Red Dot United (RDU), a political party that contested the 2020 general election, introduced their "groundwork leader" for Jalan Kayu SMC on March 21, 2025, ahead of the upcoming election.

Kala Manickam, 57, and a former candidate for the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), will lead the RDU team as it looks to compete in Jalan Kayu.

Kala Manickam, RDU member

Kala is a specialist educator and business owner, and a single mother of a 16-year-old.

She holds a Masters in Lifelong Learning, and was among the pioneer batch of commissioned women officers in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

Back in GE2020, Kala was fielded as a candidate for PSP in Nee Soon GRC, losing to a PAP team headed by Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam.

She was then dismissed from the party and sued PSP in 2021 over her dismissal, alleging violation of due process rights.

Fernvale and Jalan Kayu SMC

RDU conducted a walkabout at Fernvale, near Seletar Mall.

The area falls within the newly created SMC, per the recommendation of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) report.

Jalan Kayu's current MP is PAP's Ng Ling Ling, who entered politics in 2020.

On Mar. 15, she was absent from the Ang Mo Kio Town Council (AMKTC) Master Plan launch, where SM Lee spoke on plans for future improvements in Ang Mo Kio.

According to the report: "The Committee also recommended reducing the size of Ang Mo Kio GRC, which has the most electors of any ED (Electoral Division), by carving out some polling districts to form a new Jalan Kayu SMC."

Walkabout

Accompanying Kala were RDU Secretary-General Ravi Philemon, other RDU party members and volunteers. One of those volunteers was M Ravi, who contested in Ang Mo Kio GRC in 2015 under the Reform Party banner.

They walked about the Fernvale area, handing out flyers to passers-by and speaking to residents near Fernvale LRT and a nearby hawker centre at Fernvale Co...