1988 Singaporean general election

1988 Singaporean general election

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All 81 directly elected seats in Parliament (and up to 3 NCMPs)
Registered	1,669,013 [a]
Turnout	94.70% ( 0.95pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Lee Kuan Yew J. B. Jeyaretnam Chiam See Tong Party PAP WP SDP Last election 64.83%, 77 seats 12.65%, 1 seat 3.66%, 1 seat Seats won 80 0+1 NCMP 1 Seat change 3 1 1 NCMP Popular vote 848,029 224,473 158,341 Percentage 63.17% 16.72% 11.80% Swing 1.66pp 4.07pp 8.14pp
Results by constituency
Prime Minister before election Lee Kuan Yew PAP Prime Minister after election Lee Kuan Yew PAP

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. This was the last time Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew led the PAP in an election.

Though the total eligible voter population surpassed one million in 1976, the 1988 elections was the first time that over one million voters were able to vote in contested constituencies. This was not repeated until 2006. It was also the first election where the eligible population contains voters born in post-independent Singapore, specifically those of Generation X.

Overview

In 1986, Town Councils were introduced, which also cumulates to the creation of Group Representation Constituencies, a plurality general ticket voting scheme, to ensure ethnic minority representation in Parliament, starting with three member constituencies. 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]

The Workers' Party 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 a single faction. On 6 March 1987, the National Solidarity Party was founded by former PAP member Kum Teng Hock and former SDP chairman Soon Kia Seng, the party's founding President and Secretary-General, respectively. ^[2] Midway into the term on 10 December 1986, WP's secretary-general J. B. Jeyaretnam lost his Anson SMC seat and was banned from standing in elections for a five year period for falsified declarations of party's accounts, with one count meeting the required threshold (of at least $2,000 or a year's imprisonment) for the disqualification to take effect. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

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

Date	Event
14 June	Publication of Electoral Boundaries report
17 August	Dissolution of 6th Parliament
24 August	Nomination Day
3 September	Polling Day
16 September [6]	Non-constituency Member of Parliament posts declared
9 January 1989	Opening of 7th Parliament

Electoral boundaries

See also: List of Singaporean electoral divisions (1988–91)

In addition to the creation of the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) scheme, 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:

Constituency	Changes
Formation of Group Representation Constituencies
Aljunied GRC	Formed from Aljunied, Kampong Kembangan and Kampong Ubi SMCs
Bedok GRC	Formed from Bedok, Kampong Chai Chee and Tanah Merah SMCs
Brickworks GRC	Formed from Alexandra, Brickworks and Queenstown SMCs
Cheng San GRC	Formed from Cheng San, Chong Boon and Jalan Kayu SMCs
Eunos GRC	Formed from Eunos, Kaki Bukit and a portion of Tampines SMCs (the latter was renamed to Tampines North)
Hong Kah GRC	Formed from parts of Bukit Batok (Hong Kah North), Hong Kah (Hong Kah Central) and Yuhua SMCs (Hong Kah South)
Jalan Besar GRC	Formed from Geylang West, Jalan Besar and Kolam Ayer SMCs.
Marine Parade GRC	Formed from Geylang Serai, Joo Chiat and Marine Parade SMCs.
Pasir Panjang GRC	Formed from Clementi, Pasir Panjang and West Coast SMCs.
Sembawang GRC	Formed from parts of Nee Soon (Chong Pang and Nee Soon East) and most of Sembawang SMCs Nee Soon Central and Nee Soon South were subsumed into its own SMCs
Tampines GRC	Formed from Changkat SMC and Tampines SMC (the latter was divided into Tampines Changkat, Tampines East and Tampines West)
Tiong Bahru GRC	Formed from Delta, Henderson, Tiong Bahru and Radin Mas SMCs; Delta was absorbed into Tiong Bahru division.
Toa Payoh GRC	Formed from Boon Teck, Khe Bong, Kuo Chuan and Toa Payoh SMCs; Khe Bong was absorbed into Boon Teck division.
New Single Member Constituencies
Bukit Gombak SMC	Carved out from Bukit Batok SMC
Hougang SMC	Carved out from Punggol SMC
Nee Soon Central SMC Nee Soon East SMC	Carved out from Nee Soon SMC
Defunct Single Member Constituencies
Anson SMC	Absorbed to Tanjong Pagar SMC
Bo Wen SMC	Absorbed to Ang Mo Kio SMC
River Valley SMC	Absorbed to Cairnhill SMC
Rochore SMC	Absorbed to Kampong Glam SMC
Telok Ayer SMC	Absorbed to Kreta Ayer SMC

New candidates

The election introduced certain prominent members such as George Yeo, K Shanmugam, Mah Bow Tan, as well as a future WP and opposition leader Low Thia Khiang, who made his debut in Tiong Bahru Group Representation Constituency.

• Abdul Nasser Kamaruddin
• Chay Wai Chuen
• Charles Chong
• Choo Wee Khiang
• Davinder Singh
• George Yeo Yong-Boon
• Hong Hai
• John Chen Seow Phun
• Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam
• Lew Syn Pau
• Loh Meng See
• Low Seow Chay
• Low Thia Khiang
• Mah Bow Tan
• Ong Chit Chung
• Peh Chin Hua
• Peter Sung
• Seet Ai Mee

Outgoing candidates

13 MPs retired ahead of the election per the party's renewal, which include Deputy Prime Minister Toh Chin Chye and Senior Minister S. Rajaratnam. Before that, two other MPs had vacated but neither by-elections are called, which were J. B. Jeyaretnam (Anson) and Minister Teh Cheang Wan (Geylang West).

Candidate	Age	Constituency	Since	Replacement
Ang Kok Peng	61	Buona Vista	1972	Peter Sung
Chai Chong Yii	53	Bukit Batok	1972	Ong Chit Chung
E. W. Barker	68	Tanglin	1959	Lew Syn Pau
Eric Cheong	58	Toa Payoh	1968	Davinder Singh
Fong Sip Chee	50	Kampong Chai Chee	1963	Hong Hai
Jek Yeun Thong	58	Queenstown	1968	Chay Wai Chuen
Lai Tha Chai	52	Henderson	1972	S Vasoo
Ong Pang Boon	58	Telok Ayer	1959	Merged into Kreta Ayer
Phua Bah Lee	56	Tampines	1968	Split into three different wards
S. Rajaratnam	73	Kampong Glam	1959	Loh Meng See
Tang See Chim	56	Chua Chu Kang	1966	Low Seow Chay
Toh Chin Chye	68	Rochor	1959	Merged into Kampong Glam
Yeo Choo Kok	52	Delta	1970	Merged into Kim Seng

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	People's Action Party	848,029	63.17	–1.66	80	+3
	Workers' Party	224,473	16.72	+8.14	1	0
	Singapore Democratic Party	158,341	11.80	+4.07	1	0
	National Solidarity Party	50,432	3.76	New	0	New
	United People's Front	17,282	1.29	–1.81	0	0
	Singapore Justice Party	14,660	1.09	–0.15	0	0
	Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	13,526	1.01	+0.47	0	0
	Angkatan Islam	280	0.02	–0.02	0	0
	Independents	15,412	1.15	–0.06	0	0
Total		1,342,435	100.00	–	82	+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	94.70
Source: Singapore Elections [b]

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.

By constituency

Constituency	Seats	Electorate	%		Candidates	Votes	%
Aljunied GRC	3	65,351		People's Action Party	Chin Harn Tong Wan Hussin B H Zoohri George Yeo	34,020	56.33
				Singapore Democratic Party	Jufrie Mahmood Neo Choon Aik Ashleigh Seow Chuan-Hock	26,375	43.67
Ang Mo Kio SMC	1	14,633		People's Action Party	Yeo Toon Chia	13,365	65.49
				National Solidarity Party	Ong Kah Seng	7,044	27.25
Ayer Rajah SMC	1	22,532		People's Action Party	Tan Cheng Bock	14,824	69.55
				Workers' Party	Tan Song Gek	6,489	30.45
Bedok GRC	3	54,969		People's Action Party	Hong Hai Ibrahim Othman S. Jayakumar	28,266	54.92
				Workers' Party	Gertrude De Gracias Saraswathy Murugason Seow Khee Leng	23,203	45.08
Boon Lay SMC	1	16,646		People's Action Party	Goh Chee Wee	11,317	71.97
				Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	Salleh Mohd Bawthan	4,408	28.03
Braddell Heights SMC	1	27,019		People's Action Party	Goh Choon Kang	14,862	58.80
				Singapore Democratic Party	Sin Kek Tong	10,412	41.20
Brickworks GRC	3	43,117		People's Action Party	Ahmad Mattar Chay Wai Chuen Tan Soo Khoon	26,870	67.43
				Workers' Party	J C Corera Goh Teng Hoon Ismail Yaacob	12,977	32.57
Bukit Batok SMC	1	24,138		People's Action Party	Ong Chit Chung	12,873	55.94
				Singapore Democratic Party	Kwan Yue Keng	10,139	44.06
Bukit Gombak SMC	1	25,221		People's Action Party	Seet Ai Mee	12,661	53.46
				Singapore Democratic Party	Ling How Doong	11,024	46.54
Bukit Merah SMC	1	14,723		People's Action Party	Lim Chee Onn	9,414	69.78
				Workers' Party	Pok Lee Chuen	4,077	30.22
Bukit Panjang SMC	1	33,824		People's Action Party	Lee Yiok Seng	18,314	57.28
				Singapore Democratic Party	Kwek Guan Kwee	9,864	30.86
				Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	Ibrahim Ariff	3,790	11.86
Bukit Timah SMC	1	20,222		People's Action Party	Wang Kai Yuen	Uncontested
Buona Vista SMC	1	15,850		People's Action Party	Peter Sung	8,859	61.76
				Singapore Democratic Party	Low Yong Nguan	5,037	35.11
				Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	Abdul Karim B Abdul Sattar	449	3.13
Cairnhill SMC	1	23,197		People's Action Party	Wong Kwei Cheong	12,779	63.98
				Singapore Democratic Party	Jimmy Tan Tiang Hoe	7,194	36.02
Changi SMC	1	17,145		People's Action Party	Teo Chong Tee	9,398	59.73
				Workers' Party	Chiam Yeow Juan	6,431	40.63
Cheng San GRC	3	56,352		People's Action Party	Lee Yock Suan Chandra Das S Heng Chiang Meng	Uncontested
Chua Chu Kang SMC	1	19,628		People's Action Party	Low Seow Chay	11,058	59.28
				Workers' Party	Goh Seng Soon	7,597	40.72
Eunos GRC	3	75,723		People's Action Party	Tay Eng Soon Chew Heng Ching Zulkifli Mohammed	36,500	50.89
				Workers' Party	Lee Siew Choh [c] Mohd Khalit B Md Baboo Francis Seow [d]	35,221	49.11
Fengshan SMC	1	17,389		People's Action Party	Arthur Beng Kian Lam	9,507	57.92
				Workers' Party	Chng Chin Siah	6,907	42.08
Hong Kah GRC	3	67,431		People's Action Party	A Nasser Kamaruddin John Chen Seow Phun Yeo Cheow Tong	Uncontested
Hougang SMC	1	21,703		People's Action Party	Tang Guan Seng	11,983	58.96
				Workers' Party	Lim Chiu Liang	8,342	41.04
Jalan Besar GRC	3	54,941		People's Action Party	Lee Boon Yang Peh Chin Hua Sidek Saniff	31,604	62.68
				Workers' Party	Edmund Richard Marsh Mohamed Bin Idris Toh Keng Thong	18,814	37.32
Jurong SMC	1	21,420		People's Action Party	Ho Kah Leong	14,769	75.17
				Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	Mohamed Awang	4,879	24.83
Kallang SMC	1	21,245		People's Action Party	S. Dhanabalan	13,097	66.13
				Workers' Party	A L Sundram	6,707	33.87
Kampong Glam SMC	1	21,773		People's Action Party	Loh Meng See	12,525	67.32
				Workers' Party	Frederick De Wind	5,800	31.87
				Angkatan Islam	M Sani Jan	280	1.51
Kebun Baru SMC	1	22,515		People's Action Party	Lim Boon Heng	15,734	75.36
				National Solidarity Party	Mohamed Affendy Bin Abdul Rahim	5,145	24.64
Kim Keat SMC	1	15,850		People's Action Party	Ong Teng Cheong	10,644	73.00
				Singapore Democratic Party	Md Shariff Bin Yahya	3,937	27.00
Kim Seng SMC	1	18,474		People's Action Party	Yeo Ning Hong	11,460	66.90
				Workers' Party	Chin Tian Choo	5,670	33.10
Kreta Ayer SMC	1	21,470		People's Action Party	Richard Hu	13,158	70.50
				Workers' Party	Loh Fook Cheong	5,507	29.50
Leng Kee SMC	1	21,964		People's Action Party	Ow Chin Hock	13,334	64.96
				Workers' Party	Chua Chwee Huat Peter	7,192	35.04
MacPherson SMC	1	17,063		People's Action Party	Chua Sian Chin	10,453	65.98
				National Solidarity Party	Kum Teng Hock	5,390	34.02
Marine Parade GRC	3	62,385		People's Action Party	Goh Chok Tong Choo Wee Khiang Othman Haron Eusofe	41,325	73.81
				Singapore Justice Party	A R Suib M Ramasamy Theng Chin Eng	14,660	26.19
Moulmein SMC	1	19,229		People's Action Party	Lawrence Sia	11,334	66.08
				Workers' Party	A Balakrishnan	5,817	33.92
Mountbatten SMC	1	17,747		People's Action Party	Eugene Yap Giau Cheng	12,712	78.15
				Independent	Chiam Pan Boon	3,554	21.85
Nee Soon Central SMC	1	24,403		People's Action Party	Ng Pock Too	13,396	57.61
				Singapore Democratic Party	Cheo Chai Chen	8,944	38.46
				United People's Front	Giam Lai Cheng	914	3.93
Nee Soon South SMC	1	22,542		People's Action Party	Koh Lip Lin	13,793	64.88
				Singapore Democratic Party	Yong Chu Leong	6,533	28.98
				United People's Front	Munjeet Singh	932	4.39
Pasir Panjang GRC	3	66,600		People's Action Party	Abbas Abu Amin Bernard Chen Tien Lap Wan Soon Bee	38,545	61.57
				Workers' Party	Gan Eng Guan Mohd Taib Sattar Wee Han Kim	24,059	38.43
Paya Lebar SMC	1	25,076		People's Action Party	Philip Tan Tee Yong	12,352	52.36
				Singapore Democratic Party	Chew David	11,240	47.64
Potong Pasir SMC	1	19,852		Singapore Democratic Party	Chiam See Tong	11,804	63.13
				People's Action Party	Kenneth Chen Koon Lap	6,893	36.87
Punggol SMC	1	31,577		People's Action Party	Ng Kah Ting	17,914	59.85
				Singapore Democratic Party	Abdul Rasheed Y. Abdul Kuthus	12,017	40.15
Sembawang GRC	3	55,633		People's Action Party	Tony Tan Charles Chong K. Shanmugam	36,154	70.08
				United People's Front	Ang Bee Lian Kasim Bin Ibrahim Harbans Singh	15,436	29.92
Serangoon Gardens SMC	1	24,831		People's Action Party	Lau Teik Soon	16,234	74.17
				Independent	Harry Baptist	5,654	25.83
Siglap SMC	1	18,650		People's Action Party	Abdullah Tarmugi	12,101	73.73
				Workers' Party	Chong Tung Shang	4,311	26.27
Tampines GRC	3	65,148		People's Action Party	Mah Bow Tan Aline Wong Yatiman Yusof	37,216	61.00
				National Solidarity Party	Abdul Malik Bin Ali Chan Yeng Cheong Lim Ah Yong	23,796	39.00
Tanglin SMC	1	17,497		People's Action Party	Lew Syn Pau	Uncontested
Tanjong Pagar SMC	1	19,041		People's Action Party	Lee Kuan Yew	14,043	81.60
				Independent	M G Guru	3,167	18.40
Teck Ghee SMC	1	15,510		People's Action Party	Lee Hsien Loong	11,512	79.13
				Independent	Patrick Leong S C	3,037	20.87
Telok Blangah SMC	1	18,609		People's Action Party	Koh Lam Son	11,160	64.21
				Workers' Party	Tan Soo Phuan	6,220	35.79
Thomson SMC	1	34,886		People's Action Party	Leong Horn Kee	21,514	67.01
				Singapore Democratic Party	Ng Teck Siong	10,590	32.99
Tiong Bahru GRC	3	58,898		People's Action Party	Chng Hee Kok Ch'ng Jit Koon S Vasoo	31,732	57.84
				Workers' Party	Low Thia Khiang Lim Lye Soon Gopalan Nair	23,132	42.16
Toa Payoh GRC	3	49,243		People's Action Party	Davinder Singh Ho Tat Kin Wong Kan Seng	Uncontested
Ulu Pandan SMC	1	23,587		People's Action Party	Dixie Tan	14,436	69.07
				Singapore Democratic Party	George Sita	6,466	30.93
Whampoa SMC	1	13,819		People's Action Party	Augustine Tan Hui Heng	7,522	59.47
				National Solidarity Party	Ken Sunn	5,126	40.53
Yio Chu Kang SMC	1	15,991		People's Action Party	Lau Ping Sum	10,996	73.67
				National Solidarity Party	Rasiah Thiagarajah	3,931	26.33
Yuhua SMC	1	19,190		People's Action Party	Yu-Foo Yee Shoon	11,497	62.96
				Singapore Democratic Party	Toh Kim Kiat	6,765	37.04
Source: ELD

Notes

1. Of which 1,449,838 were in contested constituencies
2. 219,175 of the 1,669,013 voters were registered in uncontested constituencies
3. Elected as NCMP on 16 September 1988.
4. Elected as NCMP on 16 September 1988 but lost his seat with effect from 17 December 1988 due to being convicted and fined for tax evasion.

References

1. Singapore Elections. "PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL ELECTION 1988". Archived from the original on 2 May 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
2. "New name for a new political party". The Straits Times . 1987-03-10. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
3. "Daylight mugging of the justice system". The Independent Singapore. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
4. "Jeya's disqualification came into effect on Nov 10". Business Times. 10 December 1986. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
5. Crossette, Barbara (16 November 1986). "OPPOSITION LEADER IN SINGAPORE JAILED AND LOSES HIS SEAT". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
6. National Library Board. "Francis Seow and Siew Choh made non-constituency MPs" . Retrieved 16 July 2020.