Cheng San Group Representation Constituency
Encyclopedia
Cheng San Group Representation Constituency (Simplified Chinese: 静山集选区;Traditional Chinese
: 靜山集選區) is a now defunct Group Representation Constituency
in the north-eastern
region in Singapore
. The GRC consisted of the eastern part of Ang Mo Kio
, Jalan Kayu
, Seletar Hills, part of Serangoon
North, a large part of Hougang
, Buangkok
, and the whole of Sengkang New Town
and Punggol New Town
.
The GRC was formed in 1988, and absorbed the constituencies of Cheng San, Chong Boon and Jalan Kayu
. In the 1991 general election
, the constituency was enlarged to include the former Punggol
ward. For the general election in 1997
, parts of the Chong Boon division of the GRC, bounded by Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3, Central Expressway
and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, were transferred to Ang Mo Kio GRC
. The GRC was an opposition favourite in the 1991 election, and was hotly contested in the 1997 general election between People's Action Party
and Workers' Party
.
The GRC was absorbed into three GRCs in the 2001 general election
. The GRCs which absorbed Cheng San GRC were Ang Mo Kio GRC, Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC and Aljunied GRC due to redrawing
of electoral districts by the Elections Department
. The Elections Department gave the explanation that the growing population in Sengkang
and Punggol
necessitated the redrawing.
Due to the unclear separation of power between the Prime Minister's Office
and the Elections Department
, the Opposition
has often criticised the absorption of Cheng San GRC as gerrymandering
on the part of the ruling party. Ang Mo Kio GRC and Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC are both 6-member GRCs, making it increasingly harder for the Opposition to contest these constituencies. The two GRC
s are currently helmed by Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong
and Defence Minister
Teo Chee Hean
respectively.
, a former opposition Member of Parliament
in Singapore. The Workers' Party team included Tang Liang Hong
, a senior lawyer
.
Having been automatically 're-elected' due to walkovers in their own constituencies, then-Prime Minister of Singapore
Goh Chok Tong
and his two deputies from the People's Action Party (PAP) campaigned on behalf for the PAP's candidates in the Cheng San GRC. Goh described himself as "a special candidate" of the constituency and declared that his credibility
and reputation
as Prime Minister were at stake in the contest. The PAP campaign took on a two-pronged focus. Firstly, the PAP accused Tang of being anti-Christian and a Chinese
chauvinist, labelling him a "dangerous man". Secondly, the Prime Minister told Cheng San voters that if they returned PAP candidates to power in the election, they would get a host of benefits. These included access to better transport facilities such as the MRT and LRT, new housing projects, such as Punggol 21, and opportunities to upgrade their HDB apartments and public housing estates. The PAP emphasised that constituencies that failed to return PAP candidates to power would not receive priority in government upgrading programmes and might end up becoming slums.
The Workers' Party's rallies in Cheng San GRC attracted huge crowds. On the eve of Polling Day, 50,000 people attended the Workers' Party rally at Yio Chu Kang Stadium
. However, the news coverage of this astounding turnout was disproportionately understated, causing much online criticism of the Straits Times in reporting objectively.
On Polling Day, several top PAP Ministers were within the precinct of polling stations in Cheng San GRC, although they were not themselves candidates in the constituency. The Workers Party believed that this violated the Parliamentary Elections Act. Although Workers' Party's candidates filed police reports, their complaints were, on the advice of the Attorney-General, not prosecuted by the police. The Attorney-General advised that remaining within a perimeter of 200 meters from the external walls of the polling station, as opposed to being within the polling station itself, was not an offence. Later, the Workers' Party renewed its call for a multi-party Election Commission to ensure fair play in the conduct of Parliamentary elections.
The Workers' Party lost in Cheng San GRC, obtaining 44,132 votes, which was 45.2% of the valid votes in the constituency of approximately 98,000 voters. This was a remarkable result for the opposition, in light of the PAP's aggressive campaign in the GRC.
After the 1997 election, Cheng San GRC was redrawn into several different constituencies, causing many to accuse (in a rather well-founded manner) the PAP of gerrymandering
. Election gimmicks and promises of flat upgrading were used again during the 2006 election and have been labelled as vote-buying. The latter is nevertheless quite ineffective as contested constituencie Hougang remains in the Workers' Party hands.
Traditional Chinese character
Traditional Chinese characters refers to Chinese characters in any character set which does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. It most commonly refers to characters in the standardized character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong, or in the Kangxi...
: 靜山集選區) is a now defunct Group Representation Constituency
Group Representation Constituency
A Group Representation Constituency is a type of electoral division or constituency in Singapore, the Members of Parliament of which are voted into Parliament as a group...
in the north-eastern
North-East Region, Singapore
The North-East Region of Singapore is one of the five regions in the city-state. It includes seven urban planning areas. As its name implies, it is located in the north-eastern part of Singapore.The land area is about 13,810 hectares....
region in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. The GRC consisted of the eastern part of Ang Mo Kio
Ang Mo Kio
Ang Mo Kio（宏茂桥） is a heartland new town located in north central Singapore, and is generally within the North-East Region. It contains many of the common features of the island nation's neighbourhoods, e.g. hawker centres, wet markets and HDB housing blocks. Singapore's Prime Minister, Lee Hsien...
, Jalan Kayu
Jalan Kayu
Jalan Kayu is a name of a street situated within the Sengkang Planning Area in the North-East Region of Singapore, under the urban planning scheme of the Urban Redevelopment Authority...
, Seletar Hills, part of Serangoon
Serangoon
Serangoon is town situated in the central part of the city-state of Singapore, within the North-East Region. The Housing and Development Board housing estate of Serangoon New Town in Serangoon is one of the smaller new towns. Its town centre is known as Serangoon Central, and is the target of...
North, a large part of Hougang
Hougang
Hougang is an urban planning area and a suburb in the north-eastern area of the city-state of Singapore. Under classification by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, the area is part of the North-East Region, an urban planning division. Hougang borders Sengkang in the north and Serangoon to its...
, Buangkok
Buangkok
Buangkok is an area located in the North-East Region of Singapore. It encompasses an area of Hougang New Town and the medical hub of Buangkok Green Medical Park that includes the Institute of Mental Health north of Buangkok Green, and the public residential areas in the neighbourhood of Compassvale...
, and the whole of Sengkang New Town
Sengkang New Town
Sengkang New Town is a relatively young satellite residential town in the city-state of Singapore. Originally a fishing village, the area is presently undergoing rapid development under the ambition of the Housing and Development Board to transform it into a "21st century township". The town now...
and Punggol New Town
Punggol New Town
Punggol New Town is a Housing and Development Board new town in Punggol, within the North-East Region of Singapore.-Etymology:Punggol Point or Tanjong Punggol appears as Tanjong Rangon on Franklin and Jackson's 1828 map of Singapore. Punggol, also spelt as Ponggol, means "hurling sticks at the...
.
The GRC was formed in 1988, and absorbed the constituencies of Cheng San, Chong Boon and Jalan Kayu
Jalan Kayu Single Member Constituency
Jalan Kayu Single Member Constituency is a former single member constituency in Jalan Kayu, from 1959 to 1988.-Formation and Dissolution:Formerly it was known as Seletar ward after 1951 election...
. In the 1991 general election
Singaporean general election, 1991
General elections were held in Singapore on 31 August 1991. The result was a victory for the People's Action Party, which won 77 of the 81 seats...
, the constituency was enlarged to include the former Punggol
Punggol Single Member Constituency
Punggol Single Member Constituency is a former single member constituency in the undeveloped Punggol , from 1959 to 1991.-Formation and dissolution:...
ward. For the general election in 1997
Singapore general election, 1997
The 1997 Singapore parliamentary election was an election in Singapore which was held on 2 January 1997. 765,332 out of the eligible 1.8 million voters voted and selected their next government...
, parts of the Chong Boon division of the GRC, bounded by Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3, Central Expressway
Central Expressway
The following roads are named Central Expressway:*Central Expressway, Singapore*Central Expressway , part of County Route G6 in Santa Clara County, California*Central Expressway , part of U.S. Highway 75 in Dallas, Texas...
and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, were transferred to Ang Mo Kio GRC
Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency
Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency is a six-member Group Representation Constituency in the north eastern region of Singapore...
. The GRC was an opposition favourite in the 1991 election, and was hotly contested in the 1997 general election between People's Action Party
People's Action Party
The People's Action Party is the leading political party in Singapore. It has been the city-state's ruling political party since 1959....
and Workers' Party
Workers' Party of Singapore
The Workers' Party of Singapore is a centre-left opposition political party in Singapore. The party currently has six elected seats in Parliament, with the party's Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang, Chairman Sylvia Lim, Chen Show Mao, Muhamad Faisal Manap and Pritam Singh serving as Members of...
.
The GRC was absorbed into three GRCs in the 2001 general election
Singapore general election, 2001
The Singapore parliamentary general elections of 2001 were held on 3 November. The People's Action Party, the incumbent ruling party, won 82 out of 84 seats in the election, including 55 walkovers...
. The GRCs which absorbed Cheng San GRC were Ang Mo Kio GRC, Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC and Aljunied GRC due to redrawing
Redistricting
Redistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census. In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to...
of electoral districts by the Elections Department
Elections Department
The Elections Department is a department of the government of Singapore that oversees the procedure for elections in Singapore, including parliamentary elections and presidential elections. It sees that elections are fairly carried out and has a supervisory role to safeguard against electoral fraud...
. The Elections Department gave the explanation that the growing population in Sengkang
Sengkang
Sengkang is a sub-urban town in the north-eastern part of Singapore. The Sengkang Planning Area, an urban planning zone under the Urban Redevelopment Authority, covers the Housing and Development Board satellite new town of Sengkang New Town and rural Jalan Kayu.-Etymology and history:Meaning...
and Punggol
Punggol
Punggol, or Ponggol, is a neighbourhood in northeastern Singapore. Presently, much of Punggol is undeveloped, although plans to turn the area into a residential new town under the "Punggol 21" initiative have begun to take place in the south-eastern parts of the area bordering neighbouring...
necessitated the redrawing.
Due to the unclear separation of power between the Prime Minister's Office
Prime Minister's Office
The Prime Minister's Office is a small department which provides advice to a Prime Minister in some countries:* Office of the Prime Minister * Office of the Prime Minister * British Prime Minister's Office...
and the Elections Department
Elections Department
The Elections Department is a department of the government of Singapore that oversees the procedure for elections in Singapore, including parliamentary elections and presidential elections. It sees that elections are fairly carried out and has a supervisory role to safeguard against electoral fraud...
, the Opposition
Opposition (parliamentary)
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state...
has often criticised the absorption of Cheng San GRC as gerrymandering
Gerrymandering
In the process of setting electoral districts, gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan, incumbent-protected districts...
on the part of the ruling party. Ang Mo Kio GRC and Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC are both 6-member GRCs, making it increasingly harder for the Opposition to contest these constituencies. The two GRC
GRC
GRC can mean:*Ancient Greek *The country Greece *Genome Reference Consortium*General Revenue Corporation *George Rogers Clark, American Revolutionary War general...
s are currently helmed by Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong is the third and current Prime Minister of Singapore. He is married to Ho Ching, who is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings. He is the eldest son of Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew....
and Defence Minister
Defence minister
A defence minister is a person in a cabinet position in charge of a Ministry of Defence, which regulates the armed forces in some sovereign nations...
Teo Chee Hean
Teo Chee Hean
Teo Chee Hean is a politician from Singapore. A member of the governing People's Action Party , he is currently the country's Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Home Affairs and Co-ordinating Minister for National Security, and a Member of Parliament for the Pasir Ris-Punggol Group...
respectively.
Cheng San GRC in the 1997 general election
Cheng San GRC became the most hotly contested seat in the Singapore 1997 General Election, and the most widely watched constituency in the whole general election. The People's Action Party team led by Lee Yock Suan, a former minister, faced the contest by a Workers' Party team led by Joshua Benjamin JeyaretnamJoshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam was a politician and lawyer from Singapore. He was the leader of the Workers' Party from 1971 to 2001...
, a former opposition Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in Singapore. The Workers' Party team included Tang Liang Hong
Tang Liang Hong
Tang Liang Hong is a politician and lawyer from Singapore.Tang stood as a candidate for the opposition Workers' Party in the Cheng San Group Representation Constituency at the 1997 general election...
, a senior lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
.
Having been automatically 're-elected' due to walkovers in their own constituencies, then-Prime Minister of Singapore
Prime Minister of Singapore
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore is the head of the government of the Republic of Singapore. The President of Singapore appoints as Prime Minister a Member of Parliament who, in his opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of a majority of MPs.The office of Prime Minister...
Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong is the Senior Minister of Singapore and the chairman of the central bank of Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore. He also served as the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore from 28 November 1990 to 12 August 2004, succeeding Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime...
and his two deputies from the People's Action Party (PAP) campaigned on behalf for the PAP's candidates in the Cheng San GRC. Goh described himself as "a special candidate" of the constituency and declared that his credibility
Credibility
Credibility refers to the objective and subjective components of the believability of a source or message.Traditionally, modern, credibility has two key components: trustworthiness and expertise, which both have objective and subjective components. Trustworthiness is based more on subjective...
and reputation
Reputation
Reputation of a social entity is an opinion about that entity, typically a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria...
as Prime Minister were at stake in the contest. The PAP campaign took on a two-pronged focus. Firstly, the PAP accused Tang of being anti-Christian and a Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
chauvinist, labelling him a "dangerous man". Secondly, the Prime Minister told Cheng San voters that if they returned PAP candidates to power in the election, they would get a host of benefits. These included access to better transport facilities such as the MRT and LRT, new housing projects, such as Punggol 21, and opportunities to upgrade their HDB apartments and public housing estates. The PAP emphasised that constituencies that failed to return PAP candidates to power would not receive priority in government upgrading programmes and might end up becoming slums.
The Workers' Party's rallies in Cheng San GRC attracted huge crowds. On the eve of Polling Day, 50,000 people attended the Workers' Party rally at Yio Chu Kang Stadium
Yio Chu Kang Stadium
Yio Chu Kang Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Ang Mo Kio, Singapore. It has a seating capacity of 2,000. It is run by the Singapore Sports Council and was opened to the public on 1 April 1985....
. However, the news coverage of this astounding turnout was disproportionately understated, causing much online criticism of the Straits Times in reporting objectively.
On Polling Day, several top PAP Ministers were within the precinct of polling stations in Cheng San GRC, although they were not themselves candidates in the constituency. The Workers Party believed that this violated the Parliamentary Elections Act. Although Workers' Party's candidates filed police reports, their complaints were, on the advice of the Attorney-General, not prosecuted by the police. The Attorney-General advised that remaining within a perimeter of 200 meters from the external walls of the polling station, as opposed to being within the polling station itself, was not an offence. Later, the Workers' Party renewed its call for a multi-party Election Commission to ensure fair play in the conduct of Parliamentary elections.
The Workers' Party lost in Cheng San GRC, obtaining 44,132 votes, which was 45.2% of the valid votes in the constituency of approximately 98,000 voters. This was a remarkable result for the opposition, in light of the PAP's aggressive campaign in the GRC.
After the 1997 election, Cheng San GRC was redrawn into several different constituencies, causing many to accuse (in a rather well-founded manner) the PAP of gerrymandering
Gerrymandering
In the process of setting electoral districts, gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan, incumbent-protected districts...
. Election gimmicks and promises of flat upgrading were used again during the 2006 election and have been labelled as vote-buying. The latter is nevertheless quite ineffective as contested constituencie Hougang remains in the Workers' Party hands.
Divisions
| Election | Cheng San Cheng San Cheng San is a precinct located at Ang Mo Kio, Singapore. It has precincts of Neighbourhood 5. The nearest MRT station is Ang Mo Kio and Yio Chu Kang.-Politics:... |
Chong Boon Chong Boon Chong Boon is a precinct located at Ang Mo Kio, Singapore. It has precincts of Neighbourhood 4.-Politics:Chong Boon is part of Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency, is part of Teck Ghee division. The MP is the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.... |
Jalan Kayu Jalan Kayu Jalan Kayu is a name of a street situated within the Sengkang Planning Area in the North-East Region of Singapore, under the urban planning scheme of the Urban Redevelopment Authority... |
Punggol Punggol Punggol, or Ponggol, is a neighbourhood in northeastern Singapore. Presently, much of Punggol is undeveloped, although plans to turn the area into a residential new town under the "Punggol 21" initiative have begun to take place in the south-eastern parts of the area bordering neighbouring... |
Pungool Central | Punggol East | Punggol South |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 Singaporean general election, 1984 General elections were held in Singapore on 22 December 1984. The result was a victory for the People's Action Party, which won 77 of the 79 seats, marking the first time since 1963 that they had not won every seat... |
SMC | SMC | SMC | SMC | |||
| Formation | |||||||
| 1988 Singaporean general election, 1988 General elections were held in Singapore on 3 September 1988. The result was a victory for the People's Action Party, which won 80 of the 81 seats... |
Lee Yock Suan | Sitaram Chandra Das | Heng Chiang Meng | SMC | |||
| 1991 Singaporean general election, 1991 General elections were held in Singapore on 31 August 1991. The result was a victory for the People's Action Party, which won 77 of the 81 seats... |
Michael Lim Chun Leng | ||||||
| 1997 | Ang Mo Kio GRC | Michael Lim Chun Leng | Zainul Abidin Mohamed Rasheed | Yeo Guat Kwang | |||
| Dissolution | |||||||
| 2001 | Ang Mo Kio GRC | Ang Mo Kio GRC | Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC | Dissolved into Aljunied GRC as Kembangan Kembangan Kembangan may refer to:*In Singapore**Kembangan, Singapore, a residential area**Kembangan MRT Station, an MRT Station**Kampong Kembangan SMC, a former constituency*In Indonesia**Kembangan, Jakarta, a subdistrict of West Jakarta... -Punggol Punggol Punggol, or Ponggol, is a neighbourhood in northeastern Singapore. Presently, much of Punggol is undeveloped, although plans to turn the area into a residential new town under the "Punggol 21" initiative have begun to take place in the south-eastern parts of the area bordering neighbouring... and Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC (Punggol North ward) |
Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC | ||
Candidates and results
| Election | Seats | Voters | Party | Candidate(s) | Votes | Votes % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
|||||||
| Singapore general election, 1988 Singaporean general election, 1988 General elections were held in Singapore on 3 September 1988. The result was a victory for the People's Action Party, which won 80 of the 81 seats... |
3 | 59,186 | PAP | Lee Yock Suan Sitaram Chandra Das Heng Chiang Meng |
Walkover | Walkover | |
| Singapore general election, 1991 Singaporean general election, 1991 General elections were held in Singapore on 31 August 1991. The result was a victory for the People's Action Party, which won 77 of the 81 seats... |
4 | 92,979 | PAP | Lee Yock Suan Sitaram Chandra Das Heng Chiang Meng Michael Lim Chun Leng |
54,963 | 64.1 | |
| NSP | Pok Lee Chuen Chng Chin Siah Gertrude Magdeline De Gracias Chng Wee Hong |
30,849 | 35.9 | ||||
| Singapore general election, 1997 | 5 | 103,323 | PAP | Lee Yock Suan Yeo Guat Kwang Heng Chiang Meng Michael Lim Chun Leng Zainul Abidin bin Mohamed Rasheed |
53,553 | 54.8 | |
| WP | Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam was a politician and lawyer from Singapore. He was the leader of the Workers' Party from 1971 to 2001... Tan Bin Seng Tang Liang Hong Tang Liang Hong Tang Liang Hong is a politician and lawyer from Singapore.Tang stood as a candidate for the opposition Workers' Party in the Cheng San Group Representation Constituency at the 1997 general election... Huang Seow Kwang Abdul Rahim bin Osman |
44,132 | 45.2 | ||||