Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency

The Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency is a Single Member Constituency (SMC) in the central region of Singapore. It is managed by Jalan Besar Town Council. The current Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency is Alex Yeo from the People's Action Party (PAP).

History

Potong Pasir Constituency was created in 1968. It was held by the PAP for its first 16 years of existence.

In 1979, as part of the 7 by-elections that year, eventual MP Chiam See Tong contested in Potong Pasir as an independent candidate against PAP newcomer Howe Yoon Chong. After submitting his nomination papers for the by-election, Howe dismissed opposition candidates as "court jesters" who had arrived "to provide comic relief". Howe eventually beat Chiam with almost 67% of the votes to retain Potong Pasir for the PAP.

SDP era

Ahead of the 1980 general election held on 23 December 1980, Chiam founded the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) on 6 August 1980 and rematched against Howe in the constituency under the SDP banner. In an election rally, Howe disparaged Chiam on his professional competence and was subsequently sued by Chiam for defamation. In response, Howe offered compensation which Chiam accepted; leading to the lawsuit being dropped. Howe won again with a decreased 59.05% 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; PAP newcomer Mah Bow Tan was sent to contest it. In the lead-up to the election, then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew compared Chiam and Mah's GCE Ordinary Level 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%, and was elected as the MP for Potong Pasir Constituency.

In 1988, the constituency was renamed Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency with the creation of group representation constituencies (GRCs).

SPP era

In December 1996, when Parliament was dissolved ahead of the 1997 general election, Chiam left the SDP and joined the Singapore People's Party (SPP), formed from a pro-Chiam former SDP faction which had left in 1994. He assumed leadership and contested Potong Pasir SMC as the incumbent MP and SPP candidate. He became the first SPP MP after winning 55.15% of the vote against PAP candidate Andy Gan.

Post-SPP PAP era

In the 2011 Singaporean general election, Chiam did not contest his seat but led an ultimately defeated five-member team to contest the neighbouring Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC. His wife, Lina Loh, became the SPP candidate in the SMC and contested for the seat against Sitoh Yih Pin from the PAP. Loh lost the election on a marginal percentage of 0.72%. Being the best-performing defeated opposition candidate, she was offered the first of three non-constituency MP (NCMP) seats at the election and accepted it. While Chiam See Tong stated his opposition 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 claimed that she was "influenced by the wishes of Potong Pasir residents" and that she accepted the post as her losing margin was too small.

In the 2015 Singaporean general election, 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; in return, the SMC absorbed the Joo Seng and Woodleigh neighbourhoods from the neighbouring Geylang Serai division of Marine Parade GRC, to allow further development. Sitoh would defeat SPP candidate Jose Raymond with a vote count of 60.67% vs 39.33%, winning a third term as the incumbent MP for Potong Pasir.

On 11 March 2025, after population increase due to new developments in the Bidadari area under the SMC, the Elections Department Singapore returned part of the SMC to the new Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC, the successor to the now-defunct Marine Parade GRC, for the 2025 general election.

On 16 April, it was announced that Sitoh would retire from Parliament and that he would be replaced by Alex Yeo, the then-branch chair for the PAP in the Paya Lebar division of Aljunied GRC, held by the opposition Workers' Party (WP). On 22 April, SPP announced that party treasurer Williamson Lee would contest the constituency. On nomination day, Lim Tean, secretary-general of the coalition People's Alliance for Reform (PAR) and leader of constituent party Peoples Voice (PV), was also nominated to contest the constituency, resulting in a three-way fight between PAP, SPP and PAR. Yeo proceeded to win with 69.2% of the vote against Lee's 22.46% and Lim's 8.33%; Lim subsequently lost his electoral deposit for not winning at least 12.5% of the vote.

Member of Parliament

Year	Member	Party
Formation
1968	Sellappa Ramaswamy	rowspan="4" bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	PAP
1972	Baptist Ivan Cuthbert
1976
1979	Howe Yoon Chong
1984	Chiam See Tong	rowspan="3" bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	SDP
1988
1991
1997		bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	SPP
2001		rowspan="2" bgcolor=Template:Party color|	SDA
2006
2011	Sitoh Yih Pin	rowspan="4" bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	PAP
2015
2020
2025	Alex Yeo

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 1960s

Template:Election box winning candidate unopposed with party linkTemplate:Election box registered electors no changeTemplate:Election box new seat win

General Election 1968

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

Elections in 1970s

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

General Election 1972

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Rajaratnam Murugason	3,391	28.89
	UNF	Harnek Singh	573	4.89
Majority			4,381	37.33
Turnout			11,990	91.51
	hold		Swing	N/A

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

General Election 1976

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Quek Doh Lam	3,252	25.17
Majority			6,415	49.66
Turnout			13,255	93.56
	hold		Swing	Increase8.6

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

By Election 1979

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Chiam See Tong	4,491	33.1
Majority			4,565	33.7
Turnout			13,845	94.2
	hold		Swing	Decrease7.9

Elections in 1980s

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General Election 1980

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Howe Yoon Chong	5,509	59.0
		Chiam See Tong	3,821	41.0
Majority			1,688	18.0
Turnout			9,486	94.2
	hold		Swing	Decrease7.9

Template:Election box total validTemplate:Election box rejectedTemplate:Election box registered electors

General Election 1984

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Chiam See Tong	10,128	60.3
		Mah Bow Tan	6,674	39.7
Majority			3,454	20.6
Turnout			17,078	95.3
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:If empty" |	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	Increase19.3

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

General Election 1988: Potong Pasir

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Kenneth Chen Koon Lap	6,893	36.9
Majority			4,911	26.2
Turnout			18,697	95.4
	hold		Swing	Increase2.8

Elections in 1990s

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General Election 1991: Potong Pasir

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Chiam See Tong	12,582	69.64
		Andy Gan	5,486	30.36
Majority			7,096	39.2
Turnout			18,325	95.1
	hold		Swing	Increase6.5

Template:Election box total validTemplate:Election box rejectedTemplate:Election box registered electors

General Election 1997: Potong Pasir

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Chiam See Tong	9,709	55.15
		Andy Gan	7,895	44.85
Majority			1,814	10.30
Turnout			17,884	95.1
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:If empty" |	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	Decrease14.4

Elections in 2000s

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General Election 2001: Potong Pasir

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Chiam See Tong	8,107	52.43
		Sitoh Yih Pin	7,356	47.57
Majority			751	4.8
Turnout			15,463	98.9
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:If empty" |	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	Decrease2.8

Template:Election box total validTemplate:Election box rejectedTemplate:Election box registered electors

General Election 2006: Potong Pasir

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Chiam See Tong	8,245	55.82
		Sitoh Yih Pin	6,527	44.18
Majority			1,718	11.6
Turnout			14,958	94.1
	hold		Swing	Increase3.4

Elections in 2010s

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General Election 2011: Potong Pasir

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Lina Chiam	7,880	49.65
Majority			110	0.7
Turnout			16,112	93.0
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:If empty" |	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	Increase6.2

Template:Election box total validTemplate:Election box rejectedTemplate:Election box Registered electors

General Election 2015

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Sitoh Yih Pin	10,581	66.41
		Lina Chiam	5,353	33.59
Majority			5,228	32.10
Turnout			16,158	92.82
	hold		Swing	Increase16.05

Elections in 2020s

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General Election 2020

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Jose Raymond	7,302	39.33
Majority			3,962	21.34
Turnout			18,845	95.51
	hold		Swing	Decrease5.74

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	%	±%
		Williamson Lee	6,261	22.46
		Lim Tean	2,323	8.33
Majority			13,027	46.74
Turnout			28,416	91.75
	hold		Swing	Increase8.53

References

• 2020 General Election's result
• 2011 General Election's result
• 2006 General Election's result
• 2001 General Election's result
• 1984 General Election's result
• 1980 General Election's result
• 1976 General Election's result
• 1972 General Election's result