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A Concise Guide to All the New Constituencies That You Didn’t See in GE 2015

2020-06-25 , 4:22 pm

By now, you would have known that the 2020 General Election is coming very soon.

All we see right now other than COVID-19 reports are the campaigns of various political parties.

Now, I’m not complaining, but with the sudden influx of so much information, it is easy to get confused or even a bit overwhelmed.

That’s why Goody Feed is here to give you concise guides so that you can know everything you need to know about GE2020.

This time, it’s going to be about all the new constituencies that you didn’t get to see in GE2015.

The New Constituencies

In case you don’t already know, a constituency is a specific area that has been marked out to be represented by one or more people in Parliament.

These representatives are voted in by the residents living in that specific area.

In the upcoming General Election, there will be five new constituencies mainly in the northern parts of Singapore – four SMCs (single-member constituencies) and one GRC (group-representation constituency).

The four SMCs are:

Kebun Baru
Marymount
Punggol West
Yio Chu Kang

And the new GRC is Sengkang.

Kebun Baru SMC

Kebun Baru is also a new SMC that has been carved out from Nee Soon GRC, and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), as well as the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), have been spotted making their rounds to greet people in the area.

The SMC is currently headed by PAP’s Henry Kwek.

Marymount SMC

Marymount is a new SMC that has been carved out from the Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, and most of the area is helmed by Manpower Minister Josephine Teo.

So far, there are at least three opposition parties who have shown interest in contesting for that seat, namely, the Singapore People’s Party (SPP), DPP, as well as the PSP.

Punggol West SMC

Punggol West is a new SMC that has been carved out from the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC. As of now, the MP of that area is PAP’s Sun Xueling, who started her political journey back in 2015.

Back then, the seat was contested by Singapore Democratic Alliance’s (SDA) Desmond Lim.

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Yio Chu Kang SMC

Yio Chu Kang is a new SMC that is carved out from the Ang Mo Kio GRC, and candidates of PSP have shown their interest in contesting for the seat.

As of now, the MP for the area is PAP’s Dr Koh Poh Koon. He is also a part of Ang Mo Kio GRC which is currently led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Sengkang GRC

Sengkang is a four-member GRC that has been carved out from Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC and combines the Sengkang West and Punggol East SMCs together.

Back then in the 2015 General Election, there was a close fight for the Punggol East SMC between the candidates from the Workers’ Party (WP) and People’s Action Party (PAP). PAP’s Charles Chong ended up winning the seat with 51.77% of the votes, beating WP’s Lee Li Lian.

PAP’s Dr Lam Pin Min, who is the MP for Sengkang West, has been seen going around and meeting with the residents of the new GRC. There are also new faces being spotted in the area who are potential PAP candidates contesting for the GRC – lawyer Raymond Lye and Republic Polytechnic lecturer Dr Wan Rizal Wan Zakariah.

Of course, WP has also stepped up their meetings with the public. WP’s Lee Li Lian has also been seen greeting residents of the area along with new faces Raeesah Khan, the founder of a non-profit organisation, and economist Jamus Lim.

Three SMCs Are Gone

With the creation of four new SMCs and one new GRC, three SMCs have been completely erased from the electoral map.

They are Fengshan, Punggol East, and Sengkang West SMCs.

No More Six-Member Constituencies

Electoral boundaries have also been changed as we see that there are no longer any six-member constituencies.

Singapore only has two six-member constituencies – Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC and Ang Mo Kio GRC, and the two of them will have their total number of members reduced by one such that they become five-member constituencies.

Hopefully, this guide serves as a good summary for you so that you know slightly more and you’re less confused about the whole General Election going on.

What are your thoughts on the GE2020 that is going to happen soon? Let us know!

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