Hougang - Political History

Political History

Hougang belongs to five political divisions in three different constituencies. A portion belongs to Hougang Single Member Constituency, which is held by Png Eng Huat of the Worker's Party. The seat was left temporarily vacant from 15 February 2012 to 27 May 2012, when Yaw Shin Leong was expelled from the Workers' Party (WP). Yaw was one of six elected opposition Members of Parliament. It was previously held by Workers' Party secretary general Low Thia Kiang from 1991 to 2011. Low Thia Kiang is now the Member of Parliament for the Bedok Reservoir-Punggol division of Aljunied GRC, in the northern part of Hougang. Chen Show Mao is the Member of Parliament of Paya Lebar division, which contains the southern part of Hougang. A small portion of Hougang is located in the Punggol South division of Pasir Ris-Punggol Group Representation Constituency in which lies several residents' committees, various facilities and the popular Hougang Green Shopping Mall which remains dear to the hearts of most residents living there. Part of Hougang also lies within the Ang Mo Kio - Hougang division of Ang Mo Kio GRC.

In the 1997 general election, Cheng San Group Representation Constituency which comprises large parts of Hougang was the scene of an intense battle between the ruling People's Action Party and the opposition team led by Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam and Tang Liang Hong of the Workers' Party. Prominent members of the cabinet such as the then Senior Minister Lee Kwan Yew and then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong made numerous visits to the Group Representation Constituency to canvass The vote was deemed too close to call such that the PAP thought it necessary for ministers to visit the polling stations on voting day. The opposition later charged that the PAP had violated the law which prohibits politicians from being in the vicinity of a polling station but the Attorney-General, Chan Sek Keong, found no impropriety on the part of the ministers as the law only prohibits politicians from the vicinity of the polling station but not in the polling station itself.

Hougang appeared in the limelight again in the 2006 general election. Both Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC were contested by the Workers' Party, with the latter being defended by the three-term incumbent, Low Thia Khiang, who is the WP's secretary-general. Once again, like the 1997 general election, WP won in Hougang, with Low securing his place in Parliament with 63% of the votes, an increase of more than 8 percentage point from 2001. Aljunied GRC was narrowly held onto by the People's Action Party with a slim 12% lead over the WP team who gained 44% of the votes.

It is widely believed that Hougang residents of the GRC had leaned towards the WP, with one PAP MP-elect describing the counting process as "tense", saying that the vote tally was about "a one-to-one ratio when the counting first starting, and we got worried." Nonetheless, this swing towards the opposition was neutralised by the strong PAP showing in other parts of the GRC, such as Bedok Reservoir and Eunos. Another PAP MP-elect remarked that "we received well over 60% of the vote in Malay-majority Eunos". Sylvia Lim, the de facto leader of the WP's team, subsequently accepted the NCMP seat.

In the 2011 General Elections, Yaw from the Worker's Party won the seat for Hougang SMC against PAP's Desmond Choo, taking 64.81 per cent of the valid votes.

However, on 15 February 2012, Yaw was expelled from the Worker's Party due to allegations of extramarital affairs. This led to a hougang resident, Mrs Vellama, filing an affidavit to the high court to compel a By-Election in Hougang.

A by-election was called for 26th May 2012. Png of the Worker's Party and Choo of the People's Action Party ran for Hougang SMC. The Worker's Party retained Hougang SMC with a winning vote percentage of 62.09% and the People's Action Party garnered 37.91% of the votes, with Png elected as the Member of Parliament for Hougang SMC.