Ms Liyana Dhamirah, 33, is the latest member to be unveiled as a candidate for General Elections by the newest party, Red Dot United which was only recently registered on 15 June.
Announced in a media press release on Tuesday (23 June), she will join its two founders, former Progress Singapore Party members Ravi Philemon, 52, and Michelle Lee, 43.
Mr Philemon serves as secretary-general of the party, while Michelle Lee is the chairperson. Two more members will be revealed in time to complete the five-member team the party plans to contest in Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC).
Ms Lee explained that “Jurong GRC is the perfect constituency where our message of putting people first and making Singapore our home again will resonate strongly with the residents.”
“Many of (our party members) grew up in Jurong GRC and we have an affection for the area and that’s really what’s driving us at this point of time; it is Jurong or nothing,” she added.
However, this contest is contingent on People’s Voice (PV) not submitting a nomination for this GRC, which Mr Lim Tean, leader of PV, had announced their intentions to on his Facebook post on 19 June.
Should this happen, Ms Lee said her party will “happily give way” because the residents matter most and their objective is simply to provide the constituents with “a choice in the elections.”
This may be Ms Dhamirah’s first foray into politics, but she is not unaccustomed to the spotlight. She authoured a book called “Homeless: The Untold Story of a Mother’s Struggle in Crazy Rich Singapore” which documented the period of time when she was homeless at 22 with two young children in tow, and one more on the way. In 2019 she received the “Woman of Resilience” award from AWARE.
Her goal as a member of Parliament is to “tap on her depth of life experiences to champion the needs of families, entrepreneurs and the marginalized in both Parliament and at her constituency.”