East Coast Group Representation Constituency

East Coast
East Coast
Group Representation constituency; for the Parliament of Singapore
Region	East and North-East Regions, Singapore
Electorate	121,772
Current constituency
Created	1997; 27 years ago
Seats	5
Party	People's Action Party
Member(s)	Heng Swee Keat; Jessica Tan; Cheryl Chan; Tan Kiat How; Maliki Osman
Town Council	East Coast
Created from	Bedok GRC; Eunos GRC; Changi SMC; Fengshan SMC;

The East Coast Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency in the eastern area of Singapore. The areas of the Group Representation Constituency consists of locations such as East Coast Park, Bedok, Changi, Simei, Siglap, Tampines, Pasir Ris, Chai Chee, Changi Airport.^[1] The GRC also covers a large portion of Singapore's eastern territorial waters. The five divisions: Bedok, Siglap, Fengshan, Changi-Simei and Kampong Chai Chee managed by East Coast Town Council. The current MPs are from the People's Action Party (PAP) Heng Swee Keat, Jessica Tan, Cheryl Chan, Tan Kiat How and Maliki Osman.

History

East Coast GRC was formed in 1997 as a six-member Group Representation Constituency. East Coast GRC was formed with a merger of Bedok Group Representation Constituency and Eunos Group Representation Constituency. It was downsized from six members to five members following the redrawing of divisions into the Marine Parade GRC in 2006.

Joo Chiat Single Member Constituency was formerly part of the GRC until 2001, and subsumed into Marine Parade GRC as of the 2015 elections. A large portion of the Kaki Bukit division and 60% of Kampong Chai Chee was transferred from East Coast GRC to Marine Parade GRC and saw the removal of Chew Heng Ching, Tan Soo Khoon and Lee Yock Suan due to the advanced age in 2006, followed by S Jayakumar and Abdullah Tarmugi in 2011.

The offshore island of Coney Island was transferred to Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC in 2015, while Fengshan SMC was carved out and East Coast GRC was left with four members. East Coast GRC was increased in size to five after Fengshan SMC has been absorbed back into East Coast GRC for the 2020 general election.

The People's Action Party (PAP) won in a walkover in the 1997 and 2001 general elections. It saw its first contest in the 2006 general election from the Workers' Party. This GRC is a perennial battleground between the two parties. In 2011 and 2015, the People's Action Party received numerous close fights with the Worker's Party and won both times, though the results allowed Worker's Party candidates to enter parliament as Non-Constituency MPs both times.

In October 2015, Lee Yi Shyan stepped down from his ministerial post after suffering from a mini stroke in May 2015. Prior to the 2020 general election, Lee Yi Shyan and Lim Swee Say retired from politics.

The resulting election saw the PAP retaining East Coast GRC, albeit with the second closest marginal result after West Coast GRC.

Members of Parliament

Election	Division	Incumbent	Party
1997	Bedok Fengshan Joo Chiat Kaki Bukit Kampong Chai Chee Siglap	S. Jayakumar Chng Hee Kok Chan Soo Sen Chew Heng Ching Tan Soo Khoon Abdullah Tarmugi		PAP
2001	Bedok Changi-Simei Fengshan Kaki Bukit Kampong Chai Chee Siglap	S. Jayakumar Lee Yock Suan Raymond Lim Chew Heng Ching Tan Soo Khoon Abdullah Tarmugi
2006	Bedok Changi-Simei Fengshan Kampong Chai Chee Siglap	S. Jayakumar Jessica Tan Raymond Lim Lee Yi Shyan Abdullah Tarmugi
2011	Bedok Changi-Simei Fengshan Kampong Chai Chee Siglap	Lim Swee Say Jessica Tan Raymond Lim Lee Yi Shyan Maliki Osman
2015	Bedok Changi-Simei Kampong Chai Chee Siglap	Lim Swee Say Jessica Tan Lee Yi Shyan Maliki Osman
2020	Bedok Changi-Simei Fengshan Kampong Chai Chee Siglap	Heng Swee Keat Jessica Tan Cheryl Chan Tan Kiat How Maliki Osman

Electoral results

Elections in 1990s

General Election 1997: East Coast GRC
Party		Candidate	Votes
	PAP	S Jayakumar Chng Hee Kok Chan Soo Sen Chew Heng Ching Tan Soo Khoon Abdullah Tarmugi	Unopposed
Registered electors			142,201
	PAP win (new seat)

Elections in 2000s

General Election 2001: East Coast GRC
Party		Candidate	Votes
	PAP	S Jayakumar Lee Yock Suan Raymond Lim Chew Heng Ching Tan Soo Khoon Abdullah Tarmugi	Unopposed
Registered electors			144,012
	PAP hold

General Election 2006: East Coast GRC
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	S Jayakumar Jessica Tan Raymond Lim Lee Yi Shyan Abdullah Tarmugi	66,931	63.9	N/A
	WP	Abdul Rahim Abdul Rahman Brandon Siow Chia Ti Lik Eric Tan Perry Tong	37,873	36.1	N/A
Turnout			107,028	91.7	N/A
	PAP hold

Elections in 2010s

General Election 2011: East Coast GRC
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Lim Swee Say Jessica Tan Raymond Lim Lee Yi Shyan Maliki Osman	59,992	54.8	9.1
	WP	Png Eng Huat Gerald Giam Mohd Fazli Talip Eric Tan Glenda Han	49,429	45.2	9.1
Majority			10,563	9.6	N/A
Turnout			111,269	92.5	N/A
	PAP hold		Swing	9.1

General Election 2015: East Coast GRC
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Lim Swee Say Jessica Tan Lee Yi Shyan Maliki Osman	54,981	60.73	5.9
	WP	Daniel Goh Gerald Giam Leon Perera Mohamed Fairoz Bin Shariff	35,547	39.27	5.9
Majority			19,434	21.4	11.8
Rejected ballots			1,008	1.02
Turnout			99,118		−
	PAP hold		Swing	5.9

Elections in 2020s

General Election 2020: East Coast GRC
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Heng Swee Keat Jessica Tan Cheryl Chan Tan Kiat How Maliki Osman	61,144	53.39	7.34
	WP	Nicole Seah Kenneth Foo Abdul Shariff Aboo Kassim Terence Tan Dylan Ng	53,375	46.61	7.34
Majority			7,769	6.78
Rejected ballots			1,393	1.20
Turnout			114,519	94.96	2.61
Registered electors			121,772
	PAP hold		Swing	7.34

References

^ Lai, Linette (1 February 2019). "Registers of electors to be updated, Pedra Branca included under East Coast electoral division". The Straits Times. Retrieved 14 November 2019.

[1] Lai, Linette (1 February 2019). "Registers of electors to be updated, Pedra Branca included under East Coast electoral division". The Straits Times. Retrieved 14 November 2019.

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