Non-Constituency MP Lina Chiam will make a bid for Potong Pasir once more, she said last night.

Mrs Chiam, who lost the Single- Member Constituency (SMC) by a wafer-thin 114 votes in 2011, told The Straits Times she wants to return to contest the long-time stronghold of her husband, former MP Chiam See Tong, who held the seat from 1984 till 2011.

She also said that her Singapore People's Party (SPP) will stand in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, where Mr Chiam stood and was defeated in the last election.

She declined to say if Mr Chiam, the country's longest-serving opposition MP, will be contesting the next election, although she confirmed that new SPP member Jeanette Chong-Aruldoss will be running in Mountbatten SMC under the party's banner.

"We are very happy to note that Potong Pasir SMC is intact," Mrs Chiam said. "And we are happy that the SPP is still given a chance to be able to contest in the SMC and, if elected, to serve Potong Pasir residents again, as Mr Chiam has done in the past 27 years."

A teacher-turned-lawyer, Mr Chiam won Potong Pasir under the Singapore Democratic Party banner in 1984. He held the single-seat ward until 2011, when he contested in Bishan-Toa Payoh and lost to the PAP.

Mrs Chiam said the SPP will be fielding teams in the three constituencies it contested in 2011 - which includes Hong Kah North SMC. The party has also not ruled out running in other SMCs and GRCs, she said.

It will announce its candidates later, she added. "I will be standing in Potong Pasir. I stood there, I promised people I will return, and I will come back again," she said.

Lim Yan Liang