GE2025: PAP wins Jalan Besar GRC, widens lead with 75.21% of votes

Follow our live coverage here.

SINGAPORE - The PAP widened its lead in Jalan Besar GRC, winning 75.21 per cent of the votes against the People’s Alliance for Reform (PAR), an opposition coalition.

The four-member team is helmed by the current Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo, and it includes incumbent MPs Denise Phua and Wan Rizal Wan Zakariah as well as new face Shawn Loh.

Mr Loh took over the GRC’s Whampoa ward from Senior Minister of State for Defence Heng Chee How, who stepped down from the team.

The PAR team that contested Jalan Besar GRC comprises newcomers – freelance private tutor Chiu Shin Kong, nurse Sarina Abu Hassan, early childhood educator Vigneswari V. Ramachandran and the party’s treasurer Mohamad Hamim Aliyas.

PAR wrested 24.79 per cent of the votes.

The total number of votes cast was 93,531.

This is Mrs Teo’s second time leading the winning team in Jalan Besar GRC, following her move from Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC in 2020.

A jubilant Mrs Teo told the media at a doorstop that the team was humbled by residents’ support.

“We have never taken it for granted,” she said, adding that her team’s work in Jalan Besar GRC started even before the campaign trail.

The result by the PAP team was an improvement from GE2020, where the PAP team won with 65.36 per cent of the votes against Peoples Voice (PV) – which is now a member of PAR.

PV, then led by party chief Lim Tean, obtained 34.64 per cent of the votes.

Mr Lim, who is secretary-general of PAR, did not lead his team in this general election. Instead, he was in a three-cornered fight with Singapore People’s Party treasurer Williiamson Lee and Mr Alex Yeo of the PAP for Potong Pasir SMC.

Mr Loh thanked the PAR team for a “good and clean fight” in Jalan Besar GRC. He made special mention of Ms Sarina and Ms Vigneswari, who had to balance the campaign as well as their work duties.

Jalan Besar GRC, comprising four wards – Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng, Kolam Ayer, Whampoa and Kampong Glam – represents the largest area of the downtown city centre of Singapore, followed by Tanjong Pagar GRC.

In their campaign, the PAP candidates focused on making Jalan Besar GRC more vibrant and sustainable, more caring and inclusive, and where community bonds are stronger.

On April 6, its town council launched the Jalan Besar masterplan for the next five years, from 2026 to 2030, for a greener and more elderly-friendly town. The aim is to make Jalan Besar a more inclusive community for its residents.

The constituency, one of the oldest in Singapore, will be upgraded to include way-finding features such as motifs and colour-coded zones to help residents, especially those with dementia, navigate the neighbourhoods.

It was first created in the 1959 Legislative Assembly election and became a three-member GRC in 1988, comprising Jalan Besar, Kolam Ayer and Geylang West.

It expanded to become a five-member GRC in the 2001 General Election after absorbing Whampoa, Kallang and Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng but was dissolved in 2011, with the formation of Moulmein-Kallang GRC.

Jalan Besar GRC was contested again in the 2015 General Election.

The GRC, known to be a PAP stronghold, has since 1988 seen contests from many political parties, including the WP, Singapore Democratic Party and Singapore Democratic Alliance.

It also saw a walkover in 1991.

Jalan Besar GRC has a high concentration of seniors as well as low-income households, but its demography has shifted with a number of Build-To-Order residential projects up.

“The profiles of our residents are never static, as there will be new residents moving in,” said Mrs Teo, adding that her team will continue to identify and meet new needs.

She is mindful that some new residents have young children, while some have “fur kids”.

“The team will be looking at innovative ways to help cater to them within Jalan Besar,” she said.