1997 Singaporean general election

1997 Singaporean general election

2 January 1997
All 83 directly elected seats in Parliament (and up to 3 NCMPs)
Registered	765,332 / 1,881,011
Turnout	95.91% ( 0.88pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Goh Chok Tong J. B. Jeyaretnam Chiam See Tong Party PAP WP SPP Last election 60.97%, 77 seats 14.29%, 1 seat – Seats won 81 2 1 Seat change 4 1 New Popular vote 465,751 101,544 16,746 Percentage 64.98% 14.17% 2.34% Swing 4.01pp 0.12pp New
Results by constituency
Prime Minister before election Goh Chok Tong PAP Prime Minister after election Goh Chok Tong PAP

General elections were held in Singapore on 2 January 1997. President Ong Teng Cheong dissolved parliament on 16 December 1996 on the advice of Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. The results were released in the late evening that day and the ruling People's Action Party won a total of 81 out of 83 seats as well as a tenth consecutive term in office under the then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. Other major political parties contesting in the election were the Workers' Party, Singapore Democratic Party, National Solidarity Party, Singapore People's Party and the Democratic Progressive Party.

After nomination day on 23 December 1996, the People's Action Party returned to power for the second consecutive (and third overall) election as 47 (more than half of the total 83) seats were won uncontested. On polling day, voters voted for the election for the remaining 36 seats, with the opposition party candidates winning only in two seats, down from the four they won in the last election. In this election, Group Representation Constituencies were increased from four members to between four and six members (six-member seats would remain present for two decades until its first absence in the 2020 election).

Background

This election was Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's opportunity to score a better mandate after the PAP's considerably poorer showing in the 1991 election. Two seats in PAP-held Eunos and Toa Payoh GRCs were vacated after the death of Member of Parliament (MP), Dr Tay Eng Soon and inauguration of former Deputy Prime Minister Ong Teng Cheong as Singapore's fifth and first elected President in 1993 respectively; however, both GRCs did not held by-elections and were instead subsumed into neighbouring GRCs. A third incumbent, Lim Chee Oon of the Marine Parade GRC, retired from politics ahead of the by-election in 1992, and future Minister Teo Chee Hean (now as Senior Minister) succeeded Lim.

In 1993, a year following the events of the Marine Parade GRC by-election, the largest opposition party, Singapore Democratic Party, faced a serious internal strife where former leader and Potong Pasir then-MP Chiam See Tong sued his party's Central Executive Committee (which include current secretary-general Chee Soon Juan and chairman Ling How Doong) for defamation, which he won; Chiam resigned from SDP prior to nominations to lead his splinter party, Singapore People's Party. In 1994, Chee criticized then-Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong over a lack of democracy, which led to the attention of Organising Secretary and Marine Parade GRC member-of-parliament Matthias Yao; Chee publicly request to challenge Yao with a condition of carving out his MacPherson ward from Marine Parade GRC into a SMC, which the latter accepted.

Timeline

Date	Event
21 November 1996	Publication of Electoral Boundaries report
16 December 1996	Dissolution of 8th Parliament
23 December 1996	Nomination Day
2 January	Polling day
15 January	Announcement of Non-constituency Member of Parliament
26 May	Opening of 9th Parliament

Nominations and campaigning

The 8th Parliament was dissolved on 16 December 1996, and nominations were held exactly a week after. At the close of the nomination, 122 candidates were nominated among which PAP returned to power for the second consecutive (and third) election after a majority of seats (47) were uncontested; among which were Tampines GRC, which the National Solidarity Party team was disqualified after one candidate was found to have his name struck off the electoral rolls for not voting in 1991. Chia Shi Teck became the first former Nominated MP to contest in the election as an independent candidate in an only four-cornered fight in Chua Chu Kang SMC. The Democratic Progressive Party, formerly named Singapore United Front, contested by a father-son duo led by Tan Soon Phuan and Tan Lead Shake (the latter now a member of NSP).

During campaigning, Tang Liang Hong, who was standing on the WP ticket with its secretary-general J. B. Jeyaretnam for Cheng San GRC, faced criticism where Tang was accused by PAP of being an anti-Christian Chinese chauvinist.

Electoral boundaries

Main article: List of Singaporean electoral divisions (1997–2001)

New six-member Group Representation Constituencies (GRC) were formed in the election, while six existing GRCs were absorbed into neighboring GRCs. Divisions of each constituencies which were either absorbed or carved out Single Member Constituencies (SMC), or creating smaller divisions, were reflected in the table:

Constituency	Changes
Aljunied GRC	Ward upsized to five members Absorbed Eunos from Eunos GRC, Changkat South division from Tampines GRC (renamed to Changi-Simei), and portions of Serangoon Gardens division from Thomson GRC
Ang Mo Kio GRC	Ward upsized to five members Absorbed Nee Soon South SMC, portions of Chong Boon division from Cheng San GRC, and portions of Serangoon Gardens division from Thomson GRC
Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC	New Constituency Formed with Thomson GRC (and a small portion of Serangoon Gardens division) and Toa Payoh GRC, with Boon Teck and Kim Keat divisions absorbed to Toa Payoh Central division, and Kuo Chuan to Toa Payoh East division
Bukit Timah GRC	New Constituency Formed with Bukit Batok, Bukit Timah, Jurong, Ulu Pandan and Yuhua SMCs, and parts of Clementi division from Brickworks GRC
Cheng San GRC	Ward upsized to five members Punggol division was split into Punggol Central, Punggol East and Punggol South divisions Carved out Chong Boon division to Ang Mo Kio GRC and Cheng San division
East Coast GRC	New Constituency Absorbed Joo Chiat division from Marine Parade GRC, Kaki Bukit division from Eunos GRC, Changi SMC and Bedok GRC Changi division was absorbed into Changi-Simei and Siglap divisions
Hong Kah GRC	Ward upsized to five members Absorbed a portion of Chua Chu Kang SMC (forming Yew Tee division) and Jurong SMC Hong Kah West division was split to include Nanyang division (which also absorbed a portion of Jurong SMC)
Jalan Besar GRC	Kallang division was dissolved into Kolam Ayer, Jalan Besar, Whampoa and Kampong Glam wards
Kreta Ayer–Tanglin GRC	New Constituency Formed with Kreta Ayer SMC, Tanglin SMC and portions of Kampong Glam GRC (except for Kampong Glam division, which was split into SMC)
Marine Parade GRC	Ward upsized to six members Absorbed Braddell Heights and Mountbatten SMC, and portions of Serangoon Gardens division from Thomson GRC (forming Serangoon division) Carved out MacPherson division into SMC, and Joo Chiat division into East Coast GRC
Pasir Ris GRC	New Constituency Absorbed Pasir Ris and portions of Tampines North division (renamed to Pasir Ris South) from Eunos GRC, while Pasir Ris division was split into Pasir Ris Central, Pasir Ris East and Pasir Ris Loyang divisions
Sembawang GRC	Ward upzised to six members Bukit Panjang and Sembawang divisions were split to include Marsiling and Woodlands divisions, respectively
Tampines GRC	Tampines West division was split to include Tampines Central division Carved a portion of Changkat South division to Aljunied GRC, while the rest absorbed to Tampines Changkat division
Tanjong Pagar GRC	Ward upsized to six members Absorbed Brickworks and Queenstown division from Brickworks GRC, as well as Bukit Merah, Buona Vista and Leng Kee SMCs Carved out Telok Blangah division to West Coast GRC Brickworks division was absorbed into Pasir Panjang & Queenstown divisions
West Coast GRC	New Constituency Formed with Telok Blangah division from Tanjong Pagar GRC, and Clementi & West Coast divisions from Brickworks GRC

New and retiring candidates

24 PAP and 18 opposition candidates were among the candidates making their election debuts this year, while 17 incumbents were to retire ahead of the election. The list are as follows:

Retiring Candidates

New Candidates

Ho Kah Leong (Jurong), 58 since 1966 Ch'ng Jit Koon (Tanjong Pagar GRC), 62 since 1968 Yeo Toon Chia (Ang Mo Kio GRC), 55 since 1970 Chin Harn Tong (Aljunied GRC), 59 since 1972 Lee Yiok Seng (Sembawang GRC), 57 since 1972 Ahmad Mattar (Brickworks GRC), 57 since 1972 Dhanabalan Suppiah (Toa Payoh GRC), 59 since 1976 Lau Teik Soon (Thomson GRC), 59 since 1976 Teo Chong Tee (Changi), 54 since 1976 Koh Lip Lin (Nee Soon South), 60 since 1979 Sitaram Chandra Das (Cheng San GRC), 57 since 1980 Yeo Ning Hong (Kampong Glam GRC), 53 since 1980 Wong Kwei Cheong (Kampong Glam GRC), 55 since 1980 Lau Ping Sum (Ang Mo Kio GRC), 55 since 1980 Zulkifi Mohammad (Jalan Besar GRC), 48 since 1984 Arthur Beng (Bedok GRC), 47 since 1984 Peter Sung (Buona Vista), 56 since 1988 Umar Abdul Hamid (Ang Mo Kio GRC), 36 since 1991

Ahmad Magad, 43 Ang Mong Seng, 47 Chan Soo Sen, 40 Chin Tet Yung, 45 David Lim Tik En, 41 Hawazi Daipi, 42 Heng Chee How, 35 Inderjit Singh, 36 Lily Neo, 43 Lim Hwee Hua, 37 Lim Swee Say, 42 Ong Ah Heng, 52 Peter Chen, 58 R Ravindran, 36 Seng Han Thong, 46 Subramaniam Iswaran, 34 Tan Boon Wan, 48 Teo Ho Pin, 36 Toh See Kiat, 42 Yaacob Ibrahim, 41 Yeo Guat Kwang, 35 Zainul Abidin bin Mohammed Rasheed, 48

Results

The voter turnout in contested constituencies at 95.91% is Singapore's highest election turnout in history. Only two candidates (Tan Soo Phuan and Syed Farid Wajidi) had their election deposit forfeited. This is the last general election to date to see a four-cornered contest in one of the constituencies contested (not counting the 2011 Singaporean presidential election or the 2013 Punggol East by-election, which were also four-cornered contests).

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	People's Action Party	465,751	64.98	81	+4
	Workers' Party	101,544	14.17	1	0
	Singapore Democratic Party	76,129	10.62	0	–3
	National Solidarity Party	48,322	6.74	0	0
	Singapore People's Party	16,746	2.34	1	New
	Democratic Progressive Party	5,043	0.70	0	New
	Independents	3,210	0.45	0	0
Total		716,745	100.00	83	+2
Valid votes		716,745	97.65
Invalid/blank votes		17,255	2.35
Total votes		734,000	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		765,332	95.91
Source: Singapore Elections

By constituency

Constituency	Seats	Electorate	Party		Candidates	Votes	%
Aljunied GRC	5	103,466		People's Action Party	Ker Sin Tze David Lim Sidek Saniff Toh See Kiat George Yeo	64,299	67.02
				Singapore Democratic Party	Aziz Ibrahim Kwan Yue Keng S. Kunalen Tay Hoon Wong Hong Toy	31,645	32.98
Ang Mo Kio GRC	5	125,344		People's Action Party	Lee Hsien Loong Seng Han Thong Inderjit Singh Tan Boon Wan Tang Guan Seng	Uncontested
Ayer Rajah SMC	1	22,025		People's Action Party	Tan Cheng Bock	15,081	73.17
				Singapore People's Party	Sin Kek Tong	5,531	26.83
Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC	5	122,256		People's Action Party	Ho Tat Kin Ibrahim Othman Leong Horn Kee Davinder Singh Wong Kan Seng	Uncontested
Boon Lay SMC	1	20,014		People's Action Party	Goh Chee Wee	12,407	66.10
				National Solidarity Party	Christopher Neo	6,362	33.90
Bukit Gombak SMC	1	24,909		People's Action Party	Ang Mong Seng	15,229	65.14
				Singapore Democratic Party	Ling How Doong	6,643	28.42
				Singapore People's Party	Syed Farid Wajidi	1,506	6.44
Bukit Timah GRC	5	118,248		People's Action Party	Foo Yee Shoon Lim Boon Heng Ong Chit Chung R. Ravindran Wang Kai Yuen	Uncontested
Cheng San GRC	5	103,323		People's Action Party	Heng Chiang Meng Lee Yock Suan Michael Lim Yeo Guat Kwang Zainul Abidin Rasheed	53,553	54.82
				Workers' Party	Abdul Rahim Bin Osman Huang Seow Kwang J. B. Jeyaretnam Tan Bin Seng Tang Liang Hong	44,132	45.18
Chua Chu Kang SMC	1	24,074		People's Action Party	Low Seow Chay	14,141	61.92
				National Solidarity Party	Yip Yew Weng	5,040	22.07
				Independent	Chia Shi Teck	3,210	14.06
				Democratic Progressive Party	Tan Soo Phuan	445	1.95
East Coast GRC	6	142,201		People's Action Party	Abdullah Tarmugi Chan Soo Sen Chew Heng Ching Chng Hee Kok S. Jayakumar Tan Soo Khoon	Uncontested
Hong Kah GRC	5	125,452		People's Action Party	John Chen Kenneth Chen Peter Chen Min Liang Harun Abdul Ghani Yeo Cheow Tong	82,182	69.00
				National Solidarity Party	Steve Chia Patrick Kee Tan Chee Kien Wong Wee Nam Yadzeth Bin Hairis	36,920	31.00
Hougang SMC	1	24,423		Workers' Party	Low Thia Khiang	13,458	58.02
				People's Action Party	Heng Chee How	9,736	41.98
Jalan Besar GRC	4	71,922		People's Action Party	Choo Wee Khiang Lee Boon Yang Peh Chin Hua Yaacob Ibrahim	44,840	67.55
				Singapore Democratic Party	David Chew Gandhi Ambalam Jufrie Mahmood Low Yong Nguan	21,537	32.45
Kampong Glam SMC	1	20,044		People's Action Party	Loh Meng See	13,446	74.52
				Democratic Progressive Party	Tan Lead Shake	4,598	25.48
Kreta Ayer-Tanglin GRC	4	75,126		People's Action Party	Richard Hu Lew Syn Pau Lily Neo R. Sinnakaruppan	Uncontested
MacPherson SMC	1	20,734		People's Action Party	Matthias Yao	12,546	65.14
				Singapore Democratic Party	Chee Soon Juan	6,713	34.86
Marine Parade GRC	6	142,106		People's Action Party	Goh Chok Tong Goh Choon Kang Lim Hwee Hua Mohamad Maidin B P M Othman Haron Eusofe Eugene Yap	Uncontested
Nee Soon Central SMC	1	26,257		People's Action Party	Ong Ah Heng	15,214	61.33
				Singapore Democratic Party	Cheo Chai Chen	9,591	38.67
Pasir Ris GRC	4	85,908		People's Action Party	Ahmad Mohamed Magad Charles Chong Ong Kian Min Teo Chee Hean	56,907	70.86
				Workers' Party	A. Balakrishnan A. Rahim Lim Chiu Liang Sim Say Chuan	23,404	29.14
Potong Pasir SMC	1	18,759		Singapore People's Party	Chiam See Tong	9,709	55.15
				People's Action Party	Gan Lai Chiang	7,895	44.85
Sembawang GRC	6	154,402		People's Action Party	Chin Tet Yung Hawazi Daipi Ho Peng Kee K. Shanmugam Tony Tan Teo Ho Pin	Uncontested
Tampines GRC	4	94,476		People's Action Party	Aline Wong Mah Bow Tan Sin Boon Ann Yatiman Yusof	Uncontested
Tanjong Pagar GRC	6	141,520		People's Action Party	Chay Wai Chuen Koo Tsai Kee Lee Kuan Yew Lim Swee Say Ow Chin Hock S. Vasoo	Uncontested
West Coast GRC	4	74,022		People's Action Party	Bernard Chen Lim Hng Kiang S. Iswaran Wan Soon Bee	48,275	70.14
				Workers' Party	Mike Chan Anthony D'Cruz John Gan Ng Teck Siong	20,550	29.86
Source: ELD

Aftermath

With the Housing Development Board (public housing) upgrading scheme dangled as a pricy stake for voters, PAP reversed its electoral decline for the first time in four elections with an increase of four percentage points, and it was the first election since 1963 to wrestle back two of four opposition wards (namely Bukit Gombak and Nee Soon Central) which was previously captured in the last election; due to Chiam's defection to SPP, SDP failed to win any seats and no longer have any seat representation since 1984; till this day SDP had never won any seats as of the 2020 election.

With the election of two opposition MPs (SPP's Chiam and WP's assistant secretary-general Low Thia Khiang), one Non-Constituency Member of Parliament seat was offered to the WP team of Cheng San Group Representation Constituency with the best-performing losing opposition team, which scored 45.2%; WP accepted the offer and elected secretary-general Jeyaretnam as the NCMP, making his return to the Parliament since 1986.

In June 1997, when Nominated MPs were re-appointed, the number was increased from six to nine. On 6 September 1999, the 9th Parliament was relocated to the New Parliament House located within the Civic District facing North Bridge Road, while the former Parliament House was closed until it reopened on 26 March 2004, in which it was renamed to The Arts House.

Tang Liang Hong's self-imposed exile

Main article: Tang Liang Hong

After the election, WP candidate for Cheng San Group Representation Constituency, Tang Liang Hong was sued for defamation by several of the PAP's leaders, including then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, then-Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and then-Deputy Prime Ministers Lee Hsien Loong and Tony Tan, who accused him of making statements during the campaign which falsely questioned their integrity. A total of 13 judgements were entered against Tang for defamation.

Tang left Singapore shortly after the election and eventually found refuge in Australia.

External links

• Official elections webpage – Elections Department Singapore
• Singapore-elections – a comprehensive archive of elections results, as well as past ones

Official websites of political parties

• National Solidarity Party Archived 9 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine
• People's Action Party, Manifesto (PDF)
• Singapore Malay National Organisation, (Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura)
• Singapore Democratic Party, Manifesto
• Singapore People's Party, Manifesto
• Workers' Party of Singapore, Manifesto 2006