As their banners and posters went up across the island, candidates for the 2020 General Election yesterday headed to coffee shops and hawker centres first thing in the morning to canvass for votes.

In keeping with safe distancing measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19, clasped hands and pressed palms replaced traditional handshakes and high-fives.

Candidates from both the ruling party and the opposition were out in full force, at times running into their opponents, as they sought to win residents' support over the nine days of campaigning.

SENGKANG GRC

At a coffee shop in Anchorvale in the newly formed Sengkang GRC yesterday evening, candidates from the People's Action Party (PAP) and the opposition Workers' Party (WP) ran into one another and spent a few minutes exchanging friendly greetings.

"I'm young at heart," said Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs and Health Amrin Amin, 41, who has moved from Sembawang GRC.

"That's most important," said social activist Raeesah Khan, 26, the WP's youngest candidate, with a laugh.

She and fellow candidate Louis Chua, 33, an equity research analyst, were joined by several WP volunteers handing out leaflets.

With Mr Amrin were the PAP team's leader, labour chief Ng Chee Meng, 51, Senior Minister of State for Health and Transport Lam Pin Min, 50, whose former Sengkang West single seat has been partly absorbed into Sengkang GRC, and new candidate Raymond Lye, 54, a lawyer.

The other WP team members are team leader, lawyer He Ting Ru, 37, who contested in Marine Parade GRC in 2015, and new candidate Jamus Lim, 44, an associate professor of economics at ESSEC business school.

The new GRC, with over 120,000 voters, is shaping up to be a hot battleground between the PAP and WP. It is adjacent to the WP-held Aljunied GRC and about 35,000 of its voters were in the former Punggol East single seat, which has also been absorbed into Sengkang GRC.

The WP won Punggol East SMC in a 2013 by-election but narrowly lost it to the PAP's Charles Chong in 2015.

Both sides are aware that every vote matters in this contest.

Several diners, including an 85-year-old retiree who wished to be known only as Mr Lim, had leaflets from both parties on their table. "I haven't made up my mind yet," he said. "Each party has its own pluses and minuses."

Earlier in the day, the WP team handed out leaflets and apples to residents in areas such as Sengkang MRT station, according to its social media posts.

Meanwhile, the PAP candidates busied themselves with house visits and walkabouts, including at Sengkang Riverside Park where they greeted joggers and pedestrians, many of whom waved back and gave them the thumbs-up sign.

Some residents gave feedback on issues that mattered to them, such as Central Provident Fund and housing. And there were a few who gave them the cold shoulder.

Mr Amrin expects a tough fight. "It's not something we can take lightly. People are interested, people are reading up and they are comparing, and that is something that's good for democracy. But we also want people to go beyond reading what's on the cover," he said.

Citing the late Singapore politician S. Rajaratnam, he said: "We need to make sure we do not become a democracy of words, but deeds. It's not just a question of making promises."

ALJUNIED GRC

Meanwhile, Mr Chua Eng Leong - who is part of the PAP team seeking to wrest Aljunied GRC from the WP, which has held the constituency since the 2011 election - yesterday said Aljunied is "not owned by one party", and that the issues at hand, including the Covid-19 pandemic, are larger than a fight between the PAP and WP.

He was asked to comment on residents adopting a "buy one, get one free" mentality, with the PAP team having campaigned for nine years in the opposition-held GRC.

Although two veteran members of the WP team will not contest this election, party chief Pritam Singh, chairman Sylvia Lim and two-term incumbent Faisal Manap are defending the GRC with former Non-Constituency MPs (NCMP) Gerald Giam and Leon Perera.

PAP candidate Alex Yeo, who was with his team members on a walkabout at a hawker centre in Bedok North Street 3, told reporters that the team's focus remains on the residents.

"(You can) see our track record over the past nine years, even when we couldn't find any government funds to tap and even when we don't run a town council."

He cited how his team in Paya Lebar privately raised funds to build sheltered walkways for children studying at Living Sanctuary Brethren Church and En-Naeem mosque kindergartens.

As the walkways address the needs of only specific groups of people, they do not benefit from Community Improvement Projects Committee government funding. "It's about going the extra mile and trying our best to understand the concerns of our residents," he said.

Fellow PAP candidate Shamsul Kamar said the issues the team champions are based on ground sensing, feedback and data.

"It's not just about reaching out to residents, but implementing government policies in areas ranging from health to employability."

Meanwhile, Mr Chua pointed to public infrastructure improvements, such as the Home Improvement Programme for Housing Board flats in Aljunied. He said these took place, even after the 2011 election when the WP wrested control of the GRC from the PAP with 54.7 per cent of the vote share.

"Aljunied has not been left behind. It has been improving and we haven't shied away from our responsibility," he said. "We are able to do this and to have personal conversations with the (country's) leaders. I think this is very important."

Also on the PAP team are Mr Victor Lye and new face Chan Hui Yuh.

Mr Chua also reiterated a point made earlier by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong - that the expanded NCMP scheme now guarantees a minimum of 12 opposition members in Parliament, even in the event that the PAP wins all the elected seats.

OTHER GRCS

Over at Haig Road Market and Food Centre in Marine Parade GRC yesterday, the PAP team comprising Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin, Senior Minister of State for Law and Health Edwin Tong, incumbent Seah Kian Peng, as well as new faces Tan See Leng and Mohd Fahmi Aliman, met residents and stallholders on a walkabout.

They are up against a WP team led by Mr Ron Tan, which includes former NCMP Yee Jenn Jong.

It is also the first time the team is facing an election without Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, who is not standing for election after 44 years in politics.

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin said Mr Goh continues to be involved and still has a very important role, adding that the PAP team remains focused on helping residents.

In Ang Mo Kio GRC, PM Lee, who is helming the PAP team in the constituency, met residents on a walkabout in Ang Mo Kio Central.

He was swarmed with requests for photographs and selfies, which he obliged. An elderly woman also asked him to autograph the PAP leaflet he had handed her.

The PAP team is up against a Reform Party (RP) team led by secretary-general Kenneth Jeyaretnam, which also includes RP chairman Andy Zhu.

Over in Jurong GRC, candidates from the newest political party, Red Dot United (RDU), met residents on a walkabout at Clementi Avenue 2 Market and Food Centre.

They are facing a PAP team led by Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

RDU chairman Michelle Lee said she was heartened by the warm response from residents: "It seems like they are excited about having a say."

As the group was leaving the area, a couple who had just finished their dinner shouted: "Give the PAP a good fight!"

• Additional reporting by Joyce Lim, Sazali Abdul Aziz and Prisca Ang