GE2020 results: PAP wins 13 of 14 SMCs with new blood, familiar faces rising to the fore

For half of the People's Action Party's (PAP) candidates contesting the 14 single-member constituencies (SMC), the 2020 General Election was a baptism of fire in different ways.

Political rookies - Mr Yip Hon Weng, former group chief of the Silver Generation Office under the Agency for Integrated Care, and Ms Gan Siow Huang, Singapore's first woman brigadier-general - were sent to contest in the Yio Chu Kang and Marymount constituencies, respectively.

Despite being untested in electoral battles, much less in solo ones, both triumphed against their respective Progress Singapore Party (PSP) opponents Kayla Low and Dr Ang Yong Guan.

This campaign, however, was not the first for their PAP colleagues Mr Henry Kwek, Mr Patrick Tay, Mr Melvin Yong, Mr Liang Eng Hwa and Ms Sun Xueling.

All were previously part of a group representation constituency (GRC), but it was their maiden experience being entrusted to defend the party's turf in single-member constituencies across the island.

All succeeded in winning their seats in Kebun Baru, Pioneer, Radin Mas, Bukit Panjang and Punggol West, in that order.

These results, coupled with victories by incumbents Ms Amy Khor in Hong Kah North, Ms Grace Fu in Yuhua, Mr Lim Biow Chuan in Mountbatten, Ms Tin Pei Ling in MacPherson, Mr Sitoh Yih Pin in Potong Pasir and Mr Murali Pillai in Bukit Batok meant the PAP captured 13 SMCs.

This dominance was tempered, though. In the 2015 election, in which the PAP won 12 of the 13 single seats, seven of the victories were secured with more than 70 per cent of the votes.

This year, that mark was crossed in only four SMCs - Radin Mas, where Mr Yong won 74 per cent; Mountbatten, where Mr Lim won 73.8 per cent; MacPherson, where Ms Tin won 71.7 per cent; and Yu-hua, where Ms Fu won 70.5 per cent.

Winning on his first attempt was not easy, said PAP's Mr Yip, 43, who beat fellow debutante Ms Low of PSP after getting 61 per cent of the 24,256 votes in Yio Chu Kang. Ms Low, also 43, is a chartered accountant and former prisons officer.

Mr Yip, whom observers believe has the potential to be a political office-holder, paid tribute to his volunteers, campaign team and Ms Low "for her determination and putting up a commendable fight". He thanked the residents of Yio Chu Kang and promised to give his best "to make a difference to those I am entrusted to care for".

This year's 14 SMCs is a record, an increase from the previous tally of 13 five years ago. Besides Yio Chu Kang, three - Kebun Baru, Marymount and Punggol West - are new.

Mr Kwek, who secured 63 per cent of the 21,096 votes in Kebun Baru against PSP' s Kumaran Pillai, is a familiar face, though.

Kebun Baru was folded into Ang Mo Kio GRC in 1991 and redrawn into Nee Soon GRC in 2015, with Mr Kwek in charge of it since then.

In the only three-cornered fight for a single seat in this election - unlike 2015, when there were three - PAP's Mr Tay emerged victorious in Pioneer with 62 per cent of the 18,507 votes, ahead of PSP's Mr Lim Cher Hong, who had 35.2 per cent.

Mr Cheang Peng Wah, the sole independent candidate, got 2.8 per cent, below the 12.5 per cent required to keep his $13,500 election deposit.

Mr Tay, 48, the MP for Boon Lay ward in West Coast GRC since 2015, was moved to Pioneer after four-term MP Cedric Foo stepped down. Mr Foo got 76.4 per cent of the votes in 2015 against National Solidarity Party's Elvin Ong.

Mr Tay said: "I will work on the feedback many residents have shared with me over the course of the campaign, be it on municipal issues or improvements on policies.

"My immediate focus is to help residents with jobs, and navigate through this crisis."

It was a similar sentiment shared by Ms Sun in Punggol West, where she garnered 61 per cent of the votes against Workers' Party's Ms Tan Chen Chen.

Ms Sun, 41, who has helmed the ward since her political debut in the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC team in 2015, said: "I have worked hard in the past five years, but I recognise the next five years we need new solutions and collaborative efforts."