[SINGAPORE] The opposition Progress Singapore Party (PSP) announced its first two candidates to run in the upcoming general elections on Thursday (Apr 17).
Jeffrey Khoo, who previously contested under the West Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC) ticket, will contest in Marymount Single Member Constituency (SMC).
Tony Tan, husband of PSP’s Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Hazel Poa, will contest in Kebun Baru SMC.
PSP chairman Dr Tan Cheng Bock, who announced the new candidates at a walkabout on Thursday morning at Bishan North Shopping Mall, hinted that he also intends to contest in this general election which will be held on May 3.
Said Dr Tan: “I’m actually going to be 85 (years old) soon, in a couple of days. I will be able to contribute, and I still think that I can contribute.”
Dr Tan, who led PSP’s West Coast GRC team in the previous election, is listed as a prospective candidate who has paid the election deposit to contest in GE2025, the Election Department’s website indicated.
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Marymount SMC candidate
Khoo, 56, is the chief executive officer at Kairos Risk Solutions, a regional risk consulting firm. He graduated from the National University of Singapore in Botany. He was also on PSP’s Central Executive Committee from 2023 to 2025.
Khoo was part of the PSP which contested in West Coast GRC during the 2020 General Election. The PSP slate garnered 48.32 per cent of the vote, losing to the People’s Action Party (PAP) in what was the closest fight in the last elections.
PSP’s candidate, Dr Ang Yong Guan, contested the constituency against Gan Siow Huang from the PAP and lost with 44.96 per cent of the vote. He will not be contesting in this general election following a three-year suspension of his medical licence.
Khoo said that although Marymount SMC is a “relatively new” constituency to West Coast GRC where he previously contested in, he noted that Dr Ang’s vote share from the previous elections indicates that there are “a lot of residents (in Marymount SMC) who are very supportive of alternative points.”
“So we are very comforted by that and therefore, we’re not starting from a base of zero,” added Khoo.
PAP’s incumbent, Gan, has yet to confirm if she will run in Marymount SMC again although she has been spotted conducting walkabouts in the area recently.
Another opposition party, the People’s Alliance for Reform (PAR), which is led by Lim Tean, has also indicated that it plans to contest in Marymount SMC. PSP said that its party secretary-general Leong Mun Wai is currently in talks with PAR to avoid a three-corner fight in Marymount SMC.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, Khoo said he intends to address concerns over cost of living and employment during the general election campaign.
As a father to three children, he added that he also wants to ensure that educational policies prepare students for a constantly changing work environment.
Kebun Baru SMC
Meanwhile, Tan, who is the opposition party’s candidate for Kebun Baru SMC will be contesting for the first time under the PSP banner.
Tan had previously contested in the 2011 elections at Chua Chu Kang GRC as a member of the National Solidarity Party.
He was also the election agent for Poa, his wife, in the 2020 General Election and helped vet Poa’s speeches during her recent parliamentary term, he said.
Tan graduated with first class honours in engineering from the University of Cambridge. He began his career as a Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) officer and was a Merit Scholar there. Tan said he left the SAF when he was around 30 years old and went on to co-found several businesses in the education and gaming industries.
Separately, Dr Tan confirmed that former Workers’ Party (WP) Member of Parliament Leon Perera will not be standing as a candidate under PSP’s banner in the coming elections.
Perera, who resigned from WP in 2023 after an affair with fellow party member Nicole Seah, has been volunteering with the PSP since leaving WP, and was spotted at PSP’s headquarters this week.
Apart from Marymount and Kebun Baru SMCs, PSP has confirmed that it will contest in Pioneer SMC, as well as West Coast-Jurong West and Chua Chu Kang GRCs.
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