SINGAPORE, June 29 — The People’s Action Party (PAP) today introduced new candidate Xie Yao Quan to replace Ivan Lim, who withdrew his candidacy on Saturday following online criticisms of his character.

Xie, 35, the head of healthcare redesign at Alexandra Hospital, will be fielded in Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC) along with new face Shawn Huang, 37, a director for enterprise development at Temasek International.

“As you know, we had intended to field Ivan Lim in Jurong. In fact, Ivan was working very well on the ground, (and was) very well received by residents. He made a tough decision to prevent the allegations against him from eclipsing the core issues that are facing us in this election,” said Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who helms the PAP team for Jurong GRC.

“And we respect and appreciate that decision he made. He put the interests of the party and of Singapore ahead of his own,” added Tharman, who introduced Xie to the media at a walkabout at the PAP branch in Bukit Batok East this morning.

Shortly after Lim’s introduction by PAP on Wednesday, several claims surfaced online on his attitudes while in military service and in his career at Keppel Offshore and Marine. He was accused of displaying elitist behaviour during a military exercise and being arrogant, among others.

On Saturday, the PAP announced that Lim has withdrawn from contesting in the July 10 polls — less than a half a day after he broke his silence on the matter to refute some of the allegations.

Tharman added that in each election, the party has “a full cast of people who are ready”.

“We deliberately have more candidates than are necessary for the seats we're going to contest. We do that each time. This is not the first time that we've made substitutions relatively late in the day,” he said.

He added that those who are on the “sidelines”, are “fully suitable to be fielded” as they are still “part of the first team”.

“They’re not in the second team. But we have to decide on the cast we initially put on the ground and then we make some changes along the way,” he said.

Tharman said that it was an “easy decision” to bring Xie into Jurong as he has been “here working very hard for the last five years”, taking the lead on many initiatives on the ground and spending time with the residents and volunteers.

“I’m very happy that Yao Quan is part of our cast and ready to come in at short notice. Short notice, doesn't mean unprepared. He's been preparing for five years,” said Tharman.

While introducing himself, Xie, who previously worked in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) said that he is in a stage in life where his purpose “has never been clearer”.

“And that is to serve. To serve Singapore and fellow Singaporeans, be it in the SAF, in public health care, or in the community,” he said.

He hopes to be able to ensure that Singaporeans will continue to get quality and affordable health care, even as the population becomes older, he said. — TODAY