General elections were held in Singapore on 3 November 2001 to elect all 84 members of Parliament. They were the eleventh general elections since the introduction of self-government in 1959 and the ninth since independence in 1965. The number of parliamentary seats increased from 83 to 84 following adjustments to electoral boundaries. With 55 seats won uncontested by the People's Action Party (PAP), the outcome of the elections was effectively determined before polling day for the third consecutive election.
This was Goh Chok Tong's last election as prime minister before he handed over to deputy prime ministerLee Hsien Loong, who is the son of Lee Kuan Yew, in 2004. Voter turnout in contested constituencies stood at 94.61%, slightly lower from the preceding general election. This election was the first in which the total eligible voter population exceeded 2 million, although only one third of them (675,306 of the 2,036,923 eligible voters) were able to vote due to the large number of walkovers. As of 2025, it remains the most recent general election in which the WP was not the leading opposition party represented in Parliament.
A seat in Jalan Besar GRC was vacated in 1999 following the conviction of People's Action Party (PAP) MP Choo Wee Khiang for cheating. However, no by-election was held, as the vacancy occurred within a group representation constituency (GRC). The responsibilities of Choo's division were instead redistributed among the remaining MPs in the GRC. Under Singapore law, a by-election can only be called in a GRC if all of its seats are vacated. The last instance of this occurring was the Marine Parade GRC by-election in 1992.
Global situation
The ruling PAP government led by prime minister Goh Chok Tong had initially planned to hold the election as scheduled in 2002. However, it was brought forward after Singapore experienced an economic slowdown linked to the lingering effects of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the dot-com bubble and the early 2000s recession, which were further worsened by the September 11 attacks in the United States. The 2001 election had the shortest election period in Singapore's history, lasting only 17 days from the release of the electoral boundaries report and the certification of the registers of electors towards polling day. Seeking to renew his mandate swiftly, Goh aimed to secure public confidence amid the downturn. The election deposit was also raised sharply by S$5,000 from $8,000 to $13,000, marking one of the largest increases to date.[1]
All but one of their contests were straight fights; the sole exception being Bukit Timah SMC, which saw the only three-cornered contest of the election involving the SDA and an independent candidate. According to the SDA, four other opposition parties declined invitations to join the coalition, including the more established Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and the Workers' Party (WP). The other two were the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Singapore National Front (SNF), the latter of which had not yet contested any election since its founding in 1991.
Former Workers' Party (WP) Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, who lost his seat in July 2001 after being declared bankrupt following defamation lawsuits filed by PAP leaders, resigned from the party citing disagreements with its current leadership. The party's only MP, Low Thia Khiang, subsequently assumed the position of secretary-general. On nomination day, the WP was successfully nominated in only two constituencies, Hougang SMC and Nee Soon East SMC.[2]
Its proposed team for Aljunied GRC, comprising chairman Tan Bin Seng, second vice-chairman Huang Seow Kwang (both of whom had contested in Cheng San GRC in 1997) and new members Abdul Rahim Abdul Rahman, James Gomez and Yaw Shin Leong, was disqualified for submitting incomplete nomination papers. Plans to contest in Ang Mo Kio GRC, East Coast GRC and Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC were also later withdrawn after the party's teams failed to appear at their respective nomination centres. Low described the Aljunied team's disqualification as an "oversight" and accepted responsibility for the error. The election marked the fewest number of seats contested by the WP in over three decades since the 1968 election, when the party also fielded candidates in only two constituencies during a period when most opposition parties boycotted the polls.[3]
Timeline
Date
Event
17 October
Publication of Electoral Boundaries report; Certification of Registers of Electors
The report of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) for the 2001 general election was published on 17 October 2001, only a day before the dissolution of Parliament. The 10th Parliament was to return 84 elected Members of Parliament, comprising nine single member constituencies (SMCs), nine five-member group representation constituencies (GRCs) and five six-member GRCs, with all previous four-member GRCs eliminated.
Absorbed the southern Punggol divisions from Cheng San GRC, and Lorong Halus area/Paya Lebar Air Base from Pasir Ris GRC Kampong Kembangan division was split into Aljunied-Kembangan and Kembangan-Punggol divisions (the latter absorbed with Punggol East from Cheng San GRC), while Punggol South division was renamed to Aljunied–Hougang Carved out Changi-Simei division to East Coast GRC and Aljunied division to Marine Parade GRC
Ward upsized to six members Absorbed Cheng San and Jalan Kayu divisions from Cheng San GRC Ang Mo Kio division was absorbed into Yio Chu Kang and Teck Ghee divisions
New Constituency Formed with Ulu Pandan, Bukit Panjang and Buona Vista divisions from Bukit Timah GRC, Sembawang GRC and Tanjong Pagar GRC, respectively Bukit Panjang divisions was split to include Cashew and Zhenghua divisions, while some of Zhenghua division was split from Tanglin division
Absorbed Bukit Gombak SMC, and a portion of Chua Chu Kang SMC (to form Keat Hong division) Carved out Hong Kah East division to Jurong GRC Hong Kah West was merged into Nanyang division
Ward upsized to five members Absorbed Kampong Glam SMC, Kreta Ayer and Kim Seng divisions (which would merge into Kreta Ayer–Kim Seng division) from Kreta Ayer–Tanglin GRC Geylang West division was absorbed into Kolam Ayer and Jalan Besar divisions
New Constituency Formed from a majority of Bukit Timah GRC (except for Bukit Timah division, which carved into SMC), and Hong Kah East division from Hong Kah GRC Jurong division was split into Pioneer and Taman Jurong divisions, while Bukit Batok East division was formed from portions of Bukit Batok, Bukit Gombak & Bukit Timah divisions
New Constituency Formed from Pasir Ris GRC (except for the Pasir Ris South division, which was absorbed into Tampines GRC) and northern Punggol divisions of Cheng San GRC (Punggol Central, North and South)
Carved out Nee Soon East division into SMC, and Bukit Panjang division into Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC Sembawang and Woodlands division were split to include Canberra and Admiralty divisions respectively
Absorbed Moulmein and Tanglin (renamed to Tanglin-Cairnhill) divisions from Kreta Ayer–Tanglin GRC Carved out Buona Vista division to Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC Leng Kee division was absorbed into Queenstown, Radin Mas and Tanglin-Cairnhill divisions
Ward upsized to five members Absorbed Boon Lay SMC and some of Bukit Timah GRC (Jurong, Joo Koon, Gul Circle and Tuas) Pasir Panjang division was dissolved into Telok Blangah and West Coast divisions
New and retiring candidates
A total of 40 candidates made their political debut in 2001, including 25 from the PAP. Notable newcomers included Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Halimah Yacob, both of whom would later serve as President of Singapore. Twenty-four incumbent MPs retired before the election was announced. Among the 15 new opposition candidates were Chee Siok Chin, sister of SDP leader Chee Soon Juan; Desmond Lim, who would later head the SDA; and Ooi Boon Ewe, who went on to become a perennial candidate in subsequent elections.
^ Richard Hu initially announced that he would seek another term in leading a team for the new Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC, but he changed his mind and was replaced by Gan Kim Yong.
Results
The PAP won a landslide victory, marking its best performance since 1980 and its third highest result since it first gained power in 1959. The PAP secured 75.29% of the vote, reflecting strong public support for its leadership during a period of global uncertainty and economic recession. However, this election also recorded the highest number of walkovers since 1968, reflecting the opposition's unwillingness to mount a serious challenge against the PAP that year. Chong Weng Chiew and Penny Low of the PAP became the first MPs born in post-independence Singapore.
At the time, political apathy among Singaporeans towards a stronger opposition presence in Parliament appeared to be high, with only 29 out of 84 seats contested and the opposition narrowly winning just two of them. While the opposition-held constituencies of Hougang and Potong Pasir from the previous election were retained, both saw reduced majorities, each garnering less than 55% of the vote for the WP and the SDA respectively. The outcome raised concerns that an all-PAP elected Parliament and an "opposition wipeout" for the first time since 1980, which was the PAP's justification of introducing the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) scheme in 1984, was a distinct possibility. With two opposition seats in Parliament, a NCMP seat was offered to and accepted by Steve Chia of the SDA, making him the first NCMP since the scheme's introduction to not be from the WP.
Two candidates, Tan Kim Chuang and Tan Lead Shake, forfeited their $13,000 election deposits. The latter was involved in a straight fight in which Tan Cheng Bock recorded the election's highest contested result of 87.96% in Ayer Rajah SMC. This was the last election to date in which a forfeiture occurred outside a multi-cornered contest, and also the final election until 24 years later in 2025 where the PAP achieved more than 80% of the vote in a single member constituency.[4][5]
During the campaigning period on 28 October, SDP leader Chee Soon Juan drew widespread public attention after an encounter with Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong at a hawker centre in Hong Kah. Using a megaphone, Chee shouted at Goh, "Where is the $17 billion that you have lent to Suharto?" Later that day at a election rally in Nee Soon Central, Chee referenced Lee Kuan Yew, who was serving as Senior Minister at the time. He concluded his speech with: "…I want to ask Mr Lee Kuan Yew … So Mr Lee Kuan Yew, I challenge you, tell us about the $17 billion you loaned to Suharto."
In the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Singapore provided substantial financial assistance to Indonesia through billions of dollars in loans to stabilise the struggling Indonesian economy, with the country also seeing increasing civil unrest. The Singaporean government considered these loans necessary, as an unstable Indonesia was viewed as potentially having serious negative repercussions for Singapore.[6]
Goh and Lee later filed defamation suits against Chee shortly after the election. Chee lost his appeals in 2003 and was ordered to pay damages of S$300,000 to Goh and S$200,000 to Lee. Ahead of the 2006 general election, Chee was declared bankrupt on 10 February, rendering him ineligible to contest. He eventually returned to electoral politics in 2015 after being discharged from bankruptcy in 2012.[7][8]
DPP's explusions
Following the election, the DPP announced the expulsion of Tan Soo Phuan and his son Tan Lead Shake from the party for breaching party directives. Tan Soo Phuan failed to inform the party of his decision to contest MacPherson SMC, while Tan Lead Shake ran in Ayer Rajah SMC instead of the designated Joo Chiat SMC.[9]
Notes
1 2 1,361,617 of the 2,036,923 voters were registered in uncontested constituencies, leaving 675,306 voters able to vote.
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