Tharman’s replacement? Surgeon spotted walking the ground in Jurong GRC with PAP team

SINGAPORE: Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Assoc Prof Hamid Razak has been spotted walking the ground at Jurong GRC by some eagle-eyed Singaporeans, sparking questions about whether he will be fielded as a new People’s Action Party (PAP) candidate in the next election.

Assoc Prof Razak currently practises at Sengkang General Hospital. The married father of three is an alumnus of both Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and Raffles Junior College and earned his medical degree at the National University of Singapore.

He is also a prolific clinical researcher in his field, having published over 90 articles in peer-reviewed medical journals. According to the doctor’s LinkedIn profile, he volunteers “actively in various roles” outside his job.

Jurong GRC is now short of one MP after the ward’s anchor minister, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, resigned from Parliament and the Cabinet to contest the presidential election.

Mr Tharman won the election with a landslide 70.4 per cent of votes, but his former constituents at Taman Jurong have been left without a dedicated representative until the next general election, which may be held as late as mid-2025.

In any case, it remains unclear if Jurong GRC will remain as it is or whether it will be dissected or absorbed into another group of wards ahead of the next election.

The constituency was left intact in past electoral boundary reviews, but now that Mr Tharman – who was the most consistently well-performing parliamentarian – has left politics, some political observers have suggested that the ward may be reshaped or another anchor minister may be parachuted to lead the remaining four MPs.