Nominations open for Punggol East by-election

Singaporeans will know how the contest in the by-election in Punggol East will shape up by this afternoon, as nominations for the polls on January 26 open at 11am on Wednesday.

Those who want to contest have one hour to file their papers at the Nomination Centre at North Vista Secondary School - between 11am and 12pm. 

After that, half an hour will be set aside for any objections to be raised. 

The first name to be put up on the board in the hall for scrutiny is that of Ms Lee Li Lian of the Workers' Party. 

This was followed by that of the People's Action Party's (PAP) choice, Dr Koh Poh Koon. 

Next was that of Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam of the Reform Party (RP). 

The nomination papers of Mr Desmond Lim of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) are also up on the board.

Mr Zeng Guoyuan, who was expected to run as an independent candidate, walked out of the hall at about 11.10am. 

He told reporters he's not contesting. 

Also at the centre is Mr Ooi Boon Ewe, who's expected to contest as an independent candidate. 

The Returning Officer, Mr Yam Ah Mee, is expected to declare who are contesting by 1pm. 

The Punggol East single-member constituency was left vacant by its Member of Parliament, Mr Michael Palmer, who resigned in December due to an extramarital affair.
Nine days of campaigning have been set aside. 

Friday, the 25th, is Cooling Off Day. 

There are about 32,000 voters in the ward, which Mr Palmer won in GE 2011 with nearly 54 per cent of the votes cast.