Dr Lim Wee Kiak, a four-term MP, was excluded from the occasion. Mr Ong said he could not affirm if Dr Lim will be retiring.
” He has been a dear friend, a dear friend, both as well as a partner, dear friend, because we are actually private friends.
” He has served four terms in this area, and I think is appropriate for me during the Canberra Day to give him a right gift. And I think it is also best of us to gain him to his home and his personal discipline,” said Mr Ong, referring to an occasion earlier this month where he hailed Dr Lim’s efforts.
Dr Lim, an optician, has been in politics since 2006 disputing in several GRCs. He entered politics as part of the Sembawang group, subsequently moved to Miss Quickly GRC in 2011.
His Canberra clinic returned to Sembawang in 2015 and he has been in the GRC since then.
As for past Sembawang MP Poh Li San, she will get contesting in Sembawang West SMC, a fresh clinic that was carved out following the redrawing of electoral restrictions.
Even spotted in the group on Tuesday’s stone entry for Sembawang GRC was former Nominated Member of Parliament ( NMP ) Raj Joshua Thomas, who had earlier announced that he will not stand in the upcoming General Election. Mr Thomas was dressed in his party’s colors, with a PAP image pinned to his pale clothing.
He was one of two NMPs who resigned before their political term ended on Feb 14. The other person is Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi, who has been fully introduced as a potential candidate for Nee Quickly GRC.
In the 2020 General Election, the PAP team won against a National Solidarity Party ( NSP) team with a vote share of 67. 29 per share.
SDP, which had contested in Sembawang in the past but did not do so in the past two basic elections, has unveiled a group led by gathering vice-chairman Bryan Lim to remain in the hospital for the 2025 surveys.
NSP has even declared it may take a group that, setting the landscape for a three-cornered battle in the hospital, which has 133,919 voters.