Singapore’s Minister for Digital Development and Information, Josephine Teo, will lead the People’s Action Party (PAP) slate for Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the upcoming General Election on 3 May 2025.
The announcement was made at a press conference held at Whampoa Park on 15 April 2025.
The four-member team will see a significant change with the departure of long-time Member of Parliament Heng Chee How.
Replacing him is former senior civil servant Shawn Loh, while the rest of the team—Teo, Denise Phua and Wan Rizal—remains unchanged.
Teo highlighted that Jalan Besar is a mature estate, requiring continued investment in rejuvenation and upgrading works.
“It takes effort to understand what residents really want,” she said. “But it also takes capabilities to implement—not just conceptualising what might be desirable, but delivering results.”
Heng, 63, has served as MP for the Whampoa division since 2001 and was a familiar presence in the community for over two decades.
He entered politics in 1997, contesting Hougang Single Member Constituency (SMC), but lost to the Workers’ Party’s Low Thia Khiang.
He later joined Parliament through the PAP’s Jalan Besar GRC team and held several leadership roles, including deputy leader of the House from 2011 to 2015.
He was appointed Senior Minister of State for Defence in 2018 and also serves as deputy secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress.
Reflecting on his departure, Heng said he hopes his work in Whampoa will continue.
“I would certainly hope for somebody who can take on this work after me, who would have the heart, the capability, the drive to continue to want to serve our people,” he said.
“In Shawn Loh, I think we have found the person.”
Loh, 38, recently became deputy group managing director at Commonwealth Capital Group.
Before entering the private sector, he held various senior roles in the civil service.
He served as director of security and resilience programmes at the Ministry of Finance and was also Singapore’s Budget director for 2024 and 2025.
He oversaw schemes such as the CDC vouchers and previously held roles at the Economic Development Board, Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Manpower and Ministry of Education.
At the press conference, Loh said his cross-sector experience equips him to contribute practical ideas in Parliament.
“On behalf of our residents here at Whampoa and Jalan Besar GRC, I have come forward as part of the new generation joining politics,” he said.
He pledged to serve and help build a better Singapore, stating, “to answer the call to make the Singapore of the future better than the Singapore today.”
Loh is a father of four children, all under the age of 12.
Asked whether Heng might stand in another constituency, Teo said no decision had been finalised.
“Everything is still open, and it means that up to Nomination Day, you can never say for certainty who’s running,” she explained.
Teo noted that the PAP prioritises placing candidates where they are most needed and where they can best serve residents.
“If the Prime Minister believes Chee How is the best person to serve in any particular constituency, who knows what will happen? Certainly, we’ll see.”
In the 2020 General Election, PAP secured 65.37 percent of the vote in Jalan Besar GRC, defeating the Peoples Voice (PV) team led by Lim Tean.
The PV slate included Leong Sze Hian, Nor Azlan Sulaiman and Michael Fang.
Lim, who also serves as secretary-general of the People’s Alliance for Reform (PAR), confirmed that PAR will contest Jalan Besar GRC this year.
PAR consists of PV, the Reform Party and the Democratic Progressive Party.
The latest electoral boundaries leave Jalan Besar GRC unchanged, with 106,102 registered voters.
Singaporeans are scheduled to go to the polls on 3 May 2025, following the dissolution of Parliament by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
Nomination Day will take place on 23 April 2025.
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