SINGAPORE: Two-term Member of Parliament Louis Ng confirmed on Tuesday (Apr 22) that he will not be contesting the General Election, despite efforts by Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to persuade the former Nee Soon GRC MP to stay.
"He (Mr Ng) spoke with me last year about wanting to step away. And I said he is still very young, he should continue. And the reasons were intensely personal," said Mr Shanmugam, who again will anchor the People's Action Party (PAP) team contesting Nee Soon this year.
"I can tell you that I spent many hours trying to persuade him to stay. And not just me, the prime minister himself - the current secretary-general - spoke with him many times.
"He thought about it a lot. He took what we said very seriously. You know, he had a lot of value, both to Yishun and parliament, but his decision was based on very personal reasons. And we decided to, I mean, we had to agree."
An emotional Mr Ng on Tuesday cited family reasons for his decision, as the role of an MP made him miss "a lot of important milestones" in his daughters' childhoods.
"I now want to be more present in their lives and be there for the little, but precious, important moments," he added, as the other PAP members wiped his tears and put their arms around him.
Mr Shanmugam had announced on Monday that the PAP will field four new faces in Nee Soon GRC this year.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/ge2025-peoples-action-party-nee-soon-grc-louis-ng-shanmugam-cry-5079831