, and has a long-term vision for the constituency.
Mr Ng confirmed that he will helm the NSP team in the ward, and previously introduced swimming coach and private-hire driver Raiyian Chia as a new face who will be part of the slate.
The PAP has not revealed its full 2025 slate for the constituency.
Over in Tampines GRC, a multi-cornered fight is also shaping up. The Workers' Party has introduced Mr Jimmy Tan as a potential candidate for its slate there. The People's Power Party had also earlier indicated their interest in contesting the five-member constituency.
NSP's president Reno Fong and vice-president Mohd Ridzwan Mohammad will contest Tampines GRC, joined by three new faces, the former had said in March. Both were part of NSP's slate for the same constituency in 2020.
When asked about the party’s preparations for three-corner fights, Mr Ng said: “Let us not be disillusioned that the PAP can be easily dislodged.”
During its walkabout at Kampung Admiralty, NSP interacted with members of the public and gave out durians.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, who led PAP's 2020 team for the constituency, was at an event nearby and stopped to shake hands with and speak to Mr Ng.
On Sunday, Mr Ng also introduced financial consultant Zee Phay and Republic Polytechnic lecturer Verina Ong as two new faces who will be potential candidates at the upcoming election.
The party will reveal its full slate of candidates for Sembawang and Tampines GRCs on Nomination Day, said its secretary-general.
NSP will also announce its full manifesto in one to two days, with the slogan “Your Future, Our Priority, A Bright Future For Singapore”, Mr Ng added.
The manifesto will feature policy proposals on housing, support for young parents and Singapore’s declining fertility rate.
ZEE PHAY, 32
National Solidarity Party's (NSP) new face Zee Phay in Kampung Admiralty on Apr 20, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Lan Yu)
Mr Phay started volunteering with NSP in 2011. Mr Ng was his teacher when he was a student in North Vista Secondary School, and was a “very cool” teacher, he shared.
As a financial consultant, Mr Phay meets Singaporeans of all walks of life. “And from there, I can really see who are the people who fall through the cracks. That is the reason why after so long being a volunteer in NSP, I decided to step up and step into politics,” he told journalists on Sunday.
Stepping into the limelight was “not an easy decision” because potential candidates are often under a lot of scrutiny, he added.
Standing for election with an opposition party "does not mean that you're going against the ruling party", said Mr Phay.
"It's about helping the ruling party – focusing, diverting their attention to where they have missed out," he added.
"We would like to stand beside the ruling party to help them understand what fellow Singaporeans are facing."
Mr Phay is a young father, and it took him and his wife three to four months to secure a slot in infantcare for their son, he shared, adding that he wants to champion policies supporting the early childhood sector.
"The kind of anxiety that we have is something that you cannot understand unless you’re going through that," he said. "Is my wife going to quit her job if we can’t find an infantcare slot? Am I going to quit my job?"
Through his job, he has also realised that many Singaporeans do not have a basic understanding of their finances, said Mr Phay, who turns 33 on Polling Day on May 3.
“I would like to propose that we can have elective modules for financial literacy in upper secondary. That’s how we can help Singaporeans to get out of the situation that they’re in, get out of the low-income range and move onto the middle-income,” he added.
VERINA ONG, 46
National Solidarity Party's (NSP) new face Verina Ong in Kampung Admiralty on Apr 20, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Lan Yu)
Ms Ong has been volunteering with the party since 2022. She has been a lecturer for the last 10 years, and before that, she worked in the retail industry and in corporate training.
“I’m stepping into politics not because I have all the answers, but because I don’t,” she said, speaking to journalists on Sunday.
“I’m here because I’ve spent years listening to students with their challenges, parents and their struggles, and to the quiet voices that often get talked over. I’ve realised that we need someone to stand up and speak up for some things not quite right.”
Ms Ong hopes to champion education policies, she added, listing creative learning spaces, better support for educators on the ground and more attention for mental wellbeing as some of the areas she is concerned about.
When asked why she chose to join NSP, she said the party “doesn’t pretend to be the loudest or the biggest party”.
“Most importantly, I think we work like a family because they back up people who genuinely want to service, and that’s exactly the kind of political family I want to be part of.”
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Speaking to journalists outside Kampung Admiralty, the party’s secretary-general confirmed that the NSP will also not field teams in Jalan Besar and Marsiling-Yew Tee GRCs for the upcoming General Election.
“This is not an easy decision but a necessary one. We do this not because we are weak, but because we are strong enough to put country before self, unity before ego and progress before position,” he added.
“This decision is not about giving up. It’s about showing up differently.”
NSP has “consistently demonstrated what it means to walk the talk”, and has been transparent about where it will contest, said its chief, adding that it has respected the “gentlemen’s rules of engagement” in every election it has participated in under current party leadership.
“Even when not every opposition party has chosen to do the same, we have stayed true to our principles,” said Mr Ng.
With its current plan, NSP will need to field 10 candidates.
Mr Ng previously said that the party has about 30 members who are interested in standing for election, but that the party was only “very sure” of the constituencies in Sembawang and Tampines.
The NSP team is expected to face a three-corner fight with the incumbent People’s Action Party (PAP) and the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) in Sembawang GRC.
SDP has announced its potential candidates for the five-member ward. Party chief Chee Soon Juan intends to contest the new single seat in Sembawang West.
NSP had previously questioned SDP’s intention to contest Sembawang GRC. On Apr 12, Red Dot United pulled out of informal opposition alliance The Coalition, citing concerns about NSP’s decision to face off with SDP in the three-cornered fight.
In response to a question about why NSP will not give way to SDP in Sembawang GRC, Mr Ng said his party has already "invested a lot of time, effort and resources" in the area, and has a long-term vision for the constituency.
Mr Ng confirmed that he will helm the NSP team in the ward, and previously introduced swimming coach and private-hire driver Raiyian Chia as a new face who will be part of the slate.
The PAP has not revealed its full 2025 slate for the constituency.
Over in Tampines GRC, a multi-cornered fight is also shaping up. The Workers' Party has introduced Mr Jimmy Tan as a potential candidate for its slate there. The People's Power Party had also earlier indicated their interest in contesting the five-member constituency.
NSP's president Reno Fong and vice-president Mohd Ridzwan Mohammad will contest Tampines GRC, joined by three new faces, the former had said in March. Both were part of NSP's slate for the same constituency in 2020.
When asked about the party’s preparations for three-corner fights, Mr Ng said: “Let us not be disillusioned that the PAP can be easily dislodged.”
During its walkabout at Kampung Admiralty, NSP interacted with members of the public and gave out durians.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, who led PAP's 2020 team for the constituency, was at an event nearby and stopped to shake hands with and speak to Mr Ng.
NEW FACES
On Sunday, Mr Ng also introduced financial consultant Zee Phay and Republic Polytechnic lecturer Verina Ong as two new faces who will be potential candidates at the upcoming election.
The party will reveal its full slate of candidates for Sembawang and Tampines GRCs on Nomination Day, said its secretary-general.
NSP will also announce its full manifesto in one to two days, with the slogan “Your Future, Our Priority, A Bright Future For Singapore”, Mr Ng added.
The manifesto will feature policy proposals on housing, support for young parents and Singapore’s declining fertility rate.
ZEE PHAY, 32
National Solidarity Party's (NSP) new face Zee Phay in Kampung Admiralty on Apr 20, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Lan Yu)
Mr Phay started volunteering with NSP in 2011. Mr Ng was his teacher when he was a student in North Vista Secondary School, and was a “very cool” teacher, he shared.
As a financial consultant, Mr Phay meets Singaporeans of all walks of life. “And from there, I can really see who are the people who fall through the cracks. That is the reason why after so long being a volunteer in NSP, I decided to step up and step into politics,” he told journalists on Sunday.
Stepping into the limelight was “not an easy decision” because potential candidates are often under a lot of scrutiny, he added.
Standing for election with an opposition party "does not mean that you're going against the ruling party", said Mr Phay.
"It's about helping the ruling party – focusing, diverting their attention to where they have missed out," he added.
"We would like to stand beside the ruling party to help them understand what fellow Singaporeans are facing."
Mr Phay is a young father, and it took him and his wife three to four months to secure a slot in infantcare for their son, he shared, adding that he wants to champion policies supporting the early childhood sector.
"The kind of anxiety that we have is something that you cannot understand unless you’re going through that," he said. "Is my wife going to quit her job if we can’t find an infantcare slot? Am I going to quit my job?"
Through his job, he has also realised that many Singaporeans do not have a basic understanding of their finances, said Mr Phay, who turns 33 on Polling Day on May 3.
“I would like to propose that we can have elective modules for financial literacy in upper secondary. That’s how we can help Singaporeans to get out of the situation that they’re in, get out of the low-income range and move onto the middle-income,” he added.
VERINA ONG, 46
National Solidarity Party's (NSP) new face Verina Ong in Kampung Admiralty on Apr 20, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Lan Yu)
Ms Ong has been volunteering with the party since 2022. She has been a lecturer for the last 10 years, and before that, she worked in the retail industry and in corporate training.
“I’m stepping into politics not because I have all the answers, but because I don’t,” she said, speaking to journalists on Sunday.
“I’m here because I’ve spent years listening to students with their challenges, parents and their struggles, and to the quiet voices that often get talked over. I’ve realised that we need someone to stand up and speak up for some things not quite right.”
Ms Ong hopes to champion education policies, she added, listing creative learning spaces, better support for educators on the ground and more attention for mental wellbeing as some of the areas she is concerned about.
When asked why she chose to join NSP, she said the party “doesn’t pretend to be the loudest or the biggest party”.
“Most importantly, I think we work like a family because they back up people who genuinely want to service, and that’s exactly the kind of political family I want to be part of.”
Continue reading...