Gan Siow Huang stops by for a chat with Leong Mun Wai, PSP team, at Shunfu Market

SINGAPORE: In tiny Singapore, it is inevitable that politicians from different parties at times bump into each other, which happened last weekend when Gan Siow Huang, a People’s Action Party Member of Parliament, crossed paths with some leaders from the Progress Singapore Party at Shunfu Market.

PSP secretary-general and former Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Leong Mun Wai wrote on Monday (Sep 28) that he had been at the market with Sani Ismail, the party’s organising secretary, and other PSP members.

As they were talking to residents, Ms Gan, who is also a Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry, “stopped by for a chat,” wrote Mr Leong, who posted a photo of himself and Mr Ismail in conversation with Ms Gan.

He also wrote that he and the PSP team talked to residents about the recent salary increase in political salaries, which had been discussed in Parliament earlier this month.

“I enjoyed listening to many interesting and candid comments from fellow Singaporeans. One resident quipped, "The ministers have got their Christmas presents — where are ours?” wrote the former NCMP.

Ms Gan, who has been representing Marymount SMC since 2020, is likely to have been on a walkabout visiting residents from the area when she encountered the team from PSP, which has been present on the ground and has fielded candidates at Marymount since 2020, when it was carved from the Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC.

For the General Election in 2020, the PAP fielded Ms Gan, who has the distinction of being the first woman to hold a general rank in the Singapore Armed Forces before joining politics. Between 2019 and 2020, the former brigadier-general had been the Chief of Staff (Air Staff) of the Republic of Singapore Air Force.

That year, she was up against Ang Yong Guan, a psychiatrist and former SAF colonel, who has served as Second Assistant Secretary-General for the PSP. 

Ms Gan won the new seat at Marymount with over 55% of the vote.  In last year’s GE, when she was up against PSP’s Jefferey Khoo, she won almost 71% of the vote. /TISG

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