1984 Singaporean general election
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79 (Only 49 contested) seats to the Parliament of Singapore 40 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Registered | 944,624 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 903,499 (95.65%) 0.15pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Singapore portal
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General elections were held in Singapore on 22 December 1984. President Devan Nair dissolved parliament on 4 December 1984 on the advice of Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The result was a victory for the People's Action Party, which won 77 of the 79 seats, marking the first time since 1963 that at least one opposition candidate was elected to parliament, although the first presence of opposition was in 1981.
Background[]
In his 1983 National Day Rally speech, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew lamented that declining birth rates and large number of graduate women remaining single or not marrying their intellectual equal could see Singapore's talent pool shrink. The PAP government then proceeded to launch the "Graduate Mothers' Scheme" to entice graduate women with incentives to get married and grant graduate mothers priority in the best schools for their third child.[1] The proposal was met with anger by the Singapore public (including many female graduates) and the PAP government drew accusations of elitism, and even eugenics. Notably, prominent PAP stalwarts like Deputy Prime Minister S. Rajaratnam and also ex-minister Toh Chin Chye expressed opposition to the proposal.[2][3]
In March 1984, Health Minister Howe Yoon Chong released a controversial proposal to raise the age for the withdrawal of Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings from 55 to 60 years. At a news conference on 26 March 1984, Howe reasoned that Singaporeans could not depend only on their children in their old age. That suggestion, part of the 54-page report of the Committee on the Problems of the Aged[4] which he chaired, was eventually dropped. Taking up the suggestions in the report, the Singapore Government subsequently introduced the Minimum Sum scheme. This allows workers to withdraw some of their CPF funds at age 55, setting aside a certain minimum sum which can only be withdrawn at retirement age, currently at 62 years.[5][6]
These controversial proposals sparked debate and uproar in the Singapore electorate and were said to have contributed to a big dip in PAP's support and its share of votes plunged by 12.9% to below 64.8%, the biggest fall and the lowest for PAP since the 1963 General Election (this remains the largest anti-PAP swing ever in a seriously contested general election as of 2020). In his memoirs, Lee Kuan Yew recalled that the swing against the PAP was larger than what he expected.
New candidates/outgoing incumbents[]
Minister of Finance Hon Sui Sen died during his term on 14 October 1983 and his seat of Havelock was vacated, but no by-election was held on the constituency, and announced to be merged into Delta constituency. Tony Tan succeeded Hon as the new Finance Minister.
PM Lee's son Lee Hsien Loong (who went on to become the nation's third (and current) Prime Minister) made his debut in the seat of Teck Ghee, while PAP stalwarts Dr Goh Keng Swee and Ong Pang Boon stepped down. In the only election among several preceding and succeeding ones, the election deposit ($1,500) remained unchanged. The Workers' Party of Singapore (WP) secretary-general J. B. Jeyaretnam successfully retained the Anson constituency with an increased majority, while the Singapore Democratic Party made its first in-road into Parliament with the victory of Chiam See Tong, who would serve the Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency for the next 26 years until 2011; this also began a continuing trend whereas three political parties were represented in Parliament (regardless of status as a NCMP or an elected MP) with the exception of 1986-88 (due to the disqualification of sole-WP candidate J. B. Jeyaretnam in 1986), and 2015-20 (all the nine minimum opposition seats were awarded to a single party of WP, with three being NCMPs).
Non-Constituency Member of Parliament scheme[]
A new Non-Constituency Member of Parliament scheme was introduced whereby between three and six seats, the exact number which was decided by the President of Singapore, would be offered to unsuccessful opposition candidates with the best scores and who garner at least 15% of the votes if any one party wins all the seats, subtracting one NCMP seat for every one opposition MP elected. Opposition parties dismissed the scheme for misleading voters into thinking that they could have opposition MPs without voting for them. M.P.D. Nair of WP who contested Jalan Kayu was the first to be offered but declined. The offer was then made to Singapore United Front's Tan Chee Kien who contested Kaki Bukit, who also declined, and no further offers were made.
Timeline[]
Date | Event |
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4 December | Dissolution of the 5th Parliament |
12 December | Nomination Day |
22 December | Polling day |
25 February 1985 | Opening of 6th Parliament |
Electoral boundaries[]
The newer constituencies are those with rapid developments of Ang Mo Kio, Tampines, Jurong East, Bedok & Jurong West (smaller developments), while other constituencies were dissolved, which was reflected in the table:
Constituency | Changes |
---|---|
New Constituencies | |
Bo Wen | Formed from Ang Mo Kio, Kebun Baru & Yio Chu Kang |
Changkat | Formed from Tampines & Kaki Bukit |
Eunos | Formed from Kaki Bukit & Tampines |
Fengshan | Formed from Bedok, Kampong Chai Chee & Tanah Merah |
Hong Kah | Formed from Boon Lay |
Teck Ghee | Formed from Ang Mo Kio & Chong Boon |
Yuhua | Formed from Boon Lay & Bukit Timah |
Defunct Constituencies | |
Bukit Ho Swee | Absorbed to Tiong Bahru and Kim Seng |
Havelock | Absorbed to Delta |
Katong | Absorbed to Joo Chiat and Mountbatten |
New/Outgoing MP[]
Outgoing MPs | New MPs |
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Retiring
Deceased
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^Note : A caret indicates that the constituency was removed and absorbed to other wards.
Results[]
Chua Chu Kang SMC United People's Front candidate Teo Kim Hoe who garnered only 196 votes, or 0.81% of the valid votes cast, set a worst-scoring result for any candidates in the history of the election until the 2013 by-election where Desmond Lim surpassed the record with 168 votes or 0.53% of the valid votes;[7] not counting by-elections, the record has also be broken by independent candidate Samir Salim Neji in the 2015 general election, with 150 votes or 0.60% of the valid votes.
Excluding the 30 uncontested constituencies, the voter turnout was 95.6%, with 63.2% of the total electorate casting their votes.[8]
Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
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People's Action Party | 568,310 | 64.83 | 77 | +2 | |
Workers' Party | 110,868 | 12.65 | 1 | +1 | |
Singapore United Front | 87,237 | 9.95 | 0 | 0 | |
Singapore Democratic Party | 32,102 | 3.66 | 1 | +1 | |
United People's Front | 27,217 | 3.10 | 0 | 0 | |
Barisan Sosialis | 24,212 | 2.76 | 0 | 0 | |
Singapore Justice Party | 10,906 | 1.24 | 0 | 0 | |
Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura | 4,768 | 0.54 | 0 | 0 | |
Angkatan Islam | 359 | 0.04 | 0 | New | |
Independents | 10,586 | 1.21 | 0 | New | |
Total | 876,565 | 100.00 | 79 | +4 | |
Valid votes | 876,565 | 97.08 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 26,394 | 2.92 | |||
Total votes | 902,959 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 1,495,389 | 60.38 | |||
Source: Singapore Elections[a] |
By constituency[]
Constituency | Electorate | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
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Alexandra | 19,670 | People's Action Party | Tan Soo Khoon | 12,172 | 66.79 / 100
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Workers' Party | 6,053 | 33.21 / 100
| |||
Aljunied | 19,045 | People's Action Party | Chin Harn Tong | Uncontested walkover | |
Ang Mo Kio | 14,633 | People's Action Party | 9,909 | 72.75 / 100
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United People's Front | 3,711 | 27.25 / 100
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Anson | 18,493 | Workers' Party | Joshua Benjamin Jeyaratnam | 9,909 | 56.81 / 100
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People's Action Party | Ng Pock Too | 7,533 | 43.19 / 100
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Ayer Rajah | 20,017 | People's Action Party | Tan Cheng Bock | 14,050 | 75.44 / 100
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Singapore Justice Party | 4,575 | 24.56 / 100
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Bedok | 17,074 | People's Action Party | Shunmugam Jayakumar | 10,972 | 68.95 / 100
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Singapore United Front | 4,941 | 31.05 / 100
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Bo Wen | 14,777 | People's Action Party | 10,299 | 74.70 / 100
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United People's Front | 3,488 | 25.30 / 100
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Boon Lay | 18,964 | People's Action Party | 12,490 | 69.65 / 100
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Singapore United Front | 5,443 | 30.35 / 100
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Boon Teck | 19,490 | People's Action Party | 10,224 | 56.16 / 100
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Barisan Sosialis | Lee Siew Choh | 7,982 | 43.84 / 100
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Braddell Heights | 14,152 | People's Action Party | Uncontested walkover | ||
Brickworks | 13,571 | People's Action Party | Ahmad bin Mohamed Mattar | 8,389 | 66.27 / 100
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Workers' Party | 4,270 | 33.73 / 100
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Bukit Batok | 20,812 | People's Action Party | 14,767 | 78.27 / 100
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United People's Front | 4,099 | 21.73 / 100
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Bukit Merah | 19,210 | People's Action Party | Uncontested walkover | ||
Bukit Panjang | 23,173 | People's Action Party | Uncontested walkover | ||
Bukit Timah | 17,238 | People's Action Party | Uncontested walkover | ||
Buona Vista | 18,041 | People's Action Party | Uncontested walkover | ||
Cairnhill | 15,862 | People's Action Party | Uncontested walkover | ||
Changi | 20,129 | People's Action Party | 12,195 | 65.75 / 100
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Singapore United Front | 6,353 | 34.25 / 100
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Changkat | 18,742 | People's Action Party | Aline Wong-Kan Lai Chung | 10,310 | 58.56 / 100
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Singapore Democratic Party | 7,297 | 41.44 / 100
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Cheng San | 17,328 | People's Action Party | Lee Yock Suan | Uncontested walkover | |
Chong Boon | 20,650 | People's Action Party | 11,058 | 56.02 / 100
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Singapore Democratic Party | 8,681 | 43.98 / 100
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Chua Chu Kang | 25,532 | People's Action Party | 13,254 | 54.84 / 100
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Workers' Party | 10,720 | 44.35 / 100
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United People's Front | (Loses $1,500 deposit) | 196 | 0.81 / 100
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Clementi | 20,890 | People's Action Party | Uncontested walkover | ||
Delta | 14,800 | People's Action Party | 7,987 | 58.72 / 100
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Workers' Party | 5,614 | 41.28 / 100
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Eunos | 17,615 | People's Action Party | Zulkifli bin Mohammed | 10,494 | 64.81 / 100
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Singapore United Front | 5,697 | 35.19 / 100
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Fengshan | 18,407 | People's Action Party | 11,216 | 65.13 / 100
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Singapore United Front | 6,005 | 34.87 / 100
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Geylang Serai | 24,109 | People's Action Party | 14,564 | 65.57 / 100
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Singapore United Front | 7,649 | 34.43 / 100
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Geylang West | 22,325 | People's Action Party | Teh Cheang Wan | 13,798 | 66.83 / 100
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Singapore United Front | 2,994 | 34.43 / 100
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Henderson | 17,630 | People's Action Party | 9,695 | 58.80 / 100
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Workers' Party | 6,793 | 41.20 / 100
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Hong Kah | 22,062 | People's Action Party | Yeo Cheow Tong | Uncontested walkover | |
Jalan Besar | 16,115 | People's Action Party | Lee Boon Yang | 9,236 | 64.43 / 100
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Workers' Party | 5,100 | 35.57 / 100
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Jalan Kayu | 25,011 | People's Action Party | 11,985 | 51.22 / 100
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Workers' Party | [b] | 11,414 | 48.78 / 100
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Joo Chiat | 18,957 | People's Action Party | Yeoh Ghim Seng | Uncontested walkover | |
Jurong | 24,517 | People's Action Party | Ho Kah Leong | Uncontested walkover | |
Kaki Bukit | 20,683 | People's Action Party | 10,229 | 52.28 / 100
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Singapore United Front | [c] | 9,336 | 47.72 / 100
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Kallang | 18,809 | People's Action Party | Suppiah Dhanabalan | 11,256 | 64.95 / 100
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Workers' Party | 6,075 | 35.05 / 100
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Kampong Chai Chee | 22,537 | People's Action Party | 12,125 | 57.16 / 100
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Singapore United Front | 9,087 | 42.84 / 100
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Kampong Glam | 18,127 | People's Action Party | Sinnathamby Rajaratnam | Uncontested walkover | |
Kampong Kembangan | 20,295 | People's Action Party | 10,326 | 55.71 / 100
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Workers' Party | Mohamed Jufrie bin Mahmood | 3,023 | 35.05 / 100
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Kampong Ubi | 14,323 | People's Action Party | 8,378 | 63.73 / 100
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Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura | 4,768 | 36.27 / 100
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Kebun Baru | 17,542 | People's Action Party | Lim Boon Heng | 12,311 | 75.84 / 100
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United People's Front | Harbans Singh | 3,921 | 24.16 / 100
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Khe Bong | 15,773 | People's Action Party | Tang Guan Seng | 9,221 | 62.53 / 100
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Barisan Sosialis | 5,525 | 37.47 / 100
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Kim Keat | 20,439 | People's Action Party | Ong Teng Cheong | Uncontested walkover | |
Kim Seng | 22,136 | People's Action Party | Yeo Ning Hong | Uncontested walkover | |
Kolam Ayer | 23,630 | People's Action Party | Sidek bin Saniff | 12,812 | 57.91 / 100
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Workers' Party | 9,311 | 42.09 / 100
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Kreta Ayer | 15,982 | People's Action Party | Hu Tsu Tau Richard | 11,083 | 83.17 / 100
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Independent | 2,242 | 16.83 / 100
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Kuo Chuan | 18,728 | People's Action Party | Wong Kan Seng | 11,162 | 64.55 / 100
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Barisan Sosialis | 6,129 | 35.45 / 100
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Leng Kee | 14,805 | People's Action Party | 9,190 | 66.84 / 100
| |
Workers' Party | 4,559 | 33.16 / 100
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MacPherson | 19,500 | People's Action Party | Chua Sian Chin | Uncontested walkover | |
Marine Parade | 23,622 | People's Action Party | Goh Chok Tong | 15,228 | 70.93 / 100
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Singapore United Front | 6,242 | 29.07 / 100
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Moulmein | 18,893 | People's Action Party | Uncontested walkover | ||
Mountbatten | 21,480 | People's Action Party | 16,077 | 81.32 / 100
| |
Independent | 3,692 | 18.68 / 100
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Nee Soon | 26,897 | People's Action Party | 18,444 | 74.24 / 100
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Singapore United Front | 6,401 | 25.76 / 100
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Pasir Panjang | 17,149 | People's Action Party | Abbas bin Abu Amin | 9,316 | 59.35 / 100
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Workers' Party | 6,022 | 38.36 / 100
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Angkatan Islam Singapura | (Loses $1,500 deposit) | 359 | 2.29 / 100
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Paya Lebar | 18,420 | People's Action Party | Uncontested walkover | ||
Potong Pasir | 17,915 | Singapore Democratic Party | Chiam See Tong | 10,128 | 60.28 / 100
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People's Action Party | Mah Bow Tan | 5,509 | 39.72 / 100
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Punggol | 24,727 | People's Action Party | 14,904 | 65.09 / 100
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Singapore United Front | 7,995 | 34.91 / 100
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Queenstown | 18,084 | People's Action Party | Jek Yeun Thong | Uncontested walkover | |
Radin Mas | 19,770 | People's Action Party | Chng Hee Kok | 9,997 | 53.78 / 100
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Workers' Party | 8,590 | 46.22 / 100
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River Valley | 13,481 | People's Action Party | Tay Eng Soon | Uncontested walkover | |
Rochore | 14,164 | People's Action Party | Toh Chin Chye | Uncontested walkover | |
Sembawang | 22,326 | People's Action Party | Tony Tan Keng Yam | 15,948 | 77.42 / 100
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Independent | 4,652 | 22.58 / 100
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Serangoon Gardens | 17,553 | People's Action Party | Uncontested walkover | ||
Siglap | 17,090 | People's Action Party | Abdullah bin Tarmugi | Uncontested walkover | |
Tampines | 19,656 | People's Action Party | Phua Bah Lee | 13,163 | 72.34 / 100
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United People's Front | 5,032 | 27.66 / 100
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Tanah Merah | 17,808 | People's Action Party | 11,093 | 68.08 / 100
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Singapore United Front | 5,201 | 31.92 / 100
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Tanglin | 15,990 | People's Action Party | Edmund William Barker | Uncontested walkover | |
Tanjong Pagar | 15,812 | People's Action Party | Lee Kuan Yew | Uncontested walkover | |
Teck Ghee | 16,866 | People's Action Party | Lee Hsien Loong | 12,794 | 80.38 / 100
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United People's Front | 3,123 | 19.62 / 100
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Telok Ayer | 13,984 | People's Action Party | Ong Pang Boon | Uncontested walkover | |
Telok Blangah | 19,550 | People's Action Party | 10,150 | 55.02 / 100
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Workers' Party | 8,299 | 44.98 / 100
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Thomson | 15,271 | People's Action Party | Uncontested walkover | ||
Tiong Bahru | 20,091 | People's Action Party | Uncontested walkover | ||
Toa Payoh | 14,177 | People's Action Party | 8,559 | 65.16 / 100
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Barisan Sosialis | 4,576 | 34.84 / 100
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Ulu Pandan | 22,761 | People's Action Party | Dixie Tan-Lee Mo Chun | Uncontested walkover | |
West Coast | 28,008 | People's Action Party | Wan Soon Bee | 19,745 | 75.72 / 100
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Singapore Justice Party | 6,331 | 24.28 / 100
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Whampoa | 18,494 | People's Action Party | Uncontested walkover | ||
Yio Chu Kang | 16,734 | People's Action Party | 11,977 | 76.66 / 100
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United People's Front | 3,647 | 23.34 / 100
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Yuhua | 16,266 | People's Action Party | Yu-Foo Yee Shoon | 9,551 | 61.43 / 100
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Singapore Democratic Party | 5,996 | 38.57 / 100
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Source: ELD |
Notes[]
References[]
- ^ "Policies for the bedroom and beyond". Today. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
- ^ "Policies for the bedroom and beyond". Today. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
- ^ "Reproductive Rights". AWARE. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
- ^ Committee on the Problems of the Aged (1984). Problems of the Aged : Report of the Committee on the Problems of the Aged. Singapore: Ministry of Health. ISBN 9971-88-022-9.
- ^ "Former Cabinet Minister Howe Yoon Chong dies at age 84". Channel NewsAsia. 21 August 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2007.
- ^ "Late Howe Yoon Chong cared deeply for country's development: PM Lee". Channel NewsAsia. 22 August 2007. Retrieved 23 August 2007.
- ^ Toh, Yong Chuan; Lim, Joyce (January 27, 2013). "SDA scores worst result in post-independence history". AsiaOne. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
- ^ Dieter Nohlen; Florian Grotz; Christof Hartmann (15 November 2001). Elections in Asia and the Pacific : A Data Handbook: Volume II: South East Asia, East Asia, and the South Pacific. OUP Oxford. p. 255. ISBN 978-0-19-924959-6.
- 1984 elections in Asia
- General elections in Singapore
- 1984 in Singapore