From Citizendium 
The People's Action Party (PAP) is a political party in Singapore.
During the 2025 General Election period, the PAP's volunteer, Gilbert Quek, reportedly had entered a private residents-only WhatsApp group in Sengkang named “Kampung Helm” and sharing pro-PAP campaign materials and making critical remarks about Worker's Party.
Gilbert later received the Silver Award at the PAP Awards and Convention 2025 for his volunteer contributions.[1]
Haresh Singaraju was appointed as Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) in 2026. After a photograph surfaced of him wearing a shirt with the People’s Action Party (PAP) logo, Haresh claimed that he is no longer affiliated with any political party.[2][3] In respond to the photo of him wearing PAP shirt, Haresh claimed that the Instagram photo was part of earlier activities under the PA (People's Association) and further claimed that he had archived the post to avoid displaying identifiable images of residents and volunteers.[4]
During the parliamentary session, the PAP MP were filmed sleeping in the parliament.
In January 2019, an online survey resulted in 96% vote agreeing that MP who sleep on the job should receive harsher punishments.[5]
In July 2017, PAP MP Desmond Choo was sleeping in the parliament when Lee Hsien Loong was speaking.[6]
In February 2020, PAP MP Chan Chun Sing fall asleep during a parliamentary session.
In September 2021, a video of PAP MP Amy Khor slept in the parliament went viral and draws public comment online.[7]
Since 1984, the People's Action Party government changed the Constitution to alter the number of Members of Parliament (MPs) at will. The Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) were created, with each GRC represented by three to six MPs, elected as a slate, at least one of whom must be a member of a minority race. The reason of having GRC system reportedly has no convincing explanation given. The GRC system also reportedly cause a consequence of raise barriers for opposition parties struggle to find viable candidates.[8]
During a parliamentary debate on 7 August 2024, on a motion by the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), Hazel Poa, called for an overhaul of the process by which electoral boundaries are drawn. She also suggested that the chairmanship of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) should be held by a High Court judge to ensure fairness and impartiality, instead of the Secretary to the Prime Minister. Poa stated that "Gerrymandering seeks the easy way out of changing the rules," and stressing the need to "reduce the potential for gerrymandering in our system". Workers' Party (WP) MP Pitram Singh said that the ruling party (PAP) has "gained political advantage from the way the electoral boundaries have been drawn and redrawn".
In response, the PAP government rejects proposed amendments. PAP MP and the Education Minister at the time, Chan Chun Sing, accussed the opposition’s motion relied on "false premises" that the process has not been transparent or fair. Chan claimed that the EBRC does not consult the PAP or any other political party, and it comprises senior civil servants with no party allegiance. Chan rejected the proposal for the EBRC to be chaired by a High Court judge, and claiming that this ends up getting drawn into the political debate and politicise the judiciary.
In Chan's closing remark, he claimed that that Singapore’s system has been “reasonably good”, and boast that “even the opposition and many opposition voters will concede that the PAP governments have served Singaporeans well and to the best of our ability”.[9][10]
| Role | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Chairman | Tan Kee Yong | Prime Minister's own secretary |
| Members | Tan Meng Dui | Chief Executive Officer
Housing & Development Board Ministry of National Development |
| Low Hsien Yang Colin | Chief Executive
Singapore Land Authority Ministry of Trade & Industry | |
| Koh Eng Chuan | Chief Statistician
Department of Statistics Ministry of Trade & Industry | |
| Secretary | Lim Zhi Yang | Head
Elections Department |
The Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) was formed in January 2025.[11]
Later on 11 March 2025, the EBRC announced the new electoral map, with major changes of having 5 GRC (Group Representation Constituencies) and 4 SMC (Single Member Constituencies).[12]
Pritam Singh, from Worker's Party, urged for a more transparent and fair political system in Singapore, he criticised the rationale provided by the government—population growth and demographic changes—as inadequate justification for what he called “one of the most radical redrawing of boundaries Singapore has seen in recent memory”.[13]
Chee Soon Juan, from Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), accused PAP of political gerrymandering and stated that such boundary changes were strategically designed to weaken the opposition’s electoral chances. recalled that SDP had nearly won Bukit Batok in the 1991 General Election, when its candidate, Kwan Yue Keng, polled 48%, losing by just 858 votes. Later the government merged Bukit Batok into Bukit Timah GRC, removing it as a single-member constituency (SMC). Chee stated that this move was a deliberate attempt to prevent the opposition from consolidating its gains; after more than two decades, when the PAP likely felt the constituency was secure again, Bukit Batok was reinstated as an SMC in 2015. Chee contested Bukit Batok in the 2016 by-election and again in the 2020 General Election.[14]
In 2005, the PAP government spent $400,000 Singapore Dollars to name Marina Bay and ultimately retain the original name, "Marina Bay", which was reportedly informal before the naming exercise. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) reportedly engaged with brand consultancy, Interbrand, for the naming exercise. According to URA, "Extensive research and consultation with a diverse group of stakeholders over nine months showed that both the local and international audience were familiar with the 'Marina Bay' name." The renaming exercise drew criticism and was described as a waste of money.[15] Mah Bow Tan, National Development minister at the time, claimed that it "was a process akin to parents deciding on a name for their child".[16]
The PAP government announced on December 2020 that the Dover Forest will be deforest to build new public housing Build-to-Order (BTO) flats. Despite concerns were raised regarding impacts on animal and plant species in the forest, and petitions were launched against the development plan which received massive support, the PAP government continued the plan and deforested the eastern part of the forest and only conserved Dover Forest West. Desmond Lee, a PAP party member and who was then Second Minister for National Development, claimed that "Any decision to clear land and forest cover is not taken lightly".[17][18]
We may need to put a time stamp on degrees conferred by the universities ... One radical idea is to put it as a requirement that the graduates have to attend upgrading courses every five years or so. If you do not upgrade, the degree will fade over time and you no longer can claim the degree as your credentials after a while. — Ang Wei Neng, 1 March 2022 At parliament
During the debate at parliament on 1 March 2022, a PAP MP, Ang suggest his idea to have a timestamp on Singapore's university degree and university graduates in Singapore will be required to attend upgrading courses once every five years. His suggestion later draws criticism by the people, and some also commented Ang's inability to distinguish between a university degree and job training. Ang later apologised for his remarks, he also made a post on Facebook paradoxically claiming that his suggestion on having a time stamp on degree certificates was not meant to be a policy recommendation, although he made the suggestion in the parliament.[19][20]
On 4 January 2025, Progress Singapore Party (PSP) member S Nallakaruppan published a Facebook post alleged that the PAP members demonstrate unprofessional behaviour during a walkabout in Choa Chu Kang GRC. According to Nallakaruppan, he and his team were distributing flyers at at Goodview Gardens in Bukit Gombak on the incident day, the PAP members followed the PSP team closely and taking photos and videos of the PSP team. The group also followed the PSP team to the carpark, allegedly possibly intending to photograph their vehicles.[21]
According to reports by news media, The Online Citizen, in a video taken on incident day, one of the individual accused of stalking PSP members is seen in photos on PAP MP Low Yen Ling’s Instagram post, wearing white and the PAP logo badge on shirt, which suggests he is a PAP member. He has also been spotted has also been spotted at Low Yen Ling’s Meet-the-People session. The other individual who shoved a camera in the face of PSP member Stella Stan Lee was also seen featured in the photos of Low Yen Ling at the 70th Anniversary of PAP.[22]
Ravi Philemon, Secretary General of Red Dot United, shared his own experience of similar incident during his 2015 election campaign. Activist Suraendher Kumarr revealed that when visiting Member of Parliament Low Yen Ling in Choa Chu Kang GRC, Low's team took photos of him without consent. Kenneth Jeyaretnam, Secretary-General of the Reform Party, encountered similar incident during a visit to Yishun Chong Pang Market in June 2023. During the 2015 election, the Workers’ Party reported that their volunteers were hounded by PAP activists. These volunteers were subjected to hostile actions, such as being followed and having pamphlets removed from residents’ doors.[23]
On 5 January 2025, Stella Stan Lee filed a police report on the incident.[24]
According to news media, The New Paper, a resident revealed that there were two People's Action Party female volunteers knocked on his door on 4 January 2025 and told him that the opposition party was here to 'disturb', and advsied him to keep his door closed. A resident living at 12th-storey insisted that PAP volunteers visited every household on his floor and there was no sign of anyone from PSP, and claim that he had a chat with Low Yen Ling, the PAP MP for Choa Chu Kang GRC at the time.[25]
Low Yen Ling published a Facebook post on 8 January, in her post she claimed that the PSP has "twisted the truth" and given an "untrue picture" of what happened, and claimed that a PSP member slapped one of the PAP volunteer twice on face and was insulted with the use of derogatory terms. Low claimed that another PAP volunteer was also allegedly taunted by the same PSP member. The volunteer used his phone to record the PSP member's actions and insults, he was also confronted by two other male PSP members that same afternoon, one of whom "forcibly pulled him by his shirt to forcibly take a wefie and video with him", according to Low's claim. Later at 5.30pm, the two groups met at a sheltered walkway and Low claimed that PSP members shouted at PAP volunteers, taunted them and took a photo of them.[26]
On 8 January 2025, an Opinion was published on The Online Citizen opinioned that the evidence available in the form of photos and videos posted by PSP challenges Low's account and stated that:
Some Facebook commenters who wrote comment on Low's Facebook post to sought clarification or requested that a police report be filed were reportedly blocked from Low's Facebook page.[27]
On 14 December 2024, the PAP government announced their intend to change the practice of masking National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) numbers, after privacy concerns were raised over the new Bizfile portal showing people's details for free in its search results.
Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) said in response to media queries that the government had planned to make this change "only after explaining the issue and preparing the ground". Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA)'s new Bizfile portal had a search function that produced people's names and full NRIC numbers. This portal was newly launched on 9 December 2024, before the PAP government had announced its plans.[28]
The Bizfile portal reportedly allows any person to search for a name and view the NRIC number for free and pay to purchase information of any person with an NRIC number. ACRA later disabled Bizfile’s search function on 14 December 2024.[29]
A veteran Singaporean journalist, Bertha Henson, shared that NRIC of non-business owners, political leaders, and deceased individual can be exposed and tracked on Bizfile.[30]
On 19 December 2024, the PAP MP, Indranee Raja, Josephine Teo, and Chia Tern Huey Min, made public apology over the disclosure of NRIC numbers on the Bizfile portal at a press conference.[31]
The PAP and Singapore's National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) has so-called "symbiotic relationship".[32][33][34]
According to NTUC's official website, at least 11 NTUC leaders are either former or current MPs from the PAP. By 2017, 71 PAP MPs were serving as union advisors in NTUC.
On 9 September 2024, the PAP and the Workers' Party (WP) debated over independence and effectiveness of NTUC in the parliament. WP's MP, Gerald Giam, mentioned in the parliament that "PAP leaders frequently argue that this symbiotic relationship has helped Singapore navigate crises and build a nation. However, this close alignment also presents significant challenges to the independence of unions." Progress Singapore Party's NCMP, Leong Mun Wai, pointed out that the NTUC’s secretary-general is often a minister or former minister and that many NTUC leaders come from the PAP.[35][36]
SMU (Singapore Management University) Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan, published a commentary stressed the need for distance among tripartite partners to ensure NTUC can advocate for workers independently while balancing national interests. He also stated that is crucial for preserving labour-management harmony and maintaining trust.[37]
On 4 March 2025, Baey Yam Keng (Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and the Environment at the time), announced that National Environment Agency (NEA) will provide $10 million Singapore Dollars in grants to support the renovation and deep cleaning of coffeeshop toilets for coffee shop owners.[38][39]
Singaporean entrepreneur and sanitation advocate Associate Professor Jack Sim criticised the policy and stated that it's an unsustainable and unjustified use of taxpayers’ money. He argued that taxpayers’ money should not be used to support private businesses and questioned whether the government would continue funding such grants indefinitely. Sim questioned “If you didn’t give money to shopping centres, why are you giving money to coffee shops?”, and proposed stricter penalties for coffee shop owners who fail to maintain clean toilets instead of grants.[40][41]
The grant were publicly criticised and argued that it is the responsibility of coffee shop owners to maintain their own facilities rather than taxpayers.[42][43]
The minister for MCCY, Edwin Tong, revealed in September 2024 that the Founders' Memorial, which is set to open in 2028, expect to cost $335 million Singapore Dollars to develop, after the Workers' Party MP, Louis Chua, filed a parliamentary question on the expected development and operating costs of the Founders' Memorial. The expect operating cost was not revealed at that time.[44][45] A poll conducted on Answers.sg resulted in about 54% of 806 respondents expressed that they felt negatively about the Founders’ Memorial, with 40% of this number voting “strongly negative”. Of the remaining respondents, 22% felt positive while 23% were neutral.[46]
On 14 September, Tan Cheng Bock, former People’s Action Party (PAP) MP and founder of the Progress Singapore Party, made a Facebook post questioned the cost and cited Lee Kuan Yew's stance.[47]
In April, after the Singapore’s parliament was officially dissolved on 15 April 2025 for 2025 General Election, a user post on Reddit alleged that PAP supporters, dressed in plain clothes, intended to pose as residents at a hawker centre to disturb Progress Singapore Party (PSP) in its walkabout scheduled for 20 April 2025.
News media The Online Citizen (TOC), later reported that they received a series of screenshots from a WhatsApp group titled “TJ PAP,” which appeared to corroborate the Reddit post. In the group chat, members were seen coordinating efforts to disrupt the PSP’s engagement on the ground. Suggested tactics included occupying as many tables as possible, instructing others to ignore or dismiss PSP members, and filming their outreach if flyers were distributed.
The Whatsapp group reportedly deactivated after the messages of the discussion began circulating online.
On 28 April 2025, TOC reportedly sent an email to Shawn Huang for seeking his response on the matter, and the PAP media team was also copied on the correspondence.[48]
On 1 May 2025m TOC reported that a whistleblower from PAP Teck Ghee Branch came forward with screenshots showing Whatsapp discussion on attempt to disrupt the Singapore United Party’s (SUP) campaign walkabout on 27 April 2025.
According to the screenshot, at 10:58 AM, one user wrote, “Opposition walk about at AMK central 712A.”
Shortly after, another member posted, “We sent our 🚛 lorry there now ⚡.” A photo of the SUP team at the location was then shared in the chat, followed by the caption, “Lorry there now blast them.
TOC interviewed Andy Zhu, Secretary General of the Singapore United Party, and confirmed that the party had experienced loudspeaker broadcasts from a vehicle playing PAP campaign messages during their walkabout, but was initially unaware of any coordinated intent behind the disruption.[49]
A free shuttle bus service named "WeCare Shuttle Service" was launched in July 2024 by Marine Parade grassroots organisations to provide transport for Marine Parade GRC and Mountbatten residents. According to Alvin Tan's claim (Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth at the time), The service costs about SGD $1 million to operate, with SGD $200,000 coming from a seed grant from the South East Community Development Council, and the rest from donations raised by the CDC and by the respective grassroot organisations. The shuttle bus service draws controversy and questions in the parliament by opposition MPs on PAP government's approach to equity and fairness in the use of taxpayer-funded grants to run the service. The opposition MPs also questioned why the PAP MPs for the Marine Parade were fronting the free shuttle, with their caricatures on one side of the buses. Alvin Tan claimed that featuring people and landmarks on the buses that are familiar to residents would help with identifying the vehicles.
After the May 2025 general election, on 13 October 2025, the grassroot organisation announced that the shuttle bus will cease operation on 20 November 2025 and claimed will "redirect the resources in a more targeted manner". The shuttle bus operates for about 16 months.[50]
The shuttle bus service draws criticisms as "election gimmick" and a waste of public funds.[51]
Between May and August 2024, the PAP MP conducted distribution of free ice cream at different public locations. The MP involved also published Facebook post about the distribution.
The distribution event draws public criticism for distributing the ice cream at landed property area (including high-end estates with bungalows and semi-detached houses) and suggesting that the residents there could already afford ice cream, and criticism the event of being "election gimmick".[52]
On 13 April 2025, Lee Hsien Yang published a Facebook post criticised that: “The PAP has become an ivory tower of paper pushers, not national leaders”.[53]
On 18 April 2025, Lee published a Facebook post criticised the PAP, and questions PAP’s competence and accountability. Lee cited the September 2024 MRT breakdown incident and the controversial SimplyGo system, criticised the government’s flood management, and argued that poor planning for population growth and insufficient climate resilience measures have left Singapore vulnerable.[54]
| Portrait | Name (birth–death) |
Term of office | Time in office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toh Chin Chye (10 December 1921 – 3 February 2012) |
21 November 1954 | 5 January 1981 | Template:Age in years and days | |
![]() |
Ong Teng Cheong (22 January 1936 – 8 February 2002) |
5 January 1981 | 16 August 1993 |
Template:Age in years and days |
![]() |
Tony Tan (born 7 February 1940) |
1 September 1993 | 3 December 2004 | Template:Age in years and days |
![]() |
Lim Boon Heng (born 18 November 1947) |
3 December 2004 | 1 June 2011 | Template:Age in years and days |
| Khaw Boon Wan (born 8 December 1952) |
1 June 2011 | 23 November 2018 | Template:Age in years and days | |
![]() |
Gan Kim Yong (born 9 February 1959) |
23 November 2018 | 26 November 2022 | Template:Age in years and days |
![]() |
Heng Swee Keat (born 15 April 1961) |
26 November 2022 | Incumbent | Template:Age in years and days |
| Portrait | Name (birth–death) |
Term of office | Time in office | Refs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015) |
21 November 1954 | 3 August 1957 | Template:Age in years and days | Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn |
![]() |
T. T. Rajah (28 December 1919 – 13 March 1996) |
13 August 1957 | 3 September 1957 | Template:Age in years and days | Template:Sfn[55] |
![]() |
Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015) |
20 October 1957 | 14 November 1992 | Template:Age in years and days | Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn |
![]() |
Goh Chok Tong (born 20 May 1941) |
15 November 1992 | 6 November 2004 | Template:Age in years and days | Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn |
![]() |
Lee Hsien Loong (born 10 February 1952) |
7 November 2004 | Incumbent | Template:Age in years and days | Template:Sfn |
As of 30 July 2023, the Central Executive Committee comprises the following members:Template:Refn
| Title | Name |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Heng Swee Keat |
| Vice-Chairman | Masagos Zulkifli |
| Secretary-General | Lee Hsien Loong |
| Deputy Secretary-General | Lawrence Wong |
| Assistant Secretaries-General | Chan Chun Sing |
| Desmond Lee | |
| Treasurer | K. Shanmugam |
| Assistant Treasurer | Ong Ye Kung |
| Organising Secretaries | Grace Fu |
| Edwin Tong | |
| Members | Alex Yeo |
| Cheryl Chan | |
| Indranee Rajah | |
| Josephine Teo | |
| Ng Chee Meng | |
| Tan See Leng | |
| Vivian Balakrishnan |