Cheng San Group Representation Constituency

Cheng San
Cheng San
Former Group Representation constituency; for the Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC

Cheng San Group Representation Constituency (

Punggol New Town

.

History

The GRC was formed in 1988, and absorbed the constituencies of Cheng San, Chong Boon and

Elections Department.^[1]

Due to the unclear separation of power between the

Opposition has often criticised the absorption of Cheng San GRC as gerrymandering on the part of the ruling party.^{[citation needed}

]

1997 general election

Cheng San GRC became the hotspot constituency during the 1997 General Elections. The People's Action Party team led by the then-Minister for Education

Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, and Tang Liang Hong, a senior lawyer

.

Having been automatically 're-elected' due to walkovers in their own constituencies, then-

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.^{[citation needed}

]

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.^{[citation needed]}

On Polling Day, several former PAP ministers, including Goh Chok Tong, Tony Tan and Lee Hsien Loong 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, as unauthorised personnel are prohibited from polling stations by election law to prevent undue influence and harassment on voters and staff. The Workers' Party's candidates filed police reports,^[2] citing the violation of two sections of the Parliamentary Elections Act:

Section 82(1)(d): "No person shall wait outside any polling station on polling day, except for the purpose of gaining entry to the polling station to cast his vote".
Section 82(1)(e): "No person shall loiter in any street or public place within a radius of 200 metres of any polling station on polling day."

Their complaints were not prosecuted by the police, on the advice of the

Attorney-General Chan Sek Keong.^[3] The Attorney-General, in his letter to the Minister of Law, interpreted the statute as being irrelevant to people within the polling station, and that remaining within the polling station itself, as opposed to being within a perimeter of 200 meters from the external walls of the polling station, was not an offence.^[4] He added that "the possibility of a person inside a polling station influencing or intimidating voters in the presence of the presiding officer and his officials, the polling agents etc was considered so remote that it was discounted by the Act."^[5]

The WP then questioned if the AG was suggesting that it was acceptable for people to enter and loiter on the grounds of the polling station instead of outside the station.[6] Later, the Workers' Party renewed its call for a multi-party Election Commission to ensure fair play in the conduct of Parliamentary elections.

WP 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. Cheng San GRC ceased to exist in the next election and thus was redrawn into several neighbouring constituencies.^[7]

Members of Parliament

Election	Division	Incumbent	Party
Formation
1988	Cheng San Chong Boon Jalan Kayu	Lee Yock Suan Sitaram Chandra Das Heng Chiang Meng		PAP
1991	Cheng San Chong Boon Jalan Kayu Punggol	Lee Yock Suan Sitaram Chandra Das Heng Chiang Meng Michael Lim Chun Leng
1997	Cheng San Jalan Kayu Punggol Central Punggol East Punggol South	Lee Yock Suan Heng Chiang Meng Michael Lim Chun Leng Zainul Abidin Bin Mohamed Rasheed Yeo Guat Kwang

Electoral results

Elections in 1980s

General Election 1988: Cheng San GRC
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	PAP	Lee Yock Suan Sitaram Chandra Das Heng Chiang Meng	Walkover
Turnout			59,186	N/A
	PAP win (new seat)

Elections in 1990s

General Election 1991: Cheng San GRC
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Lee Yock Suan Sitaram Chandra Das Heng Chiang Meng Michael Lim	54,963	64.1	N/A
	NSP	Pok Lee Chuen Chng Chin Siah Gertrude Magdeline De Gracias Chng Wee Hong	30,849	35.9	N/A
Turnout			88,676	95.4
	PAP hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1997: Cheng San GRC
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Lee Yock Suan Yeo Guat Kwang Zainul Abidin bin Mohamed Rasheed Heng Chiang Meng Michael Lim	53,553	54.8	-9.3
	WP	Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam Tang Liang Hong Tan Bin Seng Huang Seow Kwang Abdul Rahim bin Osman	44,132	45.2	N/A
Turnout			99,497	96.3	+0.9
	PAP hold		Swing	N/A

References

^ "The Closest Fights". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
^ "WP lodges police complaint against ministers' presence". The Straits Times. 1997-01-07.
^ "Waiting, loitering in poll station not an offence: A-G". The Straits Times. 1997-07-31.
^ "Unauthorised persons inside polling stations: Attorney General's letter". www.singapore-window.org. 1997-07-21. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
^ "written opinion - Presence of Unauthorised Persons Inside Polling Stations, Appendix (Cols. 1417 - 1424)". sprs.parl.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 2017-08-15. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
^ "WP asks Public Prosecutor to explain stand on PAP men at polling station". The Straits Times. 1997-07-15. Archived from the original on 2012-10-05. Alt URL
^ Wee, Desmond (2001-10-18). "Why Cheng San is no more". The Straits Times.