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WP GE2025 candidate Alia Mattar is niece of former minister Ahmad Mattar

While there are a number of well-known familial connections between Singapore politicians, one pair of relatives across party lines had slipped under the radar until now.

Ms Siti Alia Abdul Rahim Mattar, a recent Workers’ Party (WP) election candidate, has revealed in a Facebook post that her uncle is Dr Ahmad bin Mohamed Mattar, a former Cabinet minister from the People’s Action Party (PAP).

Source: Mattar.Alia on Facebook

Former minister recounts Cabinet days with WP candidate

In her post on Sunday (14 Sept), Ms Mattar shared a photo with her uncle during “a long overdue dinner”.

Conscious of the fact that they were from different political parties, she asked for his permission before publishing the post.

At their meeting, her uncle shared snippets from his days in the Cabinet, as well as how he founded Mendaki, she said, adding:

I’m sure there is still much to learn and tap on from his life experience, which I plan to continue doing in the years to come.

She was a WP candidate for Punggol GRC

Ms Mattar, a 43-year-old legal counsel, was part of the WP team that contested Punggol GRC at the 2025 General Election (GE2025) held on 3 May.

She ran alongside Mr Harpreet Singh, Mr Jackson Au and Ms Alexis Dang.

Source: The Workers’ Party on Facebook

While the team lost against a PAP team led by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, it drew a creditable 44.83% of the vote.

At an election rally, the mother-of-three prompted online discussion when she spoke about the humanitarian crisis in Palestine.

Clips of her speech were posted on Reddit, with netizens questioning whether she should be more focused on local “bread and butter” issues instead.

Ahmad Mattar had 24-year political career

Her uncle Dr Mattar had a distinguished 24-year political career, starting in 1972 when he stood for election in Leng Kee constituency under the banner of PAP.

After winning by 5,851 votes, he became Parliamentary Secretary for Education while continuing to lecture at the then University of Singapore.

Source: National Archives of Singapore

In 1977, he was appointed Acting Minister for Social Affairs and Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs.

As the latter, he spearheaded the formation of the Mendaki Foundation to look into the educational and welfare needs of the Malay/Muslim community.

Dr Mattar became Minister for the Environment in 1985. One of his achievements was overseeing the passing of stricter environmental laws as well as the setting up of the National Council on the Environment to spread the green message among Singaporeans.

Source: National Archives of Singapore

He retired from the Cabinet in 1993, citing personal reasons, and retired altogether from politics in 1996.

Now, having just celebrated his 86th birthday last month, his niece wished him happy birthday and good health.

Also read: 6 surprising facts about S’pore politicians, like who’s related to who

6 surprising facts about S’pore politicians, including who’s related to who

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