GE2020: PAP retains Holland-Bukit Timah GRC with 66.36% of votes

THE People's Action Party (PAP) has retained Holland-Bukit Timah GRC in its third face off with the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) in the so-called rich man's ward.

The PAP slate won 66.36 per cent or 70,963 votes while the SDP secured the remaining 33.64 per cent or 35,972 votes. A total of 106,935 votes were cast in the GRC with 1,993 spoilt votes.

The PAP team, led by Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, 59, includes Sim Ann, 45, Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and Ministry of Communications and Information, lawyer Christopher de Souza, 44 and businessman and PAP newcomer Edward Chia, 36.

Dr Balakrishnan campaigned on the grounds that his was a "seasoned" team, a much-needed acumen particularly amid the current unprecedented and "deepest crisis" spawn by the Covid-19 pandemic with a priority on "especially jobs, jobs, jobs".

The PAP fought against an SDP team comprising former civil servant Tan Jee Say, 66, political scientist James Gomez, 55, marketing and communications expert Min Cheong, 35 and businessman Alfred Tan, 54.

SDP's strategy to woo the electorate was based on a vision on how to transition the nation into a post-Covid-19 world while ensuring robust checks and balances in the system.

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Ultimately, the power of a long familiar, experienced team with a track record won the day.

In GE2015, PAP won 66.6 per cent of the votes in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC against an SDP team led by its chief Chee Soon Juan, which lost with 33.4 per cent of the votes. GE 2015 had marked Dr Chee's comeback onto the political scene after his bankruptcy status kept him away from the previous two elections.

In 2011, the PAP team won with a vote share of 60.1 per cent from the 2011 election, when it defeated a SDP team comprising Vincent Wijeysingha, Mr Tan, Ang Yong Guan and Michelle Lee.

For more of our Singapore GE2020 coverage, go to bt.sg/ge2020