By Chew Hui Min, The Straits Times, 12 Sep 2015
The People's Action Party (PAP) has won all but one of the 16 Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) this election.
The ruling party improved on its result in all constituencies, with its closest win in East Coast GRC still a comfortable 60.7 per cent.
All in, PAP MPs will fill 83 of the 89 seats in the next Parliament.
The Workers' Party (WP) retained Aljunied GRC, but with a far slimmer vote margin than in 2011. The WP retains six seats in Parliament - five in Aljunied GRC and one in Hougang SMC.
In Aljunied GRC, the WP team of party chief Low Thia Khiang, chairman Sylvia Lim, Mr Chen Show Mao, Mr Pritam Singh and Mr Faisal Abdul Manap won with just 50.95 per cent of the vote against a PAP team comprising Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, Mr Victor Lye, Mr K. Muralidharan, Mr Chua Eng Leong and Mr Shamsul Kamar.
The PAP team polled 49.05 per cent.
The margin is 2,612 votes.
In the last election in 2011, WP wrested Aljunied from PAP with 54.7 per cent of the vote.
The votes for the opposition-held ward came in at only 3.10am after a recount requested by the PAP team. Recounts are permitted only if thedifference in votes is equal to or less than 2 per cent of the total number of valid votes cast.
The 15 GRCs won by the PAP are Ang Mo Kio, Bishan-Toa Payoh, Chua Chu Kang, East Coast, Holland-Bukit Timah, Jalan Besar, Jurong, Marine Parade, Marsiling-Yew Tee, Nee Soon, Pasir Ris-Punggol, Sembawang, Tanjong Pagar, Tampines, West Coast.
Jurong GRC, helmed by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, garnered the highest vote share of 79.3 per cent against a Singaporeans First (SingFirst) team.
DPM Tharman's team, which also comprised Ang Wei Neng, Desmond Lee, Rahayu Mahzam, Tan Wu Meng, got 95,080 of the votes. The SingFirst team of Tan Peng Ann, David Foo, Sukdeu Singh, Wong Chee Wai and Wong Soon Hong got 24,848 or 20.7 per cent of the votes.
Five GRCs scored above 75 per cent - Jurong, Ang Mo Kio, West Coast, Tanjong Pagar and Chua Chu Kang.
The second highest PAP win among the GRCs, against a Refom Party team, was 78.6 per cent in Ang Mo Kio. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's constituency saw the PAP's largest win in the 2011 election with a 69.3 per cent vote share.
Its 2015 poll result improved upon that by 9.3 percentage points.
Jurong GRC, which polled 67 per cent in 2011, saw a 12.3 percentage point swing towards the PAP this election.
The largest vote swing was in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, where PAP won with 73.6 per cent - 16.7 percentage points more than the 2011 result of 56.9 per cent.
The PAP Bishan-Toa Payoh team of Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, Senior Minister of State Josephine Teo as well as new faces Chee Hong Tat, Chong Kee Hiong and Saktiandi Supaat beat the Singapore People's Party team of Mr Law Kim Hwee, Mr Bryan Long, Mr Abdillah Zamzuri, Mr Hamim Aliyas and Mr Benjamin Pwee, which polled 26.4 per cent.
In all, nine GRCs polled above 70 per cent, and six won with more than 60 per cent of the vote. The GRCs that won with less than 70 per cent were contested by the WP and the Singapore Democratic Party.
In the GRC with the narrowest win, East Coast, the PAP team led by Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say, won with 60.7 per cent against a WP team led by Non-Constituency MP Gerald Giam in what had been touted to be a close contest.
The PAP team, which also included Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman and Ms Jessica Tan, got 54,981 of the votes. The WP team of Mr Giam, Mr Daniel Goh, Mr Mohamed Fairoz Shariff and Mr Leon Perera got 35,547, or 39.3 per cent, of the votes.
Workers' Party squeaks through in Aljunied GRC
Narrow victory comes after a nail-biting wait - and recount requested by PAP team; chief Low Thia Khiang says party ran a good campaign
By Aaron Low, Deputy News Editor, Rachel Au-Yong and Pearl Lee, The Straits Times, 12 Sep 2015
What was supposed to be an easy win for the Workers' Party (WP) in Aljunied GRC in this general election turned out to be a knife-edge battle for survival.
The People's Action Party (PAP) team pushed the WP "A" team to the wire, as voters turned out in huge numbers for the ruling party all across the island.
In the end, the WP led by party chief Low Thia Khiang, 59, retained Aljunied against a tide of white, winning the GRC with a slim 50.95 per cent of votes cast, a drop of 3.77 percentage points from its winning share in 2011.
The race for Aljunied was the closest for the night and saw the PAP team asking for a recount as the difference in the margin was less than 2 percentage points.
"Despite the swing, we withstood the swing": The Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang on retaining Aljunied GRC. #GE2015 bit.ly/ge2015results
Posted by Channel NewsAsia Singapore on Friday, September 11, 2015
But the WP team, also including party chairman Sylvia Lim, 50, Mr Pritam Singh, 39, Mr Chen Show Mao, 54, and Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap, 40, did just enough to hold off a challenge by the men in white led by four-term MP Yeo Guat Kwang.
A sober-looking Mr Low said that the WP had run a good campaign and that he was satisfied with the performance of its candidates in the face of a huge national swing to the PAP.
"Yes, unfortunately we lost Punggol East, but that's elections. You win, you lose, that's part and parcel of life," he said. "If you look at the result, it's a massive swing. The WP has done pretty well."
He also congratulated the PAP on winning a strong mandate and securing its fourth-generation leadership.
"But what I wanted to remind the PAP is to build trust with the people and the national institutions. These national institutions include the civil service, the judiciary and the mainstream media," he said.
The PAP team comprising Mr Yeo, insurance firm director Victor Lye, 53, senior bank officer Chua Eng Leong, 44, former teacher Shamsul Kamar, 43, and lawyer K. Muralidharan Pillai, 47, was dubbed by some as a "suicide squad", up against the WP heavyweights who made history in 2011 when they won the opposition's first GRC.
"It's time for us to reflect and review": People's Action Party's Yeo Guat Kwang, after the party's Aljunied GRC team was edged out by The Workers' Party. bit.ly/ge2015results
Posted by Channel NewsAsia Singapore on Friday, September 11, 2015
But at several points throughout last night, it seemed as though Aljunied GRC could return to the PAP.
News of big PAP wins elsewhere started to worry WP activists as early as 9pm, who were also hearing that their support was dropping across the five Aljunied GRC wards.
WP heavyweights Ms Lim and Mr Chen lost their wards to their PAP counterparts but big wins from Mr Faisal's and Mr Singh's wards managed to tip the GRC over to the WP.
Party sources said that Ms Lim lost her ward by just 100 votes.
But Mr Singh won his ward with a share of about 55 per cent, while Mr Faisal took over 1,000 more votes than his rival in Kaki Bukit. Mr Low also won in Bedok Reservoir by about more than 1,000 votes.
The WP's poor performance was a huge turnaround from 2011, when it won all the five wards in Aljunied. That led to the exit of two PAP Cabinet ministers - then Foreign Minister George Yeo and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Hwee Hua.
WP activists last night were at a loss for words, saying that all indicators on the ground had pointed to a comfortable victory for the party in their stronghold.
One insider said: "All the signs were positive for a strong performance. No one can explain the results right now, we'll have to really analyse what happened."
Some WP supporters attributed the drop in support to the financial status of Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council, which had become a major issue during the campaign.
The PAP said the WP had mismanaged the town council, pointing to its questionable finances.
But WP leaders shot back, saying that there was no wrongdoing, with Mr Low declaring at one point that "I would be serving time if I was corrupt".
Mr Jay Tan, 28, a bank worker, said: "I'm surprised. You get the impression that support for the WP is good from rallies and social media. I think the town council issue worked to PAP's favour."
The PAP team, on the other hand, were triumphant in their defeat.
Former Cabinet minister Lim Boon Heng, who advised Aljunied team, said: "A heavyweight team against a team of rookies. I think we didn't do too badly."
PAP's big wins - Ang Mo Kio GRC
PM Lee leads team to resounding victory
They garner 78.63 per cent of the vote, scoring among the highest nationwide
By Lee Su Shyan, Business Editor, Karamjit Kaur, Aviation Correspondent and Kok Xing Hui, The Straits Times, 12 Sep 2015
The Ang Mo Kio GRC team led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong turned in a thumping win with 78.63 per cent of the vote, among the highest nationwide.
The result for the People's Action Party (PAP) team was also a strong 9.3 percentage point increase from the 69.33 per cent it garnered four years ago, when it faced a team from the Reform Party too.
Mr Lee arrived at Toa Payoh Stadium around midnight for the results, accompanied by his wife Ho Ching.
In his victory speech, Mr Lee, 63, thanked supporters for the resounding mandate. Beaming broadly, Mr Lee told them: "We are very grateful, we are very happy, we are very humbled by this result. We look forward to working with you, to make Ang Mo Kio a better place, to live, work and play. Tomorrow will be better than today. SG100 will be better than SG50."
GE2015 Lee Hsien Loong on Ang Mo Kio GRC
"We are grateful, we are very happy, but at the same time we are very humbled by the trust which you have put in us, by the responsibility which we have taken on to serve you, to represent you and to look after your interests”: PM Lee Hsien Loong on his team's Ang Mo Kio GRC win.LIVE UPDATES: bit.ly/ge2015resultsWATCH LIVE: http://sgvotes.sg
Posted by Channel NewsAsia Singapore on Friday, September 11, 2015
Enthusiastic supporters later lifted the Prime Minister and carried him on their shoulders around the stadium to non-stop cheers.
His team included Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar, 39, Mr Ang Hin Kee, 49, and Mr Gan Thiam Poh, 51. New faces on the Ang Mo Kio PAP team were Mr Darryl David, 44, and colorectal surgeon Koh Poh Koon, 43.
Dr Koh, who had contested and lost the 2013 Punggol East by-election, said: "It's an awesome responsibility. It's a mandate to serve and to contribute."
After the sample count showed that the Reform Party had secured only 22 per cent of the vote, PAP's Mr Ang said he was "quietly confident" that they would improve on their 2011 performance.
The six-member Reform Party team was led by lawyer M. Ravi, 46, blogger Roy Ngerng, 34, career counsellor Gilbert Goh, 54, entrepreneur Osman Sulaiman, 40, former banker Jesse Loo, 52, and media trainer Siva Chandran, 31.
Team leader Mr Ravi was not seen all night, while the team members dispersed even before the results were officially announced. Mr Loo attributed the team's "poor" performance to the feel-good vibes from the SG50 celebrations, the change in the electoral boundaries and the presence of new citizens in Fernvale, for example.
Mr Ngerng, who was sued for defamation by Mr Lee last year, said: "To the new Government, I hope that they will continue to put CPF and population issues as the key issues on the table and to debate them vigorously to ensure that Singaporeans are able to get back their CPF or to ensure that the returns are good enough."
PAP supporter Mohd Rafiq, 61, who was cheering the result at Toa Payoh stadium, said: "I am very happy with the big win. Going into the election, we were a bit worried it would be 50/50, but I guess Singaporeans have shown where their support lies."
Yesterday's election was Mr Lee's fifth contest since he entered politics in 1984. He won his Teck Ghee ward twice, in 1984 and 1988, when it was a single seat. In 1991, the ward was absorbed into Ang Mo Kio GRC, which was uncontested until 2006.
TAKING SINGAPORE FORWARD
We are humbled by your trust in us and we are humbled by your trust in PM Lee and the whole PAP team to take Singapore forward to a better future. There's a lot of work ahead, a lot of work ahead in Jurong, a lot of work ahead wherever we are in Singapore, a lot of work ahead to help every young child to have the best chance in life regardless of who their parents are, a lot of work ahead to help our mid-career Singaporeans whatever jobs they do, to have good careers and on a level playing field, and a lot of work ahead, a lot of work ahead to help our seniors, our seniors who built up Singapore to live satisfying and dignified lives in their retirement. This is PM Lee's plan for Singapore.We are humbled by voters' trust in us and faith in our plans and we'll work very hard to take it forward.How do we take it forward? By continuing to listen, by being open to all ideas, by checking ourselves when we make mistakes and correcting them as well as we can and to be Singaporeans together.''
- DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM, addressing supporters at Jurong West Stadium after his Jurong GRC team achieved the biggest win in this election
West turns into a fortress for PAP
By Abdul Hafiz, Assistant News Editor, Charissa Yong, Jacqueline Woo, Sanjay Nair, Adrian Lim and Wong Wei Han, The Straits Times, 12 Sep 2015
The west, a stronghold for the politicians in white, turned into a fortress for the People's Action Party (PAP) yesterday, delivering huge wins to faces familiar and new.
Topping the victory chart was the five-member Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC), which handed Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his team a whopping 79.3 per cent of the votes. The challengers from SingFirst, a party formed last year, got 20.7 per cent.
In the 2011 General Election, Mr Tharman's group got the second- best GRC result with 67 per cent, behind the Ang Mo Kio team led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. This time, with newcomers lawyer Rahayu Mahzam and oncologist Tan Wu Meng, it is No. 1.
GE2015 Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Jurong GRC
“Thank you for giving us a chance to continue to serve you with all our hearts. We are humbled by your trust in us and we are humbled by your trust in PM Lee and the whole PAP team to take Singapore forward to a better future. There’s a lot of work ahead wherever we are in Singapore”: DPM Tharman on Jurong GRC win. #GE2015LIVE UPDATES: bit.ly/ge2015resultsWATCH LIVE: http://sgvotes.sg
Posted by Channel NewsAsia Singapore on Friday, September 11, 2015
Mr Tharman, who is also Finance Minister and into his fourth term as an MP for Jurong GRC, told The Straits Times: "This election has shown Singaporeans are fair-minded and vote based on reason."
To cheering supporters at Jurong West Stadium, he said there is a lot of work ahead "to help every young child to have the best chance in life regardless of who their parents are... to help our mid-career Singaporeans whatever jobs they do, to have good careers and on a level playing field, and a lot of work ahead to help our seniors who built up Singapore to live satisfying and dignified lives in their retirement".
Veteran politician Lim Hng Kiang also more than defended his seat in the four-member West Coast GRC, which he has held since 1997.
The Minister for Trade and Industry, whose team includes Mr S. Iswaran, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, scored 78.6 per cent against the Reform Party's A-team led by its chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam. It got a resounding swing of 12 percentage points from 2011.
Also winning with proportions in the 70s were PAP's teams in Chua Chu Kang, Bishan-Toa Payoh, Pasir Ris-Punggol, Sembawang and Tampines.
Celebrations were coupled with a mood of humility, pledges to tackle key issues hand-in-hand with the people and to continue working for those who did not vote for the incumbents, and in time win them over.
Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, whose five-man team at Bishan- Toa Payoh GRC included three new faces, beat Singapore People's Party with 73.6 per cent of the votes. It marked a 16.7 percentage-point shift - the night's biggest swing.
He described the overall national swing as very special, coming in the country's Golden Jubilee. "But my first response when looking at the results is that I'm greatly humbled."
With the overwhelming trust Singaporeans have shown in PAP, "we have a great responsibility to ensure we don't abuse it".
Asked if the town council saga involving the Workers' Party had a key role to play in the swing towards PAP, Dr Ng said he will leave that to the political analysts but added: "My own reading is Singaporeans want political leaders - of all parties - to uphold high standards."
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong took his four-member Chua Chu Kang GRC team to a 76.9 per cent vote share, routing the People's Power Party.
This is more than 15 percentage points above 2011's 61.2.
Speaking to his party's supporters at Jurong West Stadium, he said: "For those who did not support us, we will continue to engage you and win you over. We will move forward as one community, one big family."
Mr Gan told The Straits Times that the swing towards the ruling party showed Singaporeans understand what is good for the nation.
But the growing complaints on the ground about immigration and Central Provident Fund are not lost on the PAP.
"Over the last few years, we have worked hard to engage the population through many platforms,'' he said, and pledged: "That is something we will continue to do - to be on the ground, and get the people's feedback on our policies."
National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan, the anchor for Sembawang GRC where the team got 72.3 per cent of the votes against the National Solidarity Party (NSP), had described this election as a turning point.
The choice before people, he said, was whether to "continue with sound politics, good leadership, and one united people".
With the PAP returned with a strong mandate, Mr Khaw predicts even better years ahead.
"It's very humbling and satisfying to get such a strong mandate from our residents," said Pasir Ris-Punggol MP Teo Ser Luck, whose white shirt was soaked in sweat from shuttling between counting centres.
GE2015 Teo Chee Hean on Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC
“We will work with you whether you have voted for us or not and hope that we will be able to win you over”: DPM Teo Chee Hean on PAP’s Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC win. #GE2015LIVE UPDATES: bit.ly/ge2015resultsWATCH LIVE: http://sgvotes.sg
Posted by Channel NewsAsia Singapore on Friday, September 11, 2015
Led by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, the incumbents bagged 72.9 per cent against the Singapore Democratic Alliance, up more than eight percentage points.
Raising a pumped fist at Bedok Stadium, he promised to work for every resident "whether you voted for us or not".
The Tampines GRC team led by Education Minister Heng Swee Keat got 72.1 per cent to beat the NSP, a near-15 percentage point jump. With confirmation of the win, came hugs and selfie requests from supporters.
Still, Mr Heng did not want to celebrate too much, reiterating the call made by his PAP colleagues: "There's much work ahead."
OFFICIAL RESULTS: People's Action Party wins Tanjong Pagar GRC with 78% of the vote. #GE2015 LIVE UPDATES: bit.ly/ge2015resultsWATCH LIVE: http://sgvotes.sg
Posted by Channel NewsAsia Singapore on Friday, September 11, 2015
PAP’s big wins:Tanjong Pagar GRC
'We did Mr Lee Kuan Yew proud' PAP's big wins
LKY legacy, candidates' calibre and relatively weak challenge helped PAP team win big
By Aw Cheng Wei, Chua Siang Yee and Rachel Chang, Assistant Political Editor, The Straits Times, 12 Sep 2015
They may have gone 24 years without voting, but Tanjong Pagar residents left no doubt last night as to where their allegiance lay.
With the resounding mandate of 77.71 per cent for the People's Action Party (PAP) slate, voters of the five-member group representation constituency (GRC) proved once and for all that the constituency may have been untested ground, but it is rock solid PAP territory.
The margin of victory, against a challenge from new opposition party Singaporeans First (SingFirst), almost reached the electoral heights that founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Tanjong Pagar's MP for 60 years until his death in March, regularly polled in the 1970s and 1980s.
"I think we did LKY proud," said retiree Kun Kay Hong, 74, a PAP volunteer in the GRC. "If he was around, I think he would have been very proud of the margin. This win is for him - without him, there would be no Singapore."
Besides Mr Lee's enduring legacy, residents and observers pointed to two other factors that worked to the PAP team's favour: the calibre of the PAP candidates and the relatively weak challenge from a fledgling opposition party.
GE2015: Chan Chun Sing on Tanjong Pagar GRC
“Our forefathers have given us a strong foundation, we, as the younger generation, have every determination to treasure that foundation, build on that foundation, and build a better home for everyone in Tanjong Pagar and Singapore”: Chan Chun Sing on PAP’s Tanjong Pagar GRC win. LIVE UPDATES: bit.ly/ge2015resultsWATCH LIVE: http://sgvotes.sg
Posted by Channel NewsAsia Singapore on Friday, September 11, 2015
The winning PAP team comprises labour chief Chan Chun Sing, Senior Minister of State for Education and Law Indranee Rajah, surgeon Chia Shi-Lu and two rookies, former public servant Joan Pereira and retired police assistant commissioner Melvin Yong. Mr Chan and Ms Indranee are seen as key members of the PAP's fourth-generation political leadership.
Walkovers since 1991 had not stopped the PAP MPs and activists from diligently working the ground, said residents.
A Tanjong Pagar resident, who wanted to be known only as Mr Lau, said: "I think it's a deserved win because the candidates are hard-working and down-to-earth."
The 37-year-old lawyer added: "They are there all the time."
Emotions ran high in the PAP camp after news of the landslide victory. Ms Indranee, who was tearful onstage at Toa Payoh Stadium, told supporters the team would "honour the legacy of Tanjong Pagar and what it means."
"You have put your faith and confidence in us," she said. "We will not fail you."
Explaining her tears, she told reporters later that "it's like we've come full circle". "Fifty years ago, the people put their faith in the PAP to give them a brighter future. Fifty years on, they have done the same."
Mr Chan said that Singapore's forefathers have given the current generation a strong foundation.
"We have every determination to make sure we treasure that foundation and build a better home for Tanjong Pagar and Singapore."
He told reporters later that the high vote share "encourages us, as it shows that we have gotten our priorities right".
He added: "As long as we focus on residents and their welfare, I think the residents will take care of the (elections) result for us."
In the SingFirst camp, disappointment and disillusionment marked the night. The opposition slate was led by former presidential candidate Tan Jee Say and included retired army colonel Ang Yong Guan, media consultant Fahmi Rais, sales executive Melvyn Chiu Weng Hoe and risk manager Chirag Desai.
"We have done so much but the results don't reflect the effort and resources (we) put in," said Mr Tan.
"Our efforts didn't seem to add to the basic percentage (vote share) that is given to parties who don't do a lot. Why?
"What is it that people want?"
Asked if their controversial statements against foreigners - such as Mr Tan's lament on McDonald's deliverymen being Chinese nationals instead of local Malays - had lost them votes, he said: "We have always said that foreigners play an important role, so I don't think that the public thinks that we are anti-foreigner."
Bittersweet win at Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC for Madam Halimah
By Abdul Hafiz, Assistant News Editor, Adrian Lim, Toh Yong Chuan, Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh and Salma Khalik, Senior Health Correspondent, The Straits Times, 12 Sep 2015
GE2015 Halimah Yacob on Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC
“This is a sweet moment for us and for me particularly, but it is also a sad moment, because as you know, my mother passed away this morning. And it has been tough and difficult journey for me over the last one week or so because she was very ill, but thank you very much for supporting us in this journey”: Halimah Yacob following PAP’s victory in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC. #GE2015 LIVE UPDATES: bit.ly/ge2015resultsWATCH LIVE: http://sgvotes.sg
Posted by Channel NewsAsia Singapore on Friday, September 11, 2015
For Madam Halimah Yacob, last night's victory in the new Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency (GRC) filled her with mixed emotions. Just hours earlier, she had buried the woman she wanted most by her side.
Her 90-year-old mother, Madam Maimun Abdullah, died yesterday morning after having been in the hospital for the past week.
"I'm of course feeling happy but very very sad as well," she told The Straits Times early this morning after co-leading her four-member team to a 68.7 per cent share of the votes ahead of the Singapore Democratic Party. "My mother occupies a large part of my life, since my father died when I was eight years old and she brought me up. And she was my main motivator and supporter. I was hoping she could at least make it until today, but she didn't make it."
Asked about the past nine days of campaigning, she said "its been extremely tough".
"I leave home in the morning at 7am, and I finish at 11-something and then have to go to the hospital. Yesterday was very good - I managed to spend the whole day with her, and perhaps that was why she decided it was time for her to go."
Her team's co-leader Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong paid tribute to her dedication during a trying week, and the trust the voters of Marsiling-Yew Tee had placed in them.
The GRC, the only completely new electoral division in this election, was created in response to an influx of new Housing Board flats in the north of Singapore.
It took in about 61,000 voters from Sembawang GRC's Marsiling and Woodgrove wards, and another 46,000 voters from Chua Chu Kang GRC's Yew Tee ward.
The other two members of PAP's team were familiar to residents. Mr Alex Yam was MP for Yew Tee ward in Chua Chu Kang GRC, while Mr Ong Teng Koon was MP for Woodgrove in Sembawang GRC.
"Both Madam Halimah and myself came in about just a month before the election. We have not had a long runway to build relationships with the residents," said Mr Wong. He and Madam Halimah moved from West Coast GRC and Jurong GRC respectively. "So given the circumstances of contesting in a new GRC and the two of us coming in new, I would say we are very happy and very humbled by the mandate the residents have given us. We will work hard to serve residents and realise and fulfil the plans that we've laid out in our manifesto."
Law Minister K. Shanmugam, whose team claimed 66.8 per cent of the vote in five-member Nee Soon GRC against a Workers' Party challenge, said it was difficult to attribute PAP's big win to any single factor. But he believes the popularity of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the Government seen as doing its best helped.
"It shows Singaporeans as being united in their support": People's Action Party's K Shanmugam on his team retaining their Nee Soon GRC seats. bit.ly/ge2015results
Posted by Channel NewsAsia Singapore on Friday, September 11, 2015
The PAP also cruised into a relatively comfortable victory at Jalan Besar GRC, winning 67.7 per cent of the votes against the WP. The result was an improvement from 2011, where the PAP team won 58.6 per cent of the votes in the GRC's predecessor Moulmein-Kallang GRC, also against a WP team.
A jubilant Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, the ward's anchor minister, told The Straits Times that the win was due to both the PAP working hard on the ground to improve the lives of residents and an overall improvement in public sentiment towards the party. "In 2011, you felt the tension - doors open, it was not pleasant. Now people are warmer," said the Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs.
Cleaner Ong Chin Kwee, who turned up at the Bedok Stadium to support the Jalan Besar team, said he was not surprised by the result. "The PAP has taken better care of lower-income and older voters like me in the last few years," said the 65-year-old .
The GRC has a larger lower-income base, with significant rental housing and a higher-than-average proportion of voters in one- to three-room flats.
Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Heng Chee How, part of the winning Jalan Besar team, said that work to serve residents will begin immediately. He told The Straits Times: "I am holding my Meet-the-People session on Monday."
East Coast GRC
The fierce battleground that wasn't
PAP beats Workers' Party team in East Coast GRC with 60.7% of votes cast
By Li Xueying, Hong Kong Correspondent and Wong Siew Ying, The Straits Times, 12 Sep 2015
At 9.30pm, Mr Lee Yi Shyan was on his way to yet another counting centre when he received a call from Mr Lim Swee Say, asking him to join him at the Bedok branch of the People's Action Party (PAP) instead.
There, the two men settled down in front of the television to watch the news coverage of the election.
"It's more comfortable," Mr Lim told The Straits Times with a smile.
That the anchor minister of the PAP slate in East Coast GRC could relax in front of the TV instead of anxiously going from one counting centre to another on Polling Night, was a sign of just how his team's margin was shaping up.
In the end, East Coast GRC was the fierce battleground that wasn't.
The PAP team won handily over its Workers' Party rivals, with 60.7 per cent of the votes cast, a six percentage-point improvement over its performance in 2011.
"We promise to improve and do better next time": People's Action Party's Lim Swee Say, after his East Coast GRC team won. bit.ly/ge2015results
Posted by Channel NewsAsia Singapore on Friday, September 11, 2015
Expectations had been that East Coast GRC, bordering the WP-held Aljunied GRC and the most narrowly won GRC for the PAP in 2011, would see a tight race.
Sensing vulnerability, the WP put forward a slate that was touted to be its next generation of leaders.
Mr Gerald Giam, 37, an IT solutions architect; Mr Leon Perera, 44, a research and consultancy firm chief executive; Dr Daniel Goh, 42, a sociologist at the National University of Singapore; and Mr Mohamed Fairoz Shariff, 36, a former librarian, were the fresh faces also given the high-profile role of drafting the party's election manifesto.
They arrived at Hougang Stadium last night, subdued. Some supporters sobbed. Others left, leaving the most loyal to fill less than half the space that had been packed during the rallies. "Most of us thought it was going to be a close fight, since the WP has put together a good team to stand here," said engineer Samuel Wong, 25, a Simei resident.
Mr Giam thanked the quiet crowd and promised to continue to fight on. He declined to say if he would take