The Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency is a
Single Member Constituency
A single-member district or constituency is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders.
In some countries, such as Australia and India ...
(SMC) in the
central region of
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
. It is managed by Jalan Besar Town Council. The current Member of Parliament of the constituency is
People's Action Party
The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...
(PAP)
Alex Yeo.
History
During the
1979 by-elections,
Chiam See Tong contested in Potong Pasir Constituency as an independent candidate against
Howe Yoon Chong, then a new PAP candidate. After submitting his nomination papers in the by-election, Howe dismissed the opposition candidates as "court jesters" who had come out "to provide comic relief".
Howe eventually beat Chiam with almost 67% of the votes to win the Constituency seat.
[The Straits Times (print edition) 9 December 2009, page B6.]
SDP held
Ahead of the
1980 general election held on 23 December 1980, Chiam founded the
Singapore Democratic Party
The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) is a social liberal political party in Singapore. Founded in 1980 by Chiam See Tong, the party gained its first seat in 6th Parliament of Singapore, Parliament in 1984 Singaporean general election, 1984 when ...
(SDP) on 6 August 1980 and contested in the election as a SDP candidate against Howe again in the constituency. In an election rally, Howe disparaged Chiam on his professional competence and was subsequently sued by Chiam for defamation.
Howe offered compensation which Chiam accepted and dropped the case against him.
Howe won again with 59.05 percent of the vote.
During the
1984 general election, Chiam contested as an SDP candidate in the constituency again. Howe retired from politics that year and did not contest the constituency
with sending a new candidate
Mah Bow Tan to contest it. In the lead-up to the election, Prime Minister
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...
compared Chiam and Mah's
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results in a rally speech: "Mah Bow Tan, age 16, took his O Levels — six distinctions, two credits. Mr Chiam, age 18 — six credits, one pass." The
Prime Minister's Office later conveyed an apology from Lee for making an error about Chiam's results; Chiam had actually gotten seven credits.
Chiam eventually won the election with 60.28% of the vote against Mah's 39.72%,
[The Straits Times (print edition) 9 December 2009, page B6.] and was elected as the MP representing Potong Pasir SMC.
SPP held
In December 1996, when the Parliament was dissolved ahead of the
1997 general election, Chiam left the SDP and joined the
Singapore People's Party (SPP), a pro-Chiam faction which left the SDP in 1994. Chiam assumed leadership and contested Potong Pasir SMC as the incumbent MP and SPP candidate. Chiam won with 55.15% of the vote against the PAP candidate Andy Gan,
[The Straits Times (print edition) 9 December 2009, page B6.] becoming SPP's first MP.
PAP held
In the
2011 Singaporean general election
General elections were held in Singapore on 7 May 2011. President S. R. Nathan dissolved parliament on 19 April 2011 on the advice of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Voting is mandatory in Singapore and is based on the first-past-the-post sys ...
, Chiam did not contest his seat but lead a team to contest at the
Bishan–Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency. Chiam's wife,
Lina Loh, became his successor for the constituency and contested for the seat against Sitoh. Loh lost the election on a marginal percentage of 0.72%. As the best performing loser at the polls, Loh was offered the
non-constituency MP (NCMP) position and accepted it. While
Chiam See Tong has said he is opposed to the scheme, the SPP reasoned that it was "critical" to ensure an "alternative voice in Parliament", to allow the party to "remain engaged in national issues", and to be publicly visible until the next election due by 2016. Loh also pointed out that she was "influenced by the wishes of Potong Pasir residents" and she accepted the post as her losing margin was too small.
In the
2015 Singaporean general election
General elections were held in Singapore on Friday, 11 September 2015 to elect 89 members of Parliament. The outgoing Parliament had been dissolved and the general election called by President Tony Tan on 25 August, on the advice of Prime Mi ...
, Sitoh retained his seat, this time with 66.41% of the votes, again defeating Loh.
Following the release of the EBRC report for the
2020 General Election, the Toa Payoh estates under this SMC were transferred into the 4-member
Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC while this constituency in return, took the Joo Seng and Woodleigh neighbourhoods from the neighbouring
Marine Parade GRC's Geylang Serai ward, to allow further development. Sitoh would defeat
Singapore People's Party (SPP) Jose Raymond with a vote count of 60.67% vs 39.33%, winning a third term as the incumbent MP for Potong Pasir.
Due to new developments in the
Bidadari
Apsaras (, , Khmer language, Khmer: អប្សរា are a class of celestial beings in Hinduism, Hindu and Culture of Buddhism, Buddhist culture. They were originally a type of female spirit of the clouds and waters, but, later play ...
area under the SMC, the
Elections Department Singapore
The Elections Department Singapore (ELD), known endonymously as the Elections Department, is a department under the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) of the Government of Singapore which are responsible for overseeing the procedure for elections ...
on 11 March 2025 carved part of the SMC out to merge into a new
Marine Parade–Braddell Heights Group Representation Constituency for the
2025 Singaporean general election
General elections were held in Singapore on 3 May 2025 to elect all Member of parliament, members of the Parliament of Singapore across Constituencies of Singapore, 33 constituencies. It was the 19th general election in Singapore's history sinc ...
.
On 16 April, it was announced Sitoh will not contest the constituency and Alex Yeo, the PAP branch chair for Paya Lebar in
Aljunied GRC, will contest the constituency instead. On 22 April, SPP announced that party treasurer Williamson Lee will contest the constituency. On nomination day, secretary-general of the coalition
People's Alliance for Reform
People's Alliance for Reform (PAR) is a political alliance in Singapore consisting of Peoples Voice (PV), Reform Party (RP) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). It was formed in June 2023.
History
In June 2023, PV leader Lim Tean an ...
(PAR),
Lim Tean, who is also party chief of
Peoples Voice, alongside PAP's Yeo and SPP's Lee, was successfully nominated to contest the constituency, resulting in a three cornered fight between PAP, SPP and PAR. Yeo would proceed to win with 69.20% of the vote against Lee's 22.46% and Lim's 8.33% and Lim Tean subsequently lost his electoral deposit.
Member of Parliament
Electoral results
Elections in 1960s
Elections in 1970s
Elections in 1980s
Elections in 1990s
Elections in 2000s
Elections in 2010s
Elections in 2020s
References
2020 General Election's result
{{Coord missing, Singapore
Singaporean electoral divisions
Geylang
Toa Payoh