Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, while acknowledging the contribution of people from the Indian community in many areas including business, industry and public services, said that the ruling ‘People’s Action Party’ (PAP) will definitely field people of the Indian community in the upcoming general election.
PAP fielded 27 new faces in the 2020 general election but not a single Indian origin candidate was raised, after which questions were being raised about the representation of the Indian community in Parliament.
During a dialogue with the youth of the Indian community, Wong said, “You (Indian community) can be a small community, but of course your contribution to Singapore and your influence is not at all small.”
‘The Straits Times’ newspaper quoted Wong as saying, “In fact, I would say that you are already a reflection of Singapore’s spirit. Your story is the story of Singapore. ”Wong underlined the contribution of Indians to the country in many areas including trade, industry and government in Singapore.
The Prime Minister said that new Indian candidates from PAP will be fielded for the upcoming elections, but they did not give much detail about it nor gave anyone’s name.
According to media reports, the new faces recently seen with the leaders include Dinesh Vasu Das, former Chief Executive Officer of ‘Agency for Integrated Care’, Kaval Pal Singh, managing partner of ‘Law firm Tito Isaq and Company’, Jagatiswaran Rajo and Indian orthopedic surgeon Hamid Razak.
According to the news of Singapore’s daily newspaper, in 2024, people of Indian origin were 7.6 per cent of the people of Singapore, while Malaysia had 15.1 per cent and China’s 75.6 per cent. Minister of State for Digital Development and Information of Indian origin, Janil Puthucherry also interacted with about 130 youths at the event.
