GE2015: PAP's Cheryl Chan wins Fengshan SMC

[SINGAPORE] RESIDENTS of one of the most keenly-contested wards, Fengshan Single Member Constituency (SMC), have elected the People's Action Party's (PAP's) Cheryl Chan as their Member of Parliament (MP) in the 2015 General Election.

Ms Chan won the seat by garnering 57.52 per cent of the vote share, more than the Workers' Party's candidate Dennis Tan's 42.48 per cent.

Fengshan, a single-seat ward with 23,427 voters, made a comeback on the electoral map after 25 years after it was carved out of East Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

As part of East Coast GRC in the 2011 General Election, observers believed Fengshan was the weakest link for the PAP.

East Coast was the PAP's worst-performing GRC that won in the GE2011, with a narrow margin of 54.8 per cent of the vote share against a team from WP. This was a 9 per cent drop (63.9 per cent) from the 2006 General Election.

Before being carved out of East Coast GRC for GE2015, the Fengshan ward was overseen by former transport minister Raymond Lim, who had recently announced his retirement from politics.

Fengshan was previously an SMC from 1984 to 1991, under MP Arthur Beng. Dr Beng beat then Workers' Party candidate Chng Chin Siah twice: First in 1984 with 65.1 per cent of the vote, then in 1988 with 57.9 per cent of the vote.