The ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) will certainly include members of the Indian community in the upcoming general election, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Sunday (April 13, 2025), acknowledging the ethnic group’s outsized contributions to the country in many areas, including in businesses, industries and public services.
In the 2020 General Election, the PAP did not field any Indian candidates among its slate of 27 new faces, which had then sparked questions about the ethnic group’s representation in Parliament.
Speaking at a dialogue with youths from the Indian community, PM Wong said: “You may be a small community, but, certainly, your contributions to Singapore and the impact that you have on Singapore are not small at all.”
“In fact, I would say you already reflect that Singapore spirit. Your story is a story of Singapore – small and yet punching above your weight,” The Straits Times quoted PM Wong as saying.
“Indians in Singapore have made outsized contributions to the country in many areas, including in business, industry and the Government,” PM Wong underscored.
Indians represented 7.6% of Singapore’s citizens, while Malays and Chinese made up 15.1% and 75.6% of the population, respectively, in 2024, according to the Singapore daily report.
The 90-minute Vaanga Ippo Pesalaam Chat (Come, Let’s Chat in Tamil), or VIP Chat, was organised by newspaper Tamil Murasu. Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Janil Puthucheary, of Indian descent, also engaged with about 130 youths at the dialogue.
In his opening remarks, PM Wong said Singapore has benefited from many Indian civil servants, such as Dr. Janil, who is also Senior Minister of State for Health.
The Prime Minister said there will be new Indian candidates from the PAP for the upcoming election but did not give further details or names.
New faces who have been spotted with political leaders recently include former Agency for Integrated Care chief executive Dinesh Vasu Dash, managing partner at law firm Tito Isaac & Co, Kawal Pal Singh, Jagathishwaran Rajo, a trade unionist for 13 years, and Indian orthopaedic surgeon Hamid Razak, according to media reports.
A 59-year-old noted lawyer Harpreet Singh Nehal of Indian ethnic has also been seen among potential Indian candidates from the opposition Workers’ Party which won 10 seats in the 2020 election.
In 2020, PAP won 83 seats in parliament.
The 2025 election is to be held this year, with speculation of it likely to be called in a month or so, given political parties naming potential candidates and undertaking grassroot level mingling with Singaporeans.
These potential candidates have been doing “walk about” with sitting members of parliament in various community centres, the hubs of constituencies.
A day earlier, PM Wong said the party, which has ruled ever since independence, will field more than 30 new candidates – the largest in recent history – in its 2025 line-up.
In his remarks, PM Wong also encouraged participants to continue building a distinctive Singaporean Indian identity.
He said the Indian community here is very diverse and has retained its traditions while evolving into a different culture.
“For the Singaporean Indian, your values, your norms, your way of thinking, are different from Indians in India. And it is something precious that we have created here. It is a Singaporean attitude, mindset, way of life,” he said, continuing, “You can be proud of your ethnic roots and at the same time proud to be a Singaporean, and that is what we mean by being Singaporean.”
He encouraged participants to embrace their roots and also engage with fellow Singaporeans outside their community to “enlarge the common space we share”.
PM Wong continued: “This is how we can try, even as a little red dot (as Singapore is popularly often referred to), how we can ensure we remain strong and united. We can continue to have harmony with one another, even in a very turbulent world which we already see today.”
Dr. Janil noted that the small size of the Indian community could be a boon. “We can remain in close contact with everybody, leverage the connections, the networks, the friendships, the trust that we have. It is an advantage of being a small and potentially much more closely knit community,” said Dr. Janil.
He also said that though most youths in Singapore share the same concerns, the Indian community represents issues of race, religion and language differently.
The young people at the dialogue were between the ages of 18 and 35, and they represented four universities and 14 community organisations. They asked a variety of questions ranging from protecting the Indian community amid growing ethno-religious violence, to concerns including cost of living, housing and employment.
In response, the panellists called for Singaporeans to be vigilant against extremist views and reassured participants that the Government is tackling the bread-and-butter issues raised.
The dialogue was held under Chatham House rules, which allow for reporting of what was said but not who said it – including participants and panellists – to foster candour, according to the broadsheet report.
Published – April 14, 2025 09:06 am IST
