What does the General Election 2025 tell us about Lawrence the politician, and Lawrence, the leader? And what do the results mean for the future of the PAP, and Singapore?
Listen to Episode 4 of “The Neighbourhood Boy” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:00 - Introduction
Lawrence Wong: “Friends and fellow Singaporeans, a vote for the opposition is not a free vote for more alternative voices in Parliament. It is a vote to weaken the PAP team, the team that is truly working for you.”
On the eve of the 2025 general election, Lawrence Wong stood on a rally stage in a crisp white shirt and wagged his finger. His brows knitted together and the lines on his forehead cut deep. He was worried. The opposition was a looming threat, a danger that should be taken seriously.
Lawrence Wong: “It will weaken me and my team. And it will do so at a time when I’ve just taken over. I’m trying to build up the team to serve you better. It will weaken us at a time when our country is facing real and serious challenges. So I say to all Singaporeans, please consider carefully. This is not a gamble. This is your family, your future, our Singapore.”
Sound familiar?
Lee Kuan Yew: “This is not a game of cards. This is your life and mine.”
In the previous episode, “Growth at what cost?” I said I couldn’t imagine Wong thumping tables and raising his fist. I was wrong. During the 2025 election, Wong surprised me and a lot of other people. What happened to the unassuming, quiet neighbourhood boy?
If the COVID-19 pandemic was an opportunity for Wong to demonstrate his administrative skills, teamwork and empathy, then the 2025 election was his chance to show his political leadership and strategising. Perhaps most surprising of all was his willingness to take the fight to the opposition. As it turns out, this underdog has a pretty mean bite.
My name is Jean Hew. I joined Jom fresh out of university. After three years as its Head of Research, I left to teach yoga and now I’m working in corporate investigative research. I’ve been developing this podcast for the past three years; reading, writing, talking about Wong.
I’m also fascinated by how Wong’s story parallels the Singapore story. What’s changed in the three decades since he joined the public service? And what’s stayed the same? I’m curious about what lies ahead for Singapore and for me. What kind of life opportunities will I have? What kind of life can I build here in Singapore, my home?
Our future, as ever, will depend on the PAP. And on Wong. But who is Lawrence Wong, the person leading Singapore at this juncture. And what can we expect of him and his party?
We’re going to find out. You’re listening to “The Neighbourhood Boy”, a podcast about Singapore’s fourth prime minister. Over four episodes, we’ll be exploring Wong’s roots, his ascent and his possible future.
In the previous episode, “Growth at what cost?” we discussed the key challenges Wong’s government will face: the public housing conundrum, widening inequality and the rising cost of living. In this final episode, we ask: what does the General Election tell us about Lawrence the politician, and Lawrence, the leader? And what do the results mean for the future of the PAP, and Singapore? This is Episode 4: “Akan Datang”, the final one in the series.
04:01 - What political rallies feel like
I voted for the first time in 2020, when we were still in the thick of the pandemic. Walkabouts and door-to-door campaigning were allowed, but only by a maximum of five people per group, and physical contact was discouraged. An election without handshakes feels like chicken rice without chilli. Just wrong.
Physical rallies were of course, out of the question, so we all scrambled to tune into e-rallies. Livestreaming, TikTok clips and memes replaced flyers and signboards. Political fanatics grumbled about missing the thrill of in-person rallies and heated coffeeshop debates. But I didn’t have a frame of reference, so I didn’t really feel the same frustration.
By that point, the pandemic wasn’t as terrifying…but we couldn’t quite see its end either. Everyone seemed…a little bit on edge. And frankly just exhausted from the uncertainty. It felt quite strange and disorienting to be thinking about voting.
But we trudged on, and it slowly dawned on me that for chronically kaypo people like myself, election time was delightful. Every morning we’d wake up to big and small blunders from various candidates, rants and rumours posted on Reddit and Twitter, jokes and gags from comedians and influencers…for a week, my phone buzzed non-stop.
On election night, my friends and I huddled in front of the TV watching the results roll in. When the Workers' Party, or “WP” won Sengkang for the first time, we heard cheers echoing from the neighbouring HDB blocks. My first general election felt…hopeful. And participating in democracy was fulfilling.
Physical rallies came roaring back in 2025. I attended my first ever one, aged 27: watching the WP at Sengkang. Colleagues at Jom told me to dress comfortably and bring the essentials: water, mini fan, a portable charger and snacks.
While waiting for the Jom team at the mrt, I scarfed down a couple pieces of sushi from Sushi Express, and saw more and more people decked out in blue show up.
We followed the swarm of blue all the way to the Anchorvale field. Throngs of people waited before the traffic lights. Cars honked. Policemen blew their whistles. And as we rounded the corner and approached the field, I realised I’d made a grave mistake.
It had rained earlier in the day but I didn’t think too much before pulling on my brand new white sneakers. Rookie move. Die lah. Finish liao. The field was soaked. I watched rally goers cross the field ankle deep in mud and accepted my fate. Sacrificing my new shoes for democracy was worth it, I guess…attendees later posted photos of their mud-soaked shoes with the hashtag #notwhite.
The number of people at the rally surprised me. The crowd was so huge I couldn't see even a little bit of the stage.
Naively, I’d thought a rally might be like a public lecture. It was actually more like a rock concert.
Pritam Singh: “We cannot be passive citizens. We must be active participants in our democracy. [cheers] And we have to be fighters when we need to be! [cheers]”
I quickly realised candidates had to speak slower and more deliberately because of the time it took for sound to travel across the field through giant speakers. People around us cheered and boo-ed, and we cheered and boo-ed along with them. I have to say, it was certainly much more exciting than leaving comments or likes on a virtual livestream.
Near the MRT, we saw a queue forming around a small tap. We slotted in, and washed away whatever mud we could.
08:01 - The mood ahead of the vote
Ahead of the election, the mood in the opposition camp was cautiously optimistic. Sure, there were the usual complaints about the uneven playing field, including gerrymandering. Unlike in many democracies, the electoral commission in Singapore is not an independent body. It reports to the prime minister’s office.
In 2020, the Progress Singapore Party, or PSP, came close to winning West Coast; and the WP performed well in Marine Parade. Both were seriously redrawn ahead of GE 2025. Bukit Batok, meanwhile, was wiped off the map altogether. Why? Seemingly because the Singapore Democratic Party, or SDP, had done well there through its leader, Chee Soon Juan.
To examine the evolution of Singapore’s electoral districts over the decades, especially Marine Parade, is to engage in the absurd. Every redrawing tells you little about population changes, but a lot about the quality of the opposition in those areas.
We often lament about the lack of belonging and rootedness in Singapore. But how can we form bonds with our neighbourhood if our electoral districts keep changing? Even if you stay in the same HDB flat your whole life, you might keep circling through new representatives, new flyers, and a whole new political identity.
Still, the PSP, SDP and WP all fancied their chances heading into the election. Even Wong said his own comrades and friends warned him that the PAP might lose vote share and seats. The WP’s Punggol Team, led by star catch, senior counsel Harpreet Singh, appeared particularly strong.
And there were independent candidates and smaller parties too.
[KOPI:GALS remix of “look left look right”]
A soundbite from the People’s Power Party’s Samuel Lee went viral during the election, spawning memes and club remixes. He sang, “I'm looking left and right for a career path, and is the request considered too high?”.
We never really quite shed the virtual dimension of campaigning after the pandemic. Memes are the new flyers, I guess. And political hopefuls in 2025 knew that. Introductory videos, Instagram carousels, even fan cams of candidates by official party channels floated around TikTok.
But it was a more traditional form of media that showed me another side of bookish, “nice guy” Wong: the television party broadcasts. As wooden candidates in spartan studios spoke to camera in dull tones, we were teleported to an older era. Eight out of eleven political parties were eligible for the broadcast. The last person to speak was Wong.
Lawrence Wong: “This election comes at a time of profound global change. A storm is coming upon us.”
Wong grimaced uncomfortably against an ugly orange background.
Lawrence Wong: “The world is shifting beneath our feet. Tensions are rising between the major powers. The rules of international trade and cooperation are breaking down.”
Wong went on to compare today’s geopolitics to that of 1965, when Singapore was booted out of Malaysia.
Lawrence Wong: “And again in 1968. When the British forces withdrew from Singapore, leaving us to fend for ourselves. Who forms your government now is an existential question.”
Is it? It feels Singapore spirals into an earth-shattering, sky-is-falling existential crisis every five years, stuck in some perpetual Sisyphean loop where, despite all of our successes and accomplishments and progress, we end up right where we started: a small, vulnerable, little red dot. Are the people in my generation forever doomed to live in fear like our parents? Like our grandparents?
Regular programming returned after those dire warnings, with Wong hoping for a Singapore where every citizen is “empowered to pursue their dreams and become the best versions of themselves.”
The PAP followed this playbook throughout the campaign. On the one hand, stoking fear in the electorate, even warning of racial politics and tensions. On the other, visions of hope and aspiration for a better tomorrow.
And it worked.
12:47 - Lawrence’s stunning success
Lawrence Wong: “Thank you! Thank you Marsiling Yew Tee voters for the strong mandate that you have given to me and my team…This is my first election as prime minister and as secretary general of the PAP….we are grateful once again for your strong mandate, and we will honour it. We will honor the trust you have given to us, by working even harder for all of you…”
The PAP, led by Wong, won 65.57% of the total votes, over four percentage points more than at the previous election in 2020. Excluding the exceptional SG50 2015 election in the same year Lee Kuan Yew passed, it was the PAP’s biggest win since 2006.
Every time a new prime minister has contested an election, the PAP’s vote share has dropped. Until now. Lawrence Wong, the first party leader not to be unanimously picked by his peers, is also Lawrence Wong, the first prime minister to outperform his predecessor in the general election.
In fact, the last time Lee Hsien Loong recorded such a high vote share in his own district, walkovers aside, was 1988. Was a Lee actually riding on the coattails of Lawrence, the neighbourhood boy?
Here, I’ll take a moment to share a bit about Jom’s editorial vision. I joined Jom as its first employee. From the beginning, we were committed to building an organisation invested in independence, rigour and truth-seeking. Every single piece of work involves hours of research, discussion, writing and of course, fact checking. My time at Jom nurtured in me a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the role of journalism in a democracy. I believe that a healthy media ecosystem must consist of more than just the mainstream media. The dream for Jom was always to create a media outfit accountable primarily to you, our reader. If you value our work, if you see potential in Jom’s voice, if you believe in the importance of independent journalism, I encourage you to consider a paid membership. Go to jom.media/jean for 10 percent off your annual membership. Now, back to the podcast.
Sceptics will say the results were less about Wong than other factors, from global instability to opposition duds. Some suggested that it was simply in keeping with the electorate’s yo-yoing between a high and not-so-high PAP vote share, a trend since 2006. Still it’d be naive, and perhaps even petty, to ignore Wong’s immense popularity. We’re living in the age of the guitar hero.
[Lawrence Wong jamming with the band Raw Earth in 2022.]
With this strong mandate, which Lawrence will we see emerge? Will we see the underdog transform into a beast? One thing’s for sure, Wong’s a savvier political animal than previously thought.
Walid J Abdullah: “Making Gan Kim Yong the face of the election—I thought that was genius.”
I spoke to Walid J Abdullah, a political science professor at Nanyang Technological University and host of the wildly popular podcast “Teh Tarik with Walid”. He’s also one of Jom’s endorsers.
Walid is referring to Wong’s deputy prime minister Gan Kim Yong, who is also Wong’s minister for trade and industry, and thus the face of our tariff negotiations with the US. Remember that star-studded Workers’s Party team in Punggol? Wong’s tactical response was to draft in Gan Kim Yong to head off the challenge.
Walid J Abdullah: “That was genius [because] I was initially skeptical, how could the Trump tariffs translate to people's everyday fears? Even though it's real, it's still very far away, very far removed compared to prices of groceries. But by putting Gan Kim Yong as the face of the election, you know, moving him, I said, Okay, he definitely outwitted Pritam.”
Walid, of course, is referring to WP’s Pritam Singh.
Walid J Abdullah: “…but making Gan Kim Young move over to Punggol, right? It wasn't just about Punggol. It eventually became about ‘Oh, this guy's Task Force Man, Task Force Man, we cannot lose ministers. We cannot lose ministers. He set the tone for everybody else, or every other voter.”
Wong also appears to have a longer-term electoral strategy to counter the WP’s rise in the east. He sent two favoured new candidates, David Neo and Dinesh Vasu Dash, to eastern districts. And after the election he promoted them and other PAP MPs in the east. If, at the next election, the WP tries to expand its strongholds in Aljunied, Hougang and Sengkang, Wong will be able to sing the same tune: we cannot lose ministers. Pritam and the WP have their work cut out for them.
Not least because of the impact of Raeesahgate on Pritam. In the first half of 2026, he’s lost his leader of the opposition role, and his actions have been scrutinised by his own party and the Law Society.
Incidentally, the WP is the only other party left in Parliament after the election. The PSP, SDP, and others are facing existential crises, notwithstanding the support they’ve received since. Is Singapore heading towards a two-party system? Or will we remain, as Pritam says, a one-and-a-half party system?
18:53 - Lawrence’s political capital and agenda
Whatever the case, the resounding success of GE2025 should cement Wong’s position within the PAP.
Let’s look back at our previous episodes. In Episode 2, “Party Games”, we talked about Wong’s internal threats: primarily Chan Chun Sing and Ong Ye Kung, two prior contenders for the job. Wong has positioned both of them for ascension to deputy, with the former serving as Singapore’s new minister for defence and the latter continuing as minister for health. Like Barack Obama’s appointment of Hillary Clinton as state secretary, and countless other efforts to co-opt political rivals throughout history, Wong is smart to keep them close but in their lanes.
Wong now has the latitude to pursue both his Forward Singapore agenda and the party renewal that began ahead of the election. In his first National Day Rally speech after the election, Wong articulated the PAP’s latest kumbaya and solidarity narrative:
Lawrence Wong: “We say this in our national pledge. It starts with a simple but profound statement. “We the Citizens of Singapore”. It is not “I” or “me”. It is “we”. To keep Singapore going, we must be a “We-First” society. Because if everyone only thinks about “me”, and puts “me” ahead of “we”, then we are finished.”
“We first”? It’s a noble idea, but a little hard to square with gross inequality. Ordinary workers are struggling with the cost of living and graduates are finding it tough to get jobs, even as the world’s millionaires continue to flock here. It’s hard to think of “we” when my cai png is getting smaller and the cars are getting bigger.
We discussed inequality at length in Episode 3, “Growth at what cost?”. At the recent election, opposition parties vowed to do more than the PAP to address it, as well as housing prices, and other cost-of-living issues. And yet they only garnered about one-third of the vote. So perhaps Singaporeans still trust the PAP to manage it all, including through what’s known as the VCR approach. Voucher, cash, rebate.
Lawrence Wong: “We went into GE 2025 knowing that it would not be an easy fight. Cost of living pressures were top of mind for many Singaporeans. This was a global issue, but the opposition worked up anxiety and frustration in our people and tried to pin the blame on us.”
That's Wong speaking at the PAP convention, six months after the election.
Lawrence Wong: “Singaporeans appreciated the support packages that we had rolled out. They tell me, "Thank you for the vouchers. [cheers] Please give us more."
Wong’s comments that day, and his actions since he became prime minister, make it clear that his administration is sensitive to public pressure.
Consider Ng Chee Meng, Wong’s colleague. Scandals have swirled around him, including his role in the controversial, proposed NTUC-Allianz deal that was ultimately shelved. Ng also allegedly disrespected teachers in 2017, when he was minister for education, including telling one, “When a minister is talking to you, you better stand up.”
Ng lost the election in 2020, but narrowly won re-election at GE2025. It then seemed possible that he might again be made minister. But a petition titled “Stop Ng Chee Meng from Joining Singapore Cabinet” was launched, and by the next day, Ng had issued a statement that he’d asked Wong not to assign him any position in government.
It’s also possible that we might see some civil society and media liberalisation under Wong. Many PAP fans, even as they desire a dominant presence in Parliament, dislike the muffling of alternative views in society. Wong himself has regularly spoken about his wish for a more open and participatory society.
The recent election offered some indication of this. Jom and other independent media outlets had braced themselves for an onslaught of correction orders under POFMA, the Protection from Online Falsehood and Manipulation Act. Or threats, or lawsuits. Because in 2020, that’s exactly what happened. In 2025, thankfully, none materialised.
There’s no running away from alternative views, Gilian Koh, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, told me that during our chat. If Wong doesn’t address different stakeholders, he’ll be confronted by diverse views in parliament by those in blue.
Gillian Koh: “There's also, as we said, a changed media landscape. So if you actually remain silent, then you allow the other views to be propagated with no push back or no response, or it could actually be perceived to be rude to not have engaged. So on all fronts, it's no longer an option not to engage. On the other hand, the government actively does create many platforms for engagement, which signifies that they recognise that there is no option.”
But being sensitive to public pressure also means that Wong is unlikely to champion progressive causes that appeal to a minority. Take the death penalty. It’s opposed by a small but growing segment of Singaporeans, and is increasingly uncommon in rich democracies. But in 2025, with Wong as prime minister, Singapore executed 17 people, the highest in two decades.
Or consider LGBTQIA+ rights.
Pink Dot attendee: “And also, the fact that he was kind continuing the PAP legacy, essentially, I kind of don't have that much confidence, but maybe things might change. Who knows?...I hope that he will at least recognise publicly that we are asking for change. And we are ready for change. And it's about time, you know.”
During the 2024 Pink Dot rally, an attendee shared his frustration with me. Pink Dot is the closest thing to a pride parade in Singapore. Instead of floats and marches, Singaporeans gather at Hong Lim Park decked out in pink in support of the local queer community. That year, the theme was: No One Left Behind. It was a direct response to the Forward Singapore campaign.
Nowhere, in its 180 page report, was the LGBTQIA+ community mentioned. During Pink Dot, attendees were encouraged to write personal messages to Wong.
“Dear PM, as a queer teacher, I am in constant fear that my career will be jeopardised should my identity be revealed at the workplace…”
“Dear PM, access to trans healthcare saved my life. Other kids like me deserve to live too…”
“Dear PM, I am writing to you because I am in pain and I’m tired…”
When less than a quarter of queer Singaporeans feel confident about their future here, and almost half experience discrimination while searching for a job, what does their exclusion from the Forward Singapore exercise signal?
Perhaps that queer rights are just not that important to most Singaporeans. It could also reflect religious conservatism. Wong is Singapore’s first Christian prime minister, and he’s assembled a very Christian cabinet. Some progressives worry about a Christian right agenda being possibly furthered under Wong, though there’s little evidence of that so far. I spoke with one member of his Methodist church, and he told me that the congregation’s beliefs and values seem far more moderate than at our charismatic mega churches.
27:34 - What’s next for Lawrence and Singaporeans?
Still, Wong rarely talks about his faith. It’s just another thing we’ve yet to understand about the neighbourhood boy. And as we near the end of this series, and I look back at the questions we sought to answer, some humility is warranted. There’s much we still don’t know about Singapore’s new prime minister. We’ve actually reached out to Wong to invite him on as a guest for a special bonus Episode 5, where he’ll get to respond to the podcast and much else. We’ll let you know if he accepts.
In Episode 1, “Ah boy to man”, we noted how different Wong is from Lee Kuan Yew, a shift from heroic leader to team player. But in today’s episode, observing him at the general election, we’ve seen some similarities, Wong embracing certain elements of aggression and decisiveness. How might Wong continue to change?
Donald Low: “He is a party creature also. Let's not fall into the delusion that he's this closet reformer] that's trying to secretly subvert the party. He’s no Gorbachev. Let's put it that way, right?”
You should recognise that voice by now. Donald Low: academic, professor and friend of Wong who’s known him for over two decades. Here he echoes something we’ve heard from various people, including Leon Perera, former opposition MP.
Donald Low: “So he's very much a man of the party and a party man and establishment person, right? He might be the most acceptable face of the establishment to those of us who are not part of the establishment, for those of us who maybe even be anti-establishment, he might be their most acceptable face to us, but he's still one of them, right? So let's be clear on that. So I don't think he's going to this position as prime minister to say, let's try to shake up as many things as I can…So the best we can hope for, for those of us who want to see right social policy or economic policy or political liberalisation, not just policy reforms, we have to moderate our expectations, otherwise you’ll be quite disappointed.”
I don’t need or want Wong to be a Gorbachev. I’m not looking for him to subvert the PAP or shake up politics. But like many other Singaporeans, I do hope for a bit more freedom: of our media and of our arts, and a bit more openness: to dissenting views, to checks and balances from our opposition. I wish we took better care of our most vulnerable: migrant workers and queer folks alongside the poor and the elderly. I appreciate transparency and fairness in our government and politics, and I sincerely hope we’ll continue to see more of that moving forward. Most days, I’m truly grateful for the relative peace and stability we enjoy here in Singapore, our home, especially when I look abroad.
But on other days, I can’t help but feel a bit discouraged.
Iskandar Manis: “If you're a young couple, housing is, is, is the most expensive it's been ever, right? I mean, like a flat in Yishun can cost $1 million so…”
Jean Hew: “and it’s Yishun hahaha”
Iskandar Manis: “and it’s Yishun ah fyi…no hate lah. But yeah. It's $1 million so generally, across the board, everything here is expensive. No, don't say housing also, but we talk about the price of food, the price of education, the price of goods, and the people have to, you know, bend over backwards at some at certain times, to accommodate and yeah, it's, it's starting to become stifling, I think for a lot of people.”
I share similar concerns with my friend Iskandar. We’re in our late twenties, working hard and trying our best to find our way in the world. But sometimes we worry. Will we have enough to own a home? Start a family and take care of our parents? Give our children lives that are better than ours?
Iskandar Manis: “I think for me, young person…I hope for just a stable job, just an opportunity to, like, settle down well, just like my parents did and their parents did before this, you know, but times have changed.”
Times have changed. And Lawrence Wong will be the person to guide us into the future. After years of thinking, researching and writing about Wong, I have no doubt he’s capable. I have confidence that he’ll do his best, even if I’m occasionally unsure about the direction of his party. A lot rests on the underdog’s shoulders. The quiet, unassuming neighbourhood boy who now occupies the most powerful position in Singapore.
“The Neighbourhood Boy” is produced and hosted by me, Jean Hew. The script is co-written by Sudhir Vadaketh and myself, with input from Abhishek Mehrotra. This podcast is edited by Artwave Studio, with original music by lowkeii.
“The Neighbourhood Boy” is Jom’s first ever podcast. We’d love to know what you think, and how we might improve. Or if you have a burning idea for our next podcast, write in to us at info@jom.media. The dream for Jom was always to create a media outfit accountable primarily to you, our reader. You can find more of our work on jom.media. For those who’re already on a paid subscription, thank you for your support. For those who aren’t yet, here’s my pitch one last time: if you value our work, if you see potential in Jom’s voice, if you believe in the importance of independent journalism, I encourage you to consider a paid subscription. Go to jom.media/jean for 10 percent off your annual membership.