SINGAPORE: The new Jurong Central SMC will see a straight contest between the People’s Action Party (PAP) and Red Dot United (RDU), as both parties confirmed their candidates after nominations closed on Wednesday (Apr 23). 

PAP will field Mr Xie Yao Quan, 40, the former MP for the Jurong Central division under Jurong GRC. First elected in 2020, Mr Xie has also chaired the Jurong-Clementi Town Council for the past five years.

Challenging him is RDU’s Kala Manickam, 52, a single mother with a background in continuing education and training.

She is also a former Progress Singapore Party (PSP) member. She ran in Nee Soon GRC during the 2020 General Election. Her membership was terminated in December 2020, and she sued the party in late 2021.

Ms Manickam was previously expected to run in Jalan Kayu SMC but arrived with the rest of the RDU team for Jurong-East Bukit Batok on Wednesday morning. 

In his speech after the candidates were confirmed, Mr Xie said it has been the "greatest honour" of his life to serve Jurong Central residents for the last five years. 

"I ask for your support to let me serve you again for the next five years. Together, let's make Jurong Central better and better."

In her speech, Ms Manickam said, "the issues are clear" as she highlighted concerns over housing affordability and job security.

"We must feel like first-class citizens in our own country. It's the only hope we have." 

Speaking to the media, Ms Maickam addressed her switch from being fielded in Jalan Kayu SMC to Jurong Central SMC. 

"The principle is we – all opposition – are working together, and in no way we want to go and fight with each other," she said. 

She added that even though RDU had done one-and-a-half months of groundwork, it "doesn't matter" because the voters in Jalan Kayu who had pledged their votes to RDU would still vote for the Workers' Party. 

"Our groundwork will go to the Workers' Party."

Jurong Central SMC has 29,620 voters and is one of six new single-seat wards created in the latest review of Singapore’s electoral boundaries. The constituency was carved out of Jurong GRC and Yuhua SMC as part of a wider reconfiguration aimed at maintaining a consistent MP-to-voter ratio. 

At the same time, Bukit Batok SMC as well as sections of Jurong GRC, Hong Kah North SMC and Yuhua SMC were merged to form the new Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC.