SINGAPORE: In under 20 years, Punggol has become “a shining model of Singapore's heartland”, but it is not yet perfect and can be improved even further, said Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong at an election rally in the town on Saturday (Apr 26).
Infrastructure developments, such as the Punggol Digital District and Punggol Waterway, have made the place “a shining example of how we are never done building Singapore from third world to the first”, said Mr Gan during the rally at Yusof Ishak Secondary School, one of three held by the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) on the fourth day of campaigning.
"In less than 20 years ... Punggol is now a shining model of Singapore's heartland and a neighbourhood that many young families will be proud to call home,” said Mr Gan, further citing amenities such as Coney Island and Waterway Point shopping mall.
While these are things that Punggol residents have told his team they are happy with, showing that the previous MPs have done what they were elected to do, Mr Gan said that the work is not complete.
“But we are not perfect, we accept. When I go around Punggol these few days, I have heard some of the feedback from residents, which I think we can try to improve upon,” he said.
These include the call for additional covered linkways, the creation of more green spaces, and also improved connectivity for residents, said Mr Gan.
"I will talk to my good friend, Minister of Finance and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, to see whether we can get more money to build some of this necessary infrastructure for our residents,” said Mr Gan.
Mr Gan had made a surprise move on Nomination Day, after a late switch over from the PAP line-up in Chua Chu Kang GRC, to anchor the ruling party’s four-member slate in the newly created Punggol GRC.
“I am a newbie in this new town, so I want to thank you for welcoming me into your big Punggol family,” he said.
Mr Gan said that he has tried to familiarise himself with Punggol as much as he can in the days since he joined the team.
“I have tried to cover as much of the areas as possible over the last three days, but it was only three days, so I checked out a lot of places, and I clocked a lot of steps,” he said.
In his Punggol GRC team are Senior Minister of State for Health and Digital Development and Information Janil Puthucheary, Minister of State for Social and Family Development and Home Affairs Sun Xueling, and Ms Yeo Wan Ling.
They will be fighting a Workers’ Party (WP) team made up entirely of political newcomers – Mr Harpreet Singh, Ms Alia Mattar, Ms Alexis Dang and Mr Jackson Au – for the support of 123,557 voters, in the ward made up of some estates from the former Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC and Punggol West SMC.
In his speech, Dr Puthucheary noted that as a developing town, Punggol would definitely face some challenges.
“Not everything is smooth, and certainly it's not easy. We have had to deal with noise and congestion, dust and delays, but (with) patience and hard work, things improve,” he said.
He said that services such as telecommunications connectivity in the town’s newest Build-to-Order estates have taken time to fix.
“We are still improving. Not perfect, not solved, but we will fix all of these issues. We will and we will address the problems in the new estates. We will make sure your homes are clean and well-maintained,” he told voters.
“We are not done making Punggol a better home for you. It's not only about the buildings. It's much more. It's about the bonds of friendship, the relationships, the neighbourhoods, turning strangers into neighbours, neighbours into friends, friends into an extended family. That is an important part of building our home, bringing people together, not splitting them apart.”
Also on the rally stage on Saturday evening was Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is retiring from politics. Mr Teo is a former MP of Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC.
Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim also turned up to deliver a speech in Malay. Assoc Prof Faishal is on the party’s Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC slate which secured five parliamentary seats on Nomination Day, after the country’s first walkover in 14 years.
Ms Sun noted in her speech about how facilities have improved in Punggol in the 10 years since she became an MP in the constituency.
“When I came to Punggol 10 years ago, let me be clear, in Punggol West, there was nothing, no facilities. I looked around me so many young families, so many young children, not even a library for them,” said Ms Sun.
That was when she used community resources to start a container library, until a Punggol regional library was built. Besides the library, transport infrastructure has improved, she said.
“You look around us, roads are being built, MRT lines are being built. Yes, lots of digging (is) happening around Punggol. But my dear residents, what you see is a Punggol that is constantly developing,” said Ms Sun, adding that Punggol is becoming a “more and more valuable estate”.
Her team-mate Ms Yeo stressed the importance of ensuring that Punggol remains “a home that energises our seniors, supports our families and protects our youth”.
“Many in the crowd today and online watching our broadcast, have lived in Punggol for over 20 years. Punggol is the first marital home for many here, and they have built their entire lives in Punggol, raised their children here and indeed grown older with Punggol,” she said in her speech.
“We need to ensure that we continue to develop our Punggol town with the necessary facilities and programmes to support our seniors as they grow older with us.”
Mr Gan also highlighted his team’s combined experience in running an estate.
“Janil, Xue Ling and Wan Ling have among them almost 30 years of experience in running a town council. And I will bring another 24 years of experience,” he said.
The minister, who chairs the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce looking into the impact of US tariffs, also touched on the turbulent global environment in his speech.
He said that he has been in talks with his US counterparts and negotiating with them on tariffs.
The US had slapped tariffs on many countries on Apr 2, with a baseline 10 per cent tariff on any imports, including from Singapore. While there is now a 90-day pause on most of the tariffs, the baseline 10 per cent duty kicked in on Apr 5.
Said Mr Gan: “They are willing to enter into talks with us because of the long-standing partnership the PAP government has with the US administration as well as the US leaders. They know us and they trust us … It is not a done deal, but it is a good start. There's still a lot more to do, and we intend to pursue this rigorously to create more opportunities for Singapore and Singaporeans.”
You can watch livestreams of all rallies on CNA's GE2025 site, CNA's YouTube channel and on mewatch.
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Infrastructure developments, such as the Punggol Digital District and Punggol Waterway, have made the place “a shining example of how we are never done building Singapore from third world to the first”, said Mr Gan during the rally at Yusof Ishak Secondary School, one of three held by the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) on the fourth day of campaigning.
"In less than 20 years ... Punggol is now a shining model of Singapore's heartland and a neighbourhood that many young families will be proud to call home,” said Mr Gan, further citing amenities such as Coney Island and Waterway Point shopping mall.
While these are things that Punggol residents have told his team they are happy with, showing that the previous MPs have done what they were elected to do, Mr Gan said that the work is not complete.
“But we are not perfect, we accept. When I go around Punggol these few days, I have heard some of the feedback from residents, which I think we can try to improve upon,” he said.
These include the call for additional covered linkways, the creation of more green spaces, and also improved connectivity for residents, said Mr Gan.
"I will talk to my good friend, Minister of Finance and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, to see whether we can get more money to build some of this necessary infrastructure for our residents,” said Mr Gan.
NEWBIE IN TOWN
Mr Gan had made a surprise move on Nomination Day, after a late switch over from the PAP line-up in Chua Chu Kang GRC, to anchor the ruling party’s four-member slate in the newly created Punggol GRC.
“I am a newbie in this new town, so I want to thank you for welcoming me into your big Punggol family,” he said.
Mr Gan said that he has tried to familiarise himself with Punggol as much as he can in the days since he joined the team.
“I have tried to cover as much of the areas as possible over the last three days, but it was only three days, so I checked out a lot of places, and I clocked a lot of steps,” he said.
In his Punggol GRC team are Senior Minister of State for Health and Digital Development and Information Janil Puthucheary, Minister of State for Social and Family Development and Home Affairs Sun Xueling, and Ms Yeo Wan Ling.
They will be fighting a Workers’ Party (WP) team made up entirely of political newcomers – Mr Harpreet Singh, Ms Alia Mattar, Ms Alexis Dang and Mr Jackson Au – for the support of 123,557 voters, in the ward made up of some estates from the former Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC and Punggol West SMC.
In his speech, Dr Puthucheary noted that as a developing town, Punggol would definitely face some challenges.
“Not everything is smooth, and certainly it's not easy. We have had to deal with noise and congestion, dust and delays, but (with) patience and hard work, things improve,” he said.
He said that services such as telecommunications connectivity in the town’s newest Build-to-Order estates have taken time to fix.
“We are still improving. Not perfect, not solved, but we will fix all of these issues. We will and we will address the problems in the new estates. We will make sure your homes are clean and well-maintained,” he told voters.
“We are not done making Punggol a better home for you. It's not only about the buildings. It's much more. It's about the bonds of friendship, the relationships, the neighbourhoods, turning strangers into neighbours, neighbours into friends, friends into an extended family. That is an important part of building our home, bringing people together, not splitting them apart.”
Also on the rally stage on Saturday evening was Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is retiring from politics. Mr Teo is a former MP of Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC.
Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim also turned up to deliver a speech in Malay. Assoc Prof Faishal is on the party’s Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC slate which secured five parliamentary seats on Nomination Day, after the country’s first walkover in 14 years.
BETTER FACILITIES AND PROGRAMMES
Ms Sun noted in her speech about how facilities have improved in Punggol in the 10 years since she became an MP in the constituency.
“When I came to Punggol 10 years ago, let me be clear, in Punggol West, there was nothing, no facilities. I looked around me so many young families, so many young children, not even a library for them,” said Ms Sun.
That was when she used community resources to start a container library, until a Punggol regional library was built. Besides the library, transport infrastructure has improved, she said.
“You look around us, roads are being built, MRT lines are being built. Yes, lots of digging (is) happening around Punggol. But my dear residents, what you see is a Punggol that is constantly developing,” said Ms Sun, adding that Punggol is becoming a “more and more valuable estate”.
Her team-mate Ms Yeo stressed the importance of ensuring that Punggol remains “a home that energises our seniors, supports our families and protects our youth”.
“Many in the crowd today and online watching our broadcast, have lived in Punggol for over 20 years. Punggol is the first marital home for many here, and they have built their entire lives in Punggol, raised their children here and indeed grown older with Punggol,” she said in her speech.
“We need to ensure that we continue to develop our Punggol town with the necessary facilities and programmes to support our seniors as they grow older with us.”
Mr Gan also highlighted his team’s combined experience in running an estate.
“Janil, Xue Ling and Wan Ling have among them almost 30 years of experience in running a town council. And I will bring another 24 years of experience,” he said.
The minister, who chairs the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce looking into the impact of US tariffs, also touched on the turbulent global environment in his speech.
He said that he has been in talks with his US counterparts and negotiating with them on tariffs.
The US had slapped tariffs on many countries on Apr 2, with a baseline 10 per cent tariff on any imports, including from Singapore. While there is now a 90-day pause on most of the tariffs, the baseline 10 per cent duty kicked in on Apr 5.
Said Mr Gan: “They are willing to enter into talks with us because of the long-standing partnership the PAP government has with the US administration as well as the US leaders. They know us and they trust us … It is not a done deal, but it is a good start. There's still a lot more to do, and we intend to pursue this rigorously to create more opportunities for Singapore and Singaporeans.”
You can watch livestreams of all rallies on CNA's GE2025 site, CNA's YouTube channel and on mewatch.
Continue reading...