1988 Singaporean general election

1988 Singaporean general election

← 1984 3 September 1988 1991 →
81 seats (plus 2 NCMPs) to the Parliament of Singapore. Only 50 seats contested; 41 seats needed for a majority.
Turnout	94.7%
First party Second party   Leader Lee Kuan Yew Chiam See Tong Party PAP SDP Leader's seat Tanjong Pagar SMC Potong Pasir SMC Last election 77 seats, 64.8% 1 seat, 3.7% Seats won 80 1 Seat change 3 Popular vote 848,029 158,341 Percentage 63.2% 11.8% (total) / 39.5% (valid) Swing 1.6% 8.1%/6.6%
Results by constituency
Prime Minister before election Lee Kuan Yew PAP Prime Minister after election Lee Kuan Yew PAP

Politics of Singapore
Government Constitution of Singapore Law Human rights
Legislature Parliament Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin (PAP) Leader of the House Indranee Rajah (PAP) Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh (WP) 14th Parliament Constituencies
Executive President of Singapore Halimah Yacob (I) Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong (PAP) Cabinet Ministries
Judiciary Supreme Court of Singapore Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon Court of Appeal Chong Phang Prakash Tay High Court State Courts
Elections Presidential elections General elections
Singapore portal Other countries
v t

General elections were held in Singapore on 3 September 1988. President Wee Kim Wee dissolved parliament on 17 August 1988 on the advice of Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The result was a victory for the People's Action Party, which won 80 of the 81 seats.

Overview[]

Group Representation Constituencies were introduced in this general election to ensure ethnic minority representation in Parliament, starting with three joint constituencies. This was the last time Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew led the PAP in an election and another two stalwarts, former Deputy Prime Minister Dr Toh Chin Chye and Senior Minister S. Rajaratnam, retired for the PAP's renewal process.

This was also the first election where changes to electoral boundaries were approved by the Prime Minister's Office instead of tabling a bill in Parliament to approve changes.^[1]

Two seats were vacated in 1986 but neither held its by-elections - Workers' Party (WP) Member of Parliament and leader J. B. Jeyaretnam (of Anson) and PAP incumbent Teh Cheang Wan (of Geylang West), vacated its seats due to conviction over falsified party accounts, and suicide over investigations for corruption, respectively. WP absorbed the two parties, Barisan Sosialis (BS) and Singapore United Front to become the largest opposition party and also allied with the Malay party PKMS as one faction. The election also saw the debut of WP candidate Low Thia Khiang in Tiong Bahru Group Representation Constituency. While Low failed to capture a seat on his first outing, he would later go on to win Hougang Single Member Constituency in the next election and become the party's secretary-general as well as one of the longest-serving opposition leaders until 2020.

With the Singapore Democratic Party leader's Chiam See Tong sole victory in the seat of Potong Pasir, two Non-Constituency MP seats were offered to former solicitor-general and Law Society president, Francis Seow and veteran politician Dr Lee Siew Choh, both of which were standing under the WP ticket in Eunos Group Representation Constituency; their campaign was notable for criticizing PAP for alleged dubious financial circumstances; in response Minister of State Tay Eng Soon went to lead their PAP team for Eunos. Despite losing by a narrow margin of 49.1%-50.9%, WP were eligible for the NCMP; however, Seow fled the country on 17 December to avoid arrest and was disqualified from the post while Lee took up the offer and became Singapore's first NCMP, marking Lee's return to Parliament after 25 years since his last stint as a PAP and BS legislator. Once again, there was a significant increase of election deposit.

In November 1990, two years after the election, the Nominated MP scheme was implemented to introduce non-partisan voices into the legislature. Although the law allowed up to six NMPs, two were appointed at the start and served for a year before the Parliament term ended.

Timeline[]

Electoral boundaries[]

1988 was the first election in Singapore's history to introduce the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) scheme, which were formed with series of three (later elections increases up to six) constituencies/divisions with at least one minority member representing to ensure ethnic minority representation in Parliament, thus cumulating the effects with Plurality-at-large voting. Additionally, single member constituencies (SMC) were either formed from or absorbed to neighboring constituencies due to development and electorate, which was shown in the table below:

New candidates[]

• Chay Wai Chuen
• Charles Chong
• Choo Wee Khiang
• George Yeo Yong Boon
• K Shanmugam
• Lew Syn Pau
• Ong Chit Chung
• Peh Chin Hua
• Seet Ai Mee

Retiring candidates[]

Results[]

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	People's Action Party	848,029	63.17	80	+3
	Workers' Party	224,473	16.72	0	–1
	Singapore Democratic Party	158,341	11.80	1	0
	National Solidarity Party	50,432	3.76	0	New
	United People's Front	17,282	1.29	0	0
	Singapore Justice Party	14,660	1.09	0	0
	Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	13,526	1.01	0	0
	Angkatan Islam	280	0.02	0	0
	Independents	15,412	1.15	0	0
Total		1,342,435	100.00	81	+2
Valid votes		1,342,435	97.77
Invalid/blank votes		30,629	2.23
Total votes		1,373,064	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,669,013	82.27
Source: Singapore Elections[a]

By constituency[]

Constituency	Seats	Electorate	Party	Candidates	Votes	%
Aljunied GRC	3	65,351	People's Action Party	Chin Harn Tong George Yeo	34,020	56.33 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party	Mohamed Jufrie B Mahmood	26,375	43.67 / 100
Ang Mo Kio SMC	1	14,633	People's Action Party		13,365	65.49 / 100
			National Solidarity Party		7,044	27.25 / 100
Ayer Rajah SMC	1	22,532	People's Action Party	Tan Cheng Bock	14,824	69.55 / 100
			Workers' Party		6,489	30.45 / 100
Bedok GRC	3	54,969	People's Action Party	S. Jayakumar	28,266	54.92 / 100
			Workers' Party		23,203	45.08 / 100
Boon Lay SMC	1	16,646	People's Action Party		11,317	71.97 / 100
			Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura		4,408	28.03 / 100
Braddell Heights SMC	1	27,019	People's Action Party		14,862	58.80 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party	Sin Kek Tong	10,412	41.20 / 100
Brickworks GRC	3	43,117	People's Action Party	Ahmad Mattar Chay Wai Chuen Tan Soo Khoon	26,870	67.43 / 100
			Workers' Party	Ismail Yaacob	12,977	32.57 / 100
Bukit Batok SMC	1	24,138	People's Action Party	Ong Chit Chung	12,873	55.94 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party		10,139	44.06 / 100
Bukit Gombak SMC	1	25,221	People's Action Party	Seet Ai Mee	12,661	53.46 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party	Ling How Doong	11,024	46.54 / 100
Bukit Merah SMC	1	14,723	People's Action Party		9,414	69.78 / 100
			Workers' Party		4,077	30.22 / 100
Bukit Panjang SMC	1	33,824	People's Action Party		18,314	57.28 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party		9,864	30.86 / 100
			Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	(Loses $4,000 deposit)	3,790	11.86 / 100
Bukit Timah SMC	1	20,222	People's Action Party		Uncontested walkover
Buona Vista SMC	1	15,850	People's Action Party		8,859	61.76 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party		5,037	35.11 / 100
			Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	(Loses $4,000 deposit)	449	3.13 / 100
Cairnhill SMC	1	23,197	People's Action Party		12,779	63.98 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party		7,194	36.02 / 100
Changi SMC	1	17,145	People's Action Party		9,398	59.37 / 100
			Workers' Party		6,431	40.63 / 100
Cheng San GRC	3	56,352	People's Action Party	Lee Yock Suan	Uncontested walkover
Chua Chu Kang SMC	1	19,628	People's Action Party		11,058	59.28 / 100
			Workers' Party		7,597	40.72 / 100
Eunos GRC	3	75,723	People's Action Party	Tay Eng Soon Zulkifli Mohammed	36,500	50.89 / 100
			Workers' Party	Lee Siew Choh[b] Francis Seow[c]	35,221	49.11 / 100
Fengshan SMC	1	17,389	People's Action Party		9,507	57.92 / 100
			Workers' Party		6,907	42.08 / 100
Hong Kah GRC	3	67,431	People's Action Party	Yeo Cheow Tong	Uncontested walkover
Hougang SMC	1	21,703	People's Action Party	Tang Guan Seng	11,983	58.96 / 100
			Workers' Party		8,342	41.04 / 100
Jalan Besar GRC	3	54,941	People's Action Party	Lee Boon Yang Peh Chin Hua Sidek Bin Saniff	31,604	62.68 / 100
			Workers' Party		18,814	37.32 / 100
Jurong SMC	1	21,420	People's Action Party	Ho Kah Leong	14,769	75.17 / 100
			Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura		4,879	24.83 / 100
Kallang SMC	1	21,245	People's Action Party	S. Dhanabalan	13,097	66.13 / 100
			Workers' Party		6,707	33.87 / 100
Kampong Glam SMC	1	21,773	People's Action Party		12,525	67.32 / 100
			Workers' Party		5,800	31.87 / 100
				(Loses $4,000 deposit)	280	1.51 / 100
Kebun Baru SMC	1	22,515	People's Action Party	Lim Boon Heng	15,734	75.36 / 100
			National Solidarity Party		5,145	24.64 / 100
Kim Keat SMC	1	15,850	People's Action Party	Ong Teng Cheong	10,644	73.00 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party		3,937	27.00 / 100
Kim Seng SMC	1	18,474	People's Action Party	Yeo Ning Hong	11,460	66.90 / 100
			Workers' Party		5,670	33.10 / 100
Kreta Ayer SMC	1	21,470	People's Action Party	Hu Tsu Tau Richard	13,158	70.50 / 100
			Workers' Party		5,507	29.50 / 100
Leng Kee SMC	1	21,964	People's Action Party		13,334	64.96 / 100
			Workers' Party		7,192	35.04 / 100
MacPherson SMC	1	17,063	People's Action Party	Chua Sian Chin	10,453	65.98 / 100
			National Solidarity Party		5,390	34.02 / 100
Marine Parade GRC	3	62,385	People's Action Party	Choo Wee Khiang Goh Chok Tong	41,325	73.81 / 100
			Singapore Justice Party		14,660	26.19 / 100
Moulmein SMC	1	19,229	People's Action Party		11,334	66.08 / 100
			Workers' Party		5,817	33.92 / 100
Mountbatten SMC	1	17,747	People's Action Party		12,712	78.15 / 100
			Independent		3,554	21.85 / 100
Nee Soon Central SMC	1	24,403	People's Action Party	Ng Pock Too	13,396	57.61 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party	Cheo Chai Chen	8,944	38.46 / 100
			United People's Front	(Loses $4,000 deposit)	914	3.93 / 100
Nee Soon South SMC	1	22,542	People's Action Party		13,793	64.88 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party		6,533	30.73 / 100
			United People's Front	(Loses $4,000 deposit)	932	4.39 / 100
Pasir Panjang GRC	3	66,600	People's Action Party	Abbas Abu Amin Wan Soon Bee	38,545	61.57 / 100
			Workers' Party		24,059	38.43 / 100
Paya Lebar SMC	1	25,076	People's Action Party		12,352	52.36 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party		11,240	47.64 / 100
Potong Pasir SMC	1	19,852	Singapore Democratic Party	Chiam See Tong	11,804	63.13 / 100
			People's Action Party		6,893	36.87 / 100
Punggol SMC	1	31,577	People's Action Party		17,914	59.85 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party		12,017	40.15 / 100
Sembawang GRC	3	55,633	People's Action Party	Chong You Fook Charles K Shanmugam Tony Tan Keng Yam	36,154	70.08 / 100
			United People's Front	Harbans Singh	15,436	29.92 / 100
Serangoon Gardens SMC	1	24,831	People's Action Party		16,234	74.17 / 100
			Independent		5,654	25.83 / 100
Siglap SMC	1	18,650	People's Action Party	Abdullah bin Tarmugi	12,101	73.73 / 100
			Workers' Party		4,311	26.27 / 100
Tampines GRC	3	65,148	People's Action Party	Mah Bow Tan Aline Wong	37,216	61.00 / 100
			National Solidarity Party		23,796	39.00 / 100
Tanglin SMC	1	17,497	People's Action Party	Lew Syn Pau	Uncontested walkover
Tanjong Pagar SMC	1	19,041	People's Action Party	Lee Kuan Yew	14,043	81.60 / 100
			Independent		3,167	18.40 / 100
Teck Ghee SMC	1	15,510	People's Action Party	Lee Hsien Loong	11,512	79.13 / 100
			Independent		3,037	20.87 / 100
Telok Blangah SMC	1	18,609	People's Action Party		11,160	64.21 / 100
			Workers' Party		6,220	35.79 / 100
Thomson SMC	1	34,886	People's Action Party		21,514	67.01 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party		10,590	32.99 / 100
Tiong Bahru GRC	3	58,898	People's Action Party	Chng Hee Kok	31,732	57.84 / 100
			Workers' Party	Low Thia Khiang	23,132	42.16 / 100
Toa Payoh GRC	3	49,243	People's Action Party	Davinder Singh Wong Kan Seng	Uncontested walkover
Ulu Pandan SMC	1	23,587	People's Action Party		14,436	69.07 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party		6,466	30.93 / 100
Whampoa SMC	1	13,819	People's Action Party		7,522	59.47 / 100
			National Solidarity Party		5,126	40.53 / 100
Yio Chu Kang SMC	1	15,991	People's Action Party		10,996	73.67 / 100
			National Solidarity Party		3,931	26.33 / 100
Yuhua SMC	1	19,190	People's Action Party	Foo Yee Shoon	11,497	62.96 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party		6,765	37.04 / 100
Source: ELD

Notes[]

References[]