Singapore is going to the polls this Friday and no one really knows what surprises are waiting for us.
Will Workers’ Party win every GRC even when they didn’t contest in all GRCs? Will hardworking Cheang Peng Wah get Pioneer SMC and create history?
Nobody knows.
But one thing we do know is what surprises the previous elections have given us.
After all, like what the PAP says, hindsight is always 20/20.
Introducing…
5 Surprises That Have Occurred in S’pore Elections Since Independence
Since 1965, how many upheavals have the Singapore elections gone through? Let’s take a look, shall we?
1. Workers’ Party Aljunied GRC Win In 2011
This needs no introduction, of course.
After all, this was the first time an opposition party managed to wrest control of an entire GRC away from the PAP.
In 2011, Low Thia Khiang left his stronghold in Hougang to contest in Aljunied GRC, which was a huge risk because the only other opposition MP in parliament, Chiam See Tong of SPP, also left his stronghold at Potong Pasir to contest in a GRC.
Mr Chiam lost and his entire party was wiped out from Parliament. However, Mr Low managed to win, creating history in Singapore politics.
In a video posted today (8 Jul 2020), Mr Low said that it was because the people in Aljunied answered the call the Workers’ Party was making and gave a “tight slap” to the incumbent government.
2. Aljunied Still Retained By WP IN 2015
Okay, so you’re wondering, why is this a surprise.
If you remember the Aljunied Hougang Punggol-East Town Council saga, it started in 2014 and three town councillors, Mr Low Thia Khiang, Ms Sylvia Lim and Mr Pritam Singh were brought to court for financial mismanagement.
Back then, the media focus on the trio was strong and you would’ve thought that their constituencies’ residents would have lost faith in them.
However, despite PAP winning GE2015 with a record 69.9% of the votes, they were still unable to get Aljunied GRC back.
The Workers’ Party barely managed to retain Aljunied GRC with 50.95% of the votes and many eyes are on the GRC during GE2020 to see if PAP will finally manage to get it back. Yes, it’s that close.
You can find out more about the AHPETC saga here:
- Workers’ Party MPs Managed to Raise Almost Half a Million for Their Legal Costs in 24 Hours
- Workers’ Party MPs Stop Fundraising After Raising Almost $1 Million in 3 Days
- and Workers’ Party Court Case Update: They’re Found Liable for Damages (i.e. Lost the Case)
Mr Low had alleged in 2015 that the PAP had attempted (and almost succeeded) in their smear campaign using the AHPETC saga.
3. First Opposition MP After A Long Time In Parliament
Since 1968, the PAP has won all of the seats in parliament.
However, their streak was stopped in 1981.
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, AKA JBJ, is known as the first opposition politician to win a seat in Parliament, leader of the Worker’s Party from 1971 to 2001.
To most, JBJ is a role model for the opposition.
JBJ subsequently got sued by the PAP for libel, resulting in S$465,000 and S$250,000 in court costs, forcing him to go bankrupt and to leave the Worker’s Party.
In 2007, JBJ was discharged from bankruptcy, so he set up the Reform Party in June 2008. But, unfortunately, JBJ didn’t get to do anything as he died of heart failure in Sep 2008.
Somehow, this led to Kenneth Jeyarenetnam, the son of JBJ, to join the Reform Party.
4. 2nd Opposition MP Joins
In the 1984 General Election, Chiam See Tong of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) won at the Potong Pasir SMC.
He represented the constituency until 2011 and is the second-longest serving opposition MP after Low Thia Khiang.
In 2011, he decided to leave Potong Pasir to contest in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC and lost to the PAP.
His wife, who ran in the Potong Pasir SMC also lost narrowly and became an NCMP until 2015.
5. GE2011 For The PAP
Yes, we spoke about GE2011 in #1 but that’s from the Workers’ Party perspective.
Now, let’s see it from the People’s Action Party side.
GE2011 is the lowest percentage of votes the PAP has ever achieved since 1965: 60.1%.
GE2011 was also described as the election where Singaporeans tried to send a message to the ruling government.
Exactly a week after the election, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew announced that they will be retiring from PAP, letting the younger generation take over.
Bloomberg analysed the move and said that the ruling party could be trying to overhaul its image, with the polls indicating that younger supporters are no longer supportive of the PAP.
It was also believed that the “loss in political ground” contributed to the government’s decision to tighten immigration influx despite pushing for the population white paper, according to this article in the Straits Times.
So, would we be seeing more surprises this Friday, or would it be yet another election that we’d soon forget? Download our app so you’d get the latest info…that’s summarised and simplified for you with a few jokes here and there.
And on a side note, candidates have been talking about NCMP (Non-Constituency Member of Parliament) in recent days. So, what’s an NCMP? Do you know that it’s just like an MP but the allowance is much lower? Watch this video to find out more:
Would you be jailed for being half-naked in public? Well, the answer will shock you. Seriously. Watch this to the end and you'll understand:
