Hougang Single Member Constituency

Hougang
Single Member Constituency
for the Parliament of Singapore
Region Northeastern Singapore
Electorate 24,097
Current constituency
Created 1988
Member(s) Png Eng Huat
Town Council Aljunied-Hougang

Hougang Single Member Constituency (Chinese: 后港单选区; Malay: Kawasan Undi Perseorangan Hougang; Tamil: ஹவ்காங் தனித்தொகுதி) is a Single Member Constituency Consisting of Hougang Aves 2,5,7 and Hougang Central (Blks 830-853) located in the north-eastern area of Singapore. It is surrounded by Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the south and east, and Ang Mo Kio GRC in the west. It is currently held by Mr Png Eng Huat, MP from the Workers' Party (WP).

The constituency was formed in 1988 by carving out of Punggol and was barely held by the People's Action Party (PAP) for 3 years. During the 1991 General Elections, the ruling PAP lost the seat to the now secretary-general of the opposition WP, Low Thia Khiang. Hougang SMC has been managed by the WP since then.

Hougang SMC is currently the second-longest-held opposition ward in Singapore (1991-). It had been one of just two opposition-held seats in Parliament in the dawn of the 21st century (the other was Potong Pasir SMC, held by the Singapore People's Party's Chiam See Tong) until the 2011 general elections (when the opposition's presence in Parliament was increased to 6 elected seats in total). Mr Low had served in Hougang for 20 years until he left it to fellow party member Yaw Shin Leong in 2011. The former, as well as Chiam, had decided to experiment with leading a team to contest a nearby GRC (in Low's case, the nearby Aljunied GRC). On election night, Yaw managed to retain the Hougang seat (defeating PAP candidate Desmond Choo). That same night, Mr Low managed to keep his seat in Parliament (this time as MP for Bedok Reservoir-Punggol) when he and his team unseated the PAP incumbents in the GRC, the first time an opposition party has ever unseated the PAP in a GRC.

On 15 February 2012, Yaw was expelled from the Workers' Party, leaving a vacant seat in Hougang SMC.[1] A by-election was held, with Nomination Day on 16 May 2012 and Polling on 26 May 2012. The Workers Party chose Png Eng Huat, who managed to retain the seat with 62.1% of the vote.[2]

Members of Parliament

Member of Parliament Party Dates Notes
Tang Guan Seng PAP 1988-1991
Low Thia Khiang WP 1991-2011 Leader of the Workers' Party from 2001
Yaw Shin Leong WP 2011-2012 Expelled over non-disclosure over allegations of an extramarital affair precipitating the Hougang by-election
Png Eng Huat WP 2012 – Incumbent

Electoral results

Elections in 2010s

General Election 2015: Hougang
Party Candidate Votes % ±
WP Png Eng Huat 13,012 57.69 -4.39
PAP Lee Hong Chuang 9,543 42.31 +4.39
Majority 3,469 15.38 -8.82
Rejected ballots 236 1.04
Turnout 22,791 94.58 +0.18
WP hold Swing -4.39
By-election 2012: Hougang
Party Candidate Votes % ±
WP Png Eng Huat 13,460 62.08 -2.7
PAP Desmond Choo 8,223 37.92 +2.7
Majority 5,237 24.2 -5.4
Turnout 21,951 93.9 -0.4
WP hold Swing -2.7
General Election 2011: Hougang
Party Candidate Votes % ±
WP Yaw Shin Leong 14,850 64.8 +2.1
PAP Desmond Choo 8,065 35.2 -2.1
Majority 6,785 29.6 +4.2
Turnout 23,176 94.4 -0.6
WP hold Swing +2.1

Elections in 2000s

General Election 2006: Hougang
Party Candidate Votes % ±
WP Low Thia Khiang 13,989 62.7 +7.7
PAP Eric Low Siak Meng 8,308 37.3 -7.7
Majority 5,681 25.4 +15.4
Turnout 22,574 95.0 -0.4
WP hold Swing +7.7
General Election 2001: Hougang
Party Candidate Votes % ±
WP Low Thia Khiang 12,070 55.0 -3.0
PAP Eric Low Siak Meng 9,882 45.0 +3.0
Majority 2,188 10.0 -6.0
Turnout 22,247 95.4 -0.8
WP hold Swing -3.0

Elections in 1990s

General Election 1997: Hougang
Party Candidate Votes % ±
WP Low Thia Khiang 13,458 58.0 +5.2
PAP Heng Chee How 9,736 42.0 -5.2
Majority 3,722 16.0 +10.4
Turnout 23,505 96.2 +0.4
WP hold Swing +5.2
General Election 1991: Hougang
Party Candidate Votes % ±
WP Low Thia Khiang 10,621 52.8 +11.8
PAP Tang Guan Seng 9,487 47.2 -11.8
Majority 1,134 5.6 +23.6
Turnout 20,566 95.8 -0.4
WP gain from PAP Swing +11.8

Elections in 1980s

General Election 1988: Hougang
Party Candidate Votes % ±
PAP Tang Guan Seng 11,983 59.0 N/A
WP Lim Chiu Liang 8,342 41.0 N/A
Majority 3,641 18.0 N/A
Turnout 20,873 96.2 N/A
PAP win (new seat)

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-02-18. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
  2. ↑ "Hougang Stadium, Serangoon JC are assembling centres for Housing by-election". Channel News Asia. Retrieved 19 May 2012.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.