Singapore General Election 2025 (GE2025): A Brief History of Aljunied GRC
- Eisen
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
How did Aljunied GRC come about? Why is it nowhere near Aljunied? Why does it have a ward called Bedok Reservoir-Punggol? What does this say about electoral boundaries in Singapore?
As it is election season in Singapore, here is a brief history of Aljunied GRC’s evolution.
Part I: When Aljunied was in Aljunied
The political ward of Aljunied - a single seat, all wards were single seats then - came about in 1959, when a General Election was held for all 51 seats in the Legislative Assembly. This was a key election - Britain was to grant Singapore full internal self-government thereafter.
Aljunied's creation in 1959 made sense because Aljunied-Upper Aljunied Road ran through it. The ward occupied an area which is roughly present-day Potong Pasir SMC and parts of MacPherson and Geylang Serai wards of Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC. It covered the farming communities and villages of the Potong Pasir, Aljunied, and MacPherson areas (below).
For 1959, please take note of two other wards near Aljunied:
Paya Lebar. Its sharp boundaries to the east were because of the runway of Singapore Airport (now Paya Lebar Air Base).
Kampong Kembangan (I'll explain why later).
In the 1959 election, Aljunied saw a three-corner fight, which the People's Action Party won (not the last time the PAP would win a three-corner fight). Suppiah Visva Lingam, 28, won 49.4% of the vote.
In all, the PAP, an opposition party, won 43 out of 51 seats to come to power.
Fast forward two elections to 1968.
Aljunied ward was carved up into Potong Pasir, Aljunied, and part of MacPherson. Aljunied-Upper Aljunied Road was now Aljunied ward's western boundary.
Potong Pasir would go to the Opposition - Chiam See Tong of the Singapore Democratic Party - in 1984.
Meanwhile, to the east, the ward of Kampong Ubi was created out of Geylang Serai and Joo Chiat.
The ward of Kampong Kembangan was reduced in size, although it still made up a good portion of the Malay Settlement off Jalan Eunos (below).
Fast forward again to the 1980 election.
Aljunied ward more or less remained the same.
Kampong Ubi grew, absorbing some of Kampong Kembangan (below).
And as for Kampong Kembangan, it shifted east to relatively new Bedok North Avenue 1, to cover part of Bedok New Town (below).
Part II: The birth of Aljunied GRC
The 1988 election saw the implementation of the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system. The official reason: To "ensure that Singapore's Parliament would always be multiracial in composition and representation".
However, there are numerous criticisms of the GRC system, such as making it harder for opposition candidates to be elected, diluting voting power, and allowing less popular MPs - almost always from the incumbent - to be "protected" or "parachuted" into office.
As a result of the GRC system, 13 GRCs were created in 1988.
One of them was Aljunied GRC (below, in blue), created by combining the wards of Aljunied, Kampong Ubi, and Kampong Kembangan.
It also took in parts of Braddell Heights, Geylang Serai, and Paya Lebar wards.
The result was a three-member Aljunied GRC which spread from Upper Serangoon Road to East Coast Road, with an electorate of 65,351.
Even though Kampong Ubi was the ward located in the geographical centre, the name adopted for the GRC was Aljunied.
In 1988, the Singapore Democratic Party contested the incumbent PAP in Aljunied GRC, but the latter won with a team of Chin Harn Tong, Wan Hussin bin Zoohri, and newcomer George Yeo, securing 56.3% of the vote.
Yeo (below, right) became the MP for Kampong Kembangan.
Part III: Aljunied GRC grows... and grows
In the 1991 election, Aljunied GRC absorbed Paya Lebar ward to become a four-member GRC, increasing its electorate to 94,490.
Because of Paya Lebar ward, the GRC reached as far north as Tampines Road and Lorong Halus.
For this election, the GRC was uncontested, and the PAP retained it with a walkover.
Significant changes were in store for the 1997 election - Aljunied grew to a five-member GRC.
It spread east, absorbing Eunos from Eunos GRC, and Changkat South from Tampines GRC. Changkat South was renamed Changi-Simei.
Meanwhile, Kampong Ubi was carved out and moved to Marine Parade GRC.
As for the ward of Aljunied, it was redrawn. To the northwest, it absorbed part of Serangoon Gardens ward of Thomson GRC. To the west, a strip of land was handed over to Geylang Serai ward of Marine Parade GRC.
So, for the 1997 election, a geographical oddity was created. Aljunied-Upper Aljunied Road was no longer in Aljunied ward or Aljunied GRC - it was now between Potong Pasir SMC and Marine Parade GRC (below)!
For the 1997 election, Aljunied GRC comprised the wards of Aljunied, Kampong Kembangan, Paya Lebar, Eunos, and Changi-Simei, with an electorate of 103,466.
The SDP challenged the PAP again, but lost; George Yeo's team increased its vote share to 67%.
Part IV: The disappearance of a GRC
This is a good time to introduce the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC).
The panel is appointed by the Prime Minister. It is responsible for the drawing of polling districts, and its work directly affects the evolution of electoral maps.
The Opposition has argued that the EBRC redraws political boundaries without clear explanation. For example, constituencies have been absorbed into GRCs after close electoral fights. One word has been tossed around: Gerrymandering.
The 2001 election saw big changes for Aljunied GRC.
In 1997, there was a big battle between the PAP and the Workers' Party in Cheng San GRC, which the latter narrowly lost, grabbing 45.2% of the vote.
When the 2001 election came around, surprise, surprise! Cheng San GRC was dissolved.
Aljunied GRC took in part of Cheng San GRC's Punggol South ward, which was renamed the odd-sounding Aljunied-Hougang. The place name "Aljunied" was attached to "Hougang" only because an area in Hougang town was shoehorned into a new GRC.
Meanwhile, the ward of Kampong Kembangan was divided into Aljunied-Kembangan and Kembangan-Punggol. Again, "Aljunied" was attached to "Kembangan" only because an area in Kembangan belonged to Aljunied GRC.
For Kembangan-Punggol, it took in a part of Kampong Kembangan, the Paya Lebar Air Base part of Paya Lebar ward, part of Pasir Ris GRC's Pasir Ris South ward, and part of Cheng San's Punggol South ward.
As the ward covers Punggol Park (below), it explains why "Kembangan" was attached to "Punggol".
As for the ward of Aljunied itself, it was dissolved, probably divided among the wards of Aljunied-Hougang, Paya Lebar, and Marine Parade GRC's Geylang Serai. After 42 years, the ward of Aljunied had ceased to exist.
Finally, the ward of Changi-Simei was handed to East Coast GRC.
The redrawn Aljunied GRC for the 2001 election now comprised Aljunied-Kembangan, Kembangan-Punggol, Paya Lebar, Eunos, and Aljunied-Hougang, with an electorate of 125,115 (below, in blue).
Aljunied GRC enjoyed another walkover, and Minister for Trade and Industry George Yeo (below) took charge of Kembangan-Punggol.
Aljunied GRC had no Aljunied ward, but the place name "Aljunied" was attached to two wards.
Part V: A revolving door of wards
There were more changes in store for Aljunied GRC in the 2006 election.
First, it swapped wards with Marine Parade GRC, taking in Serangoon, and giving away Aljunied-Kembangan, which was reorganised and renamed Kampong Ubi-Kembangan.
Meanwhile, Kembangan-Punggol was renamed Bedok Reservoir-Punggol.
The result was that the Aljunied GRC of 2006 hardly overlaps the Aljunied GRC of 1988!
Below, Aljunied GRC is in blue; as reference points, Hougang and Potong Pasir SMCs are in red.
By 2006, Aljunied's original wards of 1988 - Aljunied, Kampong Ubi, and Kampong Kembangan - did not exist in name anymore.
In the 2006 election, the Workers' Party challenged the PAP in Aljunied GRC for the first time. George Yeo's team prevailed over Sylvia Lim's team, winning 56.1% of the vote.
For the 2011 election, Aljunied GRC swapped wards for the last time.
It took in Marine Parade GRC's Kaki Bukit ward, while Aljunied-Hougang - formerly of Cheng San GRC, which had strongly supported the Workers' Party in 1997 - was shifted to Ang Mo Kio GRC, taking on the odd name Ang Mo Kio-Hougang.
Aljunied GRC was now made up of Serangoon, Bedok Reservoir-Punggol, Paya Lebar, Eunos, and Kaki Bukit, with an electorate of 143,148.
What happened next was history.
The Workers' Party challenged George Yeo's team again. This time, a team led by party chief Low Thia Khiang won, garnering 54.7% of the vote.
Low took over Yeo's seat in Bedok Reservoir-Punggol, running it for the next nine years until his retirement from politics in 2020.
Part VI: Aljunied forever?
Since 2011, Aljunied GRC has hardly seen significant boundary changes. It still has the five wards of Serangoon, Bedok Reservoir-Punggol, Paya Lebar, Eunos, and Kaki Bukit.
While Aljunied GRC was formed in 1988, its five wards were added after that at various times:
Paya Lebar - added for the 1991 election
Eunos - added 1997
Bedok Reservoir-Punggol - created as Kembangan-Punggol for 2001
Serangoon - added 2006
Kaki Bukit - added 2011
A notable boundary change, however, took place this year (2025) for the upcoming election.
Three polling districts in Bedok Reservoir-Punggol, with 3,834 voters, were transferred to Tampines GRC's Tampines West ward - reducing Aljunied GRC's electorate to 144,032. They include the residential projects of Waterview @ Tampines, The Tropica, and Tampines GreenGem.
According to the EBRC, this was "so that some of the electoral boundaries at the 2025 polls are aligned with key geographical features" - a puzzling comment, especially since much of Aljunied GRC is still misaligned with key geographical features! It would be interesting to see what were the voting patterns for these three polling districts in 2011, 2015, and 2020.
Historically, constituencies under opposition rule had their boundaries radically redrawn - or were dissolved - only after they had reverted to PAP control. It seems like the geopolitical anomaly of Aljunied GRC is here to stay as long as it remains in the hands of the Workers' Party.
The brief history above explains why as of 2025, Aljunied GRC spreads from Serangoon Gardens to Tampines Avenue 10, from Punggol Park to Bedok Town Park, but is nowhere near Aljunied Road or Aljunied MRT Station - and it doesn't even have a ward called Aljunied.
Comments