Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox constituency Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency is a four-member Group Representation Constituency composed of several city suburbs along with the Central Area of Singapore. The Jalan Besar GRC is the electoral division representing the largest area of the downtown city centre of Singapore, followed by Tanjong Pagar GRC. There are four wards in the GRC: Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng, Kolam Ayer, Whampoa and lastly Kampong Glam managed by Jalan Besar Town Council. The current Members of Parliament are Josephine Teo, Denise Phua, Wan Rizal and Shawn Loh from the People's Action Party (PAP).

History

It is named after Jalan Besar, a street in Singapore that forms this GRC's centrepiece. The street itself is within the Kallang planning area, Kallang itself being part of this GRC. The GRC encompasses several heritage areas, including Little India, Desker Road, Kolam Ayer and Crawford in the North. Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng itself includes the Singapore River, Chinatown and Bukit Ho Swee.

During 1988 general election, the three-member PAP team led by Lee Boon Yang won the election with 62.68% of the votes against the WP with 37.32% of the votes.

During 1997 general election, the four-member PAP team led by Lee won the election with 67.55% of the votes against the WP with 32.45% of the votes.

In 1999, Choo Wee Khiang was charged with cheating for issuing a false invoice from his company in November 1990 to Wong See Kee, Choo's brother-in-law. Choo resigned from PAP and Parliament before pleading guilty in court to a charge which was reduced from aggravated to simple cheating. Under the Singapore Law, an MP will lose their seat if they get a year of jail or more than a S$2,000 fine. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had said that Choo has done the right thing in resigning from the party and as an MP, before pleading guilty in court. Choo was sentenced to two weeks' jail and fined S$10,000.

During 2001 general election, the five-member PAP team led by Lee won the election with 74.49% of the votes against the SDA led by Desmond Lim with 25.51% of the votes.

During 2006 general election, the five-member PAP team led by Lee the election with 69.26% of the votes against the SDA with 30.74% of the votes.

Jalan Besar GRC was dissolved ahead of the 2011 elections and along with Moulmein from Tanjong Pagar GRC to form Moulmein–Kallang Group Representation Constituency while a majority of the Kreta Ayer–Kim Seng and Whampoa were redrawn into Tanjong Pagar GRC and as a SMC, respectively.

However, its GRC were again reformed one parliamentary term later in 2015 Singaporean general election, where changes made from a majority of the GRC were reversed, while the Jalan Besar division was dissolved into other wards.

In 2015 Singaporean general election, the four-member PAP team led by Lily Neo won the election with 67.75% of the votes while WP got 32.25% of the votes.

In 2020 general election, the four-member PAP team led by Josephine Teo won the election with 65.36% of the votes while the Peoples Voice led by Lim Tean obtained 34.64% of the votes.

On 17 April 2025, PAP announced Heng Chee How was to be replaced by Shawn Loh in the PAP team to contest the GRC for the 2025 general election.

Members of Parliament

Election	Division	Members of Parliament	Party
Formation
1988	Geylang West Jalan Besar Kolam Ayer	Peh Chin Hua Lee Boon Yang Sidek Saniff	rowspan="5" bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	PAP
1991	Geylang West Jalan Besar Kallang Kolam Ayer	Peh Chin Hua Lee Boon Yang Choo Wee Khiang Zulkifli bin Mohamed
1997	Geylang West Jalan Besar Kolam Ayer Whampoa	Peh Chin Hua Lee Boon Yang Yaacob Ibrahim Choo Wee Khiang (1997–19991)
2001	Jalan Besar Kampong Glam Kolam Ayer Kreta Ayer - Kim Seng Whampoa	Lee Boon Yang Loh Meng See Yaacob Ibrahim Lily Neo Heng Chee How
2006		Lee Boon Yang Denise Phua Yaacob Ibrahim Lily Neo Heng Chee How
Constituency abolished (2011–2015)
2015	Kampong Glam Kolam Ayer Kreta Ayer - Kim Seng Whampoa	Denise Phua Yaacob Ibrahim Lily Neo Heng Chee How	rowspan="3" bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	PAP
2020		Denise Phua Wan Rizal Josephine Teo Heng Chee How
2025		Denise Phua Wan Rizal Josephine Teo Shawn Loh

Template:Refbegin ^ Choo resigned before being charged and convicted in 1999 for cheating offences. However, no by-election was called on the ground since it was a Group Representation Constituency, and the workload for the Whampoa ward was distributed among the rest of the team.

Electoral results

Note : Elections Department Singapore do not include rejected votes for calculation of candidate's vote share. Hence, the total of all candidates' vote share will be 100%.

Elections in 1980s

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Elections in 1990s

Template:Election box winning candidate unopposed with party linkTemplate:Election box registered electors

General Election 1991: Jalan Besar GRC

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	hold

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box registered electors

General Election 1997: Jalan Besar GRC

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Gandhi Ambalam Jufrie Mahmood David Chew Low Yong Nguan	21,537	32.45
Majority			23,303	35.10
Turnout			66,377	92.29
	hold

Elections in 2000s

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box registered electors

General Election 2001: Jalan Besar GRC

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Desmond Lim Sin Kek Tong M Rahizan Reno Fong Ng Kee How	23,391	25.51
Majority			44,918	48.98
Turnout			91,700	91.45
	hold		Swing	Increase6.94

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box registered electors

General Election 2006: Jalan Besar GRC

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Cheo Chai Chen Sebastian Teo Reno Fong Muhammad Ali Aman Vincent Yeo	26,151	30.74
Majority			32,762	38.51
Turnout			85,064	91.50
	hold		Swing	Decrease5.23

Elections in 2010s

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Elections in 2020s

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box total validTemplate:Election box rejectedTemplate:Election box registered electors

General Election 2020

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Lim Tean Leong Sze Hian Nor Azlan Sulaiman Michael Fang Amin	34,261	34.64
Majority			30,370	30.72
Turnout			101,840	94.54
	hold		Swing	Decrease2.37

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box total validTemplate:Election box rejectedTemplate:Election box registered electors

General Election 2025

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Chiu Shin Kong Mohamad Hamim Aliyas Sarina Abu Hassan Vigneswari V Ramachandran	23,267	24.79
Majority			47,335	50.42
Turnout			97,218	91.42
	hold		Swing	Increase9.85

See also

• Jalan Besar SMC
• Moulmein–Kallang GRC