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#GE2015 new candidates: What we learnt from their Facebook pages

This article is more than 12 months old

What do we know about the new candidates at the 2015 General Election? 

We know their occupation, their qualifications and the number of times they have walked the estates.

But what about them as a person? Who and what do they like?

Thankfully, that type of information is readily available on Facebook.

We picked one new face from each party and dug around their pages to find out more about them.

Here's what we found...



JESSE LOO

/ Reform Party / Ang Mo Kio GRC

The boring bits: Aged 52, former bank manager, married with two daughters

At first glance, there was nothing out of the ordinary on Mr Loo's Facebook page. Then we spotted this.

Former candidate? When did that happen? That was on Saturday Sept 5. 

Was this yet another  faux pas by the man who shouted "Vote for Workers' Party!" while distributing  party's flyers outside Ang Mo Kio MRT station on Wednesday (Sept 2).

 

He has since updated the section. 

 

Wednesday's gaffe, however, is understandable if one looks at his Facebook account.

Mr Loo not only has love for residents, he also has a lot of time for rival politicians and their political parties.

The pages he likes include that of Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew, People's Power Party's secretary-general Goh Meng Seng, Singapore Democratic Party chief Chee Soon Juan and former National Solidarity Party member Nicole Seah​. And SDP's Danny The Democracy Bear.

He also likes foreign politicians such as Ms Yingluck Shinawatra and Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel.

What movie does he like? Captain America.

His taste in music? The Police, Sting and Annie Lennox.

His favourite athletes are Filipino volleyball player Rachel Anne Daquis and Scottish former footballer and Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish.

And up until about a year ago, Mr Loo had frequently reviewed places in Singapore and posted his comments on Facebook.

He gave Louis Vuitton @ Ion Orchard Singapore and Changi Airport just one star each.

The Istana fared slightly better, getting a two-star rating and the comments "sterile and soulless".

Shaw Theatres LIDO achieved a four-star rating because "you get to come in the same way you go out after the movies".

Mr Loo is extremely vocal on Facebook it seems.

In 2014, he commented numerous times on a post by Fabrications About The PAP on Mr Roy Ngerng, and had choice words for one person who disagreed with him.

He told her to "just be humble and be quiet" and to "eat your heart out you pauper".

He also wrote: "The bible is the story of all oppression that you recalcitrantly will never admit to save your p**** face." (sic)

Real smooth, Mr Loo, real smooth. We can almost imagine you making arguments in Parliament.



ABDILLAH ZAMZURI 

/ Singapore People's Party / Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC

 

The boring bits: Aged 31, training company manager and owner of a sports academy

Mr Abdillah is a man of many talents. He sings, he plays the guitar, he's tech-savvy, and  he has a cat.

 

 

MIRRORS The cat decided to check his mirror reflection. #cats #Catgram #SongCover #song

A video posted by Abdillah Zamzuri (@abdillahzamzuri) on May 5, 2015 at 5:06am PDT

 

He is "very responsive" to Facebook messages.

And he often posts his covers of songs on Facebook.

We particularly like his cover of Radiohead's Creep. (The family-friendly version, of course.)

 

 

Creep - Radiohead (Cover)

Here's my version of Radiohead's Creep. Several takes before I managed to get this proper

Posted by Abdillah Zamzuri on Monday, May 25, 2015

 

If Mr Abdillah were a friend, he would probably be "the funny one", going by these photos.

He's also the type who will post photos of food on Instagram.

 

 

Watch out, "Selfie King" Baey Yam Keng. It looks like you have competition.



KHUNG WAI YEEN

/ Singapore Democratic Party / Bukit Panjang SMC

The boring bits: Aged 34, former Navy staff sergeant

Our first impression of Mr Khung? Very much a family man.

Our second impression? He likes polls.

Seeing that most of his profile is private, that's the most we could gleam from his page.

But we leave you with this nugget of information: He is one of two members of a group called: "HDB!! Please paint Night Season Parking Lot a different colour!" 

(It's been more than five years, but nothing has changed. Not even the number of members. Keep trying, bro.)

Mr Khung has a separate Facebook account detailing his political activities. It shows him on walkabouts, visiting residents, yada yada.

We did, however, find this cute video.

(Hoping for a video to go viral isn't exactly the best way to make it happen.)

 

 

I hope this video goes viral! I'm going to take the step to make Singapore a better place for you! SDP can!

Posted by Khung Wai Yeen 江伟贤- SDP on Monday, August 31, 2015



ONG TEIK SENG 

/ Singapore Democratic Alliance / Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC

The boring bits: Aged 44, sales director, married with three teenage sons

Mr Ong studied in a high school in Perak, Malaysia (well, he was born there). He also has 605 Facebook friends.

His favourite quote? "Born poor but not live poorly in the SO CALL FIRST WORLD SINGAPORE!"

Mr Ong believes his standard of English to be "probably better than an English educated person".

After reading his bio, we respectfully disagree.

We do, however, think he is a talent at the piano. Here's just one of the many videos of himself he has posted.

 

 

Feelings ~ 感觉

Posted by Ong Teik Seng on Tuesday, April 21, 2015

 

He has been tagged in four videos, including one of a dog dancing and one of a man chopping onions.

 

 

Master of all Onion Choppers? Amazing skills!Like and Share!!!

Posted by The Phoenix Post on Friday, April 25, 2014

 

His taste in music is interesting, to say the least. He likes local singer-songwriter Dick Lee, teenage Chinese boy band TfBoys and Son of Kick, a London-based DJ known for his dubstep sets.

Here's where it gets interesting. Mr Ong is (not so secretly) a fan of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Not only does he like PM Lee's page, he has commented on at least three posts.

Example no. 1: Eight minutes after PM Lee's post went up on May 28, Mr Ong made this comment.

Example no. 2: He commented on PM Lee's post wishing LionsXII well in the Malaysia FA Cup final

Like RP candidate Jesse Loo, Mr Ong likes Ms Yingluck Shinawatra, actor Donnie Yen and his rival politicians.

But unlike Mr Loo, Mr Ong has reviewed only three things including The Singapore Army, which he gave five stars to.



EUGENE YEO

/ National Solidarity Party / Sembawang GRC

The boring bits: Aged 39, associate director at Real Estate Alliance

You were probably expecting us to feature Ms Kevryn Lim.

Instead we turn to Mr Eugene Yeo, who has 58 followers. His cover photo features his new car, which he got earlier this year.

He is a property agent through and through. His page is littered with news about property markets and about units on sale or for rent in Singapore.

Mr Yeo has even used a photo of PM Lee with Malaysian PM Najib Razak to advertise property investment opportunities.

He likes the self-help book titled "7 Habits of Highly Effective People".

His favourite athletes? David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Shinji Kagawa and Robin Van Persie. (Yes, he's a Manchester United fan.)

TV show? The Voice Of China. Singer? Jay Chou.

From his favourite quotes, we infer that he loves to play golf.

The only thing on his page that can be considered remotely controversial? He is a member of a group called "We are against Pinkdot in Singapore".

Compared to 2013 and 2014, he has been pretty quiet on Facebook this year, putting up only seven posts.



FAHMI RAIS 

/ Singaporeans First / Tanjong Pagar GRC 

The boring bits: Aged 48, media consultant​, married with children

His name is Fahmi Rais, but you can call him Bung Fahmi or BrandDoctor.

Mr Fahmi's favourite quote is: "People will need to buy you first before they can buy anything you sell."

According to Facebook, Mr Fahmi doesn't live in Singapore and he doesn't even list Singapore under "other places lived".

A 2014 My Paper report said he lived in Malaysia in a semi-detached house with six rooms, each with an en-suite bathroom, had a garden only slightly smaller than a two-room Housing Board flat and a garage that could hold nine cars.

Mr Fahmi told My Paper back then that it wasn't just the cost of living that resulted in him moving across the Causeway. It was also the space in Malaysia and the feeling of being part of a developing area.

We wonder, does he plan to move back if he is elected?

Mr Fahmi has a whopping 2,386 Facebook friends.

And judging by these photos he has uploaded, he really likes Rempeyek (deep-fried cracker).

He has at least 33 photos of the snack, though some of them are duplicates.

He is a member of a group called "No to more ERP gantries".

Mr Fahmi is also the proud author of a book called "A Thousand Pearls". (He has posted this photo at least five times – once this month, twice on Aug 28 and twice on Aug 30.)

He also has a sweet tooth.



LEON PERERA 

/ The Workers' Party / East Coast GRC 

The boring bits: Aged 44, research and consultancy firm CEO

Like Mr Khung Wai Yeen, Mr Leon Perera has two Facebook pages – a personal page and a page detailing his political activities.

Mr Perera has 388 Facebook friends.

As most of his profile is private, we can't see much.

What we do know is that he hasn't changed his profile photo since 2011. 

He changed his cover photo on his personal page on Aug 12 to a scene of HDB buildings. The same picture became his cover photo on his public figure page on Aug 24.

Boring information, we know. But Mr Perera did reveal something special on his page: He is from Singapore and lives in Singapore.

What's so special about that information? None of the other politicians featured here have that listed on their page.



TAN WU MENG 

/ People's Action Party / Jurong GRC 

The boring bits: Aged 40, oncologist

Dr Tan Wu Meng is super savvv at social media.

He has two Facebook pages, a Twitter account and an Instagram account.

Dr Tan has accomplished the impossible task of making his public page more interesting than his personal page.

How? By including nothing of interest on his personal page and putting his super cute childhood photos on his public one. Well played, Dr Tan.

He describes himself as a "father, doctor and writer, thinking about how we can best build a future for each other in the little red dot that is Singapore, our Home".

Dr Tan is a prolific writer who keeps links to all his articles in a note on Facebook.

He has 32 posts on Instagram, of which eight are of food.

 

 

His Twitter account is filled with updates on his walkabouts.

Dr Tan's Facebook account doesn't include anything remotely controversial, though we suppose that is expected of a master of social media.

His only milestone in life is being born. Maybe if he gets elected, he will finally have another event of significance to crow about.



We wanted to feature a candidate from the People's Power Party. But neither of their two new candidates – administrative manager Low Wai Choo, 55, and property consultant Lee Tze Shih, 42 – appear to have a Facebook accounts

Singapore ElectionsUncategorisedEugene Yeo