Have constituency names residents can identify with

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced in Parliament recently that the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee has already been formed ("Election on the cards; boundaries panel formed"; July 14).

In naming the Single Member Constituencies (SMC) or Group Representation Constituencies (GRC), I urge the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee to ensure that the constituency names make sense, such that residents are able to identify with them.

They should also be intuitive, such that the constituency names are reflective of the geographical street names.

Examples of constituency names which are bewildering and perplexing include:

•Siglap Division, which also encompasses Changi Village, even though Siglap is nearer to Bedok and Upper East Coast;

•Chua Chu Kang GRC, which includes the geographical street names of Jurong West, Bukit Batok and Bukit Gombak; and

•The entire Jurong area, which have portions included in Chua Chu Kang GRC, West Coast GRC, Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, Jurong GRC, Pioneer SMC, Yuhua SMC and Hong Kah North SMC.

It is hoped that through this review, constituency names are chosen such that they can help create a sense of belonging among the residents.

Lee Yong Se

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 22, 2015, with the headline Have constituency names residents can identify with. Subscribe