1988 Singaporean general election

1988 Singaporean general election

3 September 1988
All 81 directly elected seats in Parliament (and up to 3 NCMPs)
Registered	1,669,013
Turnout	94.70% ( 0.95pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Lee Kuan Yew J. B. Jeyaretnam Chiam See Tong Party PAP WP SDP Leader's seat Tanjong Pagar SMC Did Not Contest Potong Pasir SMC Last election 64.83%, 77 seats 12.65%, 1 seat 3.66%, 1 seat Seats won 80 0+1 NCMP 1 Seat change 3 1 1 NCMP Popular vote 848,029 224,473 158,341 Percentage 63.17% 16.72% 11.80% Swing 1.66pp 4.07pp 8.14pp
Results by constituency
Prime Minister before election Lee Kuan Yew PAP Prime Minister after election Lee Kuan Yew PAP

General elections were held in Singapore on 3 September 1988, following the dissolution of Parliament by President Wee Kim Wee on 17 August, acting on the advice of Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. This election was Lee's final general election as prime minister before he passed the leadership to Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.

This election was notable for the debut of Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs), a new electoral arrangement introduced by the government. GRCs required candidates to contest in teams, with the inclusion of at least one member from a minority ethnic community. The scheme began with constituencies represented by teams of three Members of Parliament. While presented as a safeguard for multiracialism, the system was heavily criticised by opposition politicians and parties for increasing the barriers to entry for smaller parties, who found it difficult to field sufficiently strong teams to contest effectively in GRCs.

The People's Action Party (PAP), which had governed since independence, secured a landslide victory winning all but one of 81 parliamentary seats. The only opposition candidate elected was Chiam See Tong of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), who retained his seat in Potong Pasir SMC. In addition, a single NCMP seat was awarded to Lee Siew Choh of the Workers' Party (WP), who had contested in Eunos GRC. He became the first opposition politician to accept an NCMP seat, following previous rejections of such offers in 1984. In addition, while the total number of eligible voters had exceeded one million in 1976, this election marked the first occasion where over one million voters were able to cast their ballots in contested constituencies.

Background

In 1986, the PAP government introduced Town Councils (TC). Unlike the former City Council, which was abolished in 1959 and held separate local elections, Town Councils do not operate through distinct electoral mandates. Instead, local administrative responsibilities are delegated to elected Members of Parliament through general elections. This move coincided with the establishment of Group Representation Constituencies (GRC), a system based on the plurality general ticket method. GRCs were introduced with the stated aim of guaranteeing ethnic minority representation in Parliament. However, the scheme was heavily criticised by opposition politicians and parties, who argued that it created significant barriers to electoral competition. GRCs were initially formed as constituencies represented by teams of three members. Additionally, this election marked a procedural change in the handling of electoral boundaries. For the first time, alterations to electoral divisions were approved directly by the Prime Minister's Office, rather than being debated and passed in Parliament through a formal bill.

The opposition landscape also evolved significantly during this period. The Workers' Party (WP) absorbed both Barisan Sosialis (BS) and the Singapore United Front, positioning itself as the dominant opposition party. WP also formed a cooperative alliance with the Malay-based party Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura (PKMS), creating a united faction ahead of the election. On 6 March 1987, the National Solidarity Party (NSP) was established by Kum Teng Hock, a former member of the ruling PAP, and Soon Kia Seng, a former chairman of the SDP. They became the party's founding President and Secretary-General respectively. However, the WP faced a major setback when its secretary-general J. B. Jeyaretnam lost his Anson SMC seat on 10 December 1986. He was disqualified from contesting elections for five years due to criminal convictions involving the falsification of party accounts, with one conviction meeting the threshold for disqualification under the law.

Timeline

Date	Event
14 June	Publication of Electoral Boundaries report
17 August	Dissolution of 6th Parliament
24 August	Nomination Day
3 September	Polling Day
16 September	Non-constituency Member of Parliament posts declared
9 January 1989	Opening of 7th Parliament

Electoral boundaries

See also: List of Singaporean electoral divisions (1988–91)

In addition to the creation of the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) scheme, single member constituencies (SMC) were either formed from or absorbed to neighboring constituencies due to development and electorate, which was shown in the table below:

Constituency	Changes
Formation of Group Representation Constituencies
Aljunied GRC	Formed from Aljunied, Kampong Kembangan and Kampong Ubi Constituencies
Bedok GRC	Formed from Bedok, Kampong Chai Chee and Tanah Merah Constituencies
Brickworks GRC	Formed from Alexandra, Brickworks and Queenstown Constituencies
Cheng San GRC	Formed from Cheng San, Chong Boon and Jalan Kayu Constituencies
Eunos GRC	Formed from Eunos, Kaki Bukit and a portion of Tampines Constituencies (the latter was renamed to Tampines North SMC)
Hong Kah GRC	Formed from parts of Bukit Batok (Hong Kah North), Hong Kah (Hong Kah Central) and Yuhua Constituencies (Hong Kah South)
Jalan Besar GRC	Formed from Geylang West, Jalan Besar and Kolam Ayer Constituencies.
Marine Parade GRC	Formed from Geylang Serai, Joo Chiat and Marine Parade Constituencies.
Pasir Panjang GRC	Formed from Clementi, Pasir Panjang and West Coast Constituencies.
Sembawang GRC	Formed from parts of Nee Soon (Chong Pang and Nee Soon East) and most of Sembawang SMCs Nee Soon Central and Nee Soon South were subsumed into its own SMCs
Tampines GRC	Formed from Changkat SMC and Tampines Constituencies (the latter was divided into Tampines Changkat, Tampines East and Tampines West)
Tiong Bahru GRC	Formed from Delta, Henderson, Tiong Bahru and Radin Mas Constituencies; Delta was absorbed into Tiong Bahru division.
Toa Payoh GRC	Formed from Boon Teck, Khe Bong, Kuo Chuan and Toa Payoh Constituencies; Khe Bong was absorbed into Boon Teck division.
New Single Member Constituencies
Bukit Gombak SMC	Carved out from Bukit Batok Constituency
Hougang SMC	Carved out from Punggol Constituency
Nee Soon Central SMC Nee Soon East SMC	Carved out from Nee Soon Constituency
Defunct Constituencies
Anson Constituency	Absorbed into Tanjong Pagar SMC
Bo Wen Constituency	Absorbed into Ang Mo Kio SMC
River Valley Constituency	Absorbed into Cairnhill SMC
Rochore Constituency	Absorbed into Kampong Glam SMC
Telok Ayer Constituency	Absorbed into Kreta Ayer SMC

New/outgoing candidates

The election introduced certain prominent members such as George Yeo, K Shanmugam, Mah Bow Tan, as well as a future WP and opposition leader Low Thia Khiang, who made his debut in Tiong Bahru Group Representation Constituency. 13 MPs retired ahead of the election per the party's renewal, which include Deputy Prime Minister Toh Chin Chye and Senior Minister S. Rajaratnam. Before that, two other MPs had vacated but neither by-elections are called, which were J. B. Jeyaretnam (Anson) and Minister Teh Cheang Wan (Geylang West).

New PAP candidates	Notable opposition candidates	Outgoing candidates
Abdul Nasser Kamaruddin Chay Wai Chuen Charles Chong Choo Wee Khiang Davinder Singh George Yeo Yong-Boon Hong Hai John Chen Seow Phun Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam Lew Syn Pau Loh Meng See Low Seow Chay Mah Bow Tan Ong Chit Chung Peh Chin Hua Peter Sung Seet Ai Mee	Cheo Chai Chen, 37, SDP Kwan Yue Keng, 40, SDP John Baptist Lim Chiu Liang, 38, WP Low Thia Khiang, WP Sin Kek Tong, 42, SDP Ashleigh Seow Chuan Hock, 32, SDP Francis Seow Tiang Siew, 59, SDP Tan Soo Phuan, 52, WP	Ang Kok Peng Chai Chong Yii E. W. Barker Eric Cheong Fong Sip Chee Jek Yeun Thong Lai Tha Chai Ong Pang Boon Phua Bah Lee S. Rajaratnam Tang See Chim Toh Chin Chye Yeo Choo Kok

Results

For the first time since independence, voter turnout experienced a decline, with 94.70 percent of voters in the contested constituencies casting their ballots. This represented a decrease of 0.95 percent from the previous general election. The PAP also recorded a fall in its popular vote share for the second consecutive election, dropping by 1.66 percentage points to 63.17 percent. Lee Kuan Yew's Tanjong Pagar once again emerged as the PAP's strongest-performing constituency, achieving 81.60 percent of the vote. It was the only constituency to secure more than 80 percent of votes, making it the top-performing ward for the fifth time in six elections.

With SDP leader Chiam See Tong winning the sole opposition seat in Potong Pasir, two Non-constituency MP seats were offered to former solicitor-general and Law Society president Francis Seow, and veteran politician Lee Siew Choh. Both stood under the banner of the Workers' Party (WP) in Eunos GRC. Their campaign drew attention for openly criticising the PAP over alleged irregularities in financial matters, prompting Minister of State Tay Eng Soon to head the PAP team contesting Eunos.

Ultimately, the PAP won the constituency with 50.89 percent of the vote, making it the election's most marginal victory with a winning margin of only 1.78 percent. As the best-performing opposition team to have lost, the WP team in Eunos qualified for the NCMP scheme. Seow, however, fled Singapore on 17 December to avoid arrest and was disqualified from taking up the seat. He had earlier been detained for 72 days without trial under the Internal Security Act (ISA), following accusations of receiving political campaign funding from the United States and facing charges of tax evasion. Lee Siew Choh accepted the NCMP offer, becoming Singapore's first NCMP and marking his return to Parliament after a 25-year absence having previously served as a legislator for both the PAP and later the Barisan Sosialis (BS).

The opposition's overall popular vote share set several new records in this election. The WP secured 16.72 percent of the vote, the highest post-independence performance by any opposition party at the time. Conversely, Angkatan Islam recorded a vote share of just 1.50 percent, the lowest in post-independence history until it was surpassed in the 2025 election by the National Solidarity Party with 1.19 percent of the contested vote. Nonetheless, Angkatan Islam's overall national vote share of 0.02 percent remained the lowest ever recorded. A total of five candidates forfeited their $4,000 election deposits.

Popular vote

1. PAP (63.17%)
2. Workers' (16.72%)
3. SDP (11.8%)
4. NSP (3.76%)
5. Others (4.56%)

Seats won

1. 11 seats (PAP; uncontested) (13.58%)
2. 69 seats (PAP; contested) (85.19%)
3. 1 seat (SDP) (1.23%)

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	People's Action Party	848,029	63.17	–1.66	80	+3
	Workers' Party	224,473	16.72	+8.14	1	0
	Singapore Democratic Party	158,341	11.80	+4.07	1	0
	National Solidarity Party	50,432	3.76	New	0	New
	United People's Front	17,282	1.29	–1.81	0	0
	Singapore Justice Party	14,660	1.09	–0.15	0	0
	Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	13,526	1.01	+0.47	0	0
	Angkatan Islam	280	0.02	–0.02	0	0
	Independents	15,412	1.15	–0.06	0	0
Total		1,342,435	100.00	–	82	+2
Valid votes		1,342,435	97.77
Invalid/blank votes		30,629	2.23
Total votes		1,373,064	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,669,013	94.70
Source: Singapore Elections

Opposition parties contested vote Party Votes SDP   39.46% Workers'   38.53% NSP   34.61% Justice   26.19% Independents   22.04% UPF   17.98% PKMS   16.56% Angkatan Islam   1.50%

By constituency

Constituency	Seats	Electorate	Party		Candidates	Votes	%
Aljunied GRC	3	65,351		People's Action Party	Chin Harn Tong Wan Hussin B H Zoohri George Yeo	34,020	56.33
				Singapore Democratic Party	Jufrie Mahmood Neo Choon Aik Ashleigh Seow Chuan-Hock	26,375	43.67
Ang Mo Kio SMC	1	14,633		People's Action Party	Yeo Toon Chia	13,365	65.49
				National Solidarity Party	Ong Kah Seng	7,044	27.25
Ayer Rajah SMC	1	22,532		People's Action Party	Tan Cheng Bock	14,824	69.55
				Workers' Party	Tan Song Gek	6,489	30.45
Bedok GRC	3	54,969		People's Action Party	Hong Hai Ibrahim Othman S. Jayakumar	28,266	54.92
				Workers' Party	Gertrude De Gracias Saraswathy Murugason Seow Khee Leng	23,203	45.08
Boon Lay SMC	1	16,646		People's Action Party	Goh Chee Wee	11,317	71.97
				Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	Salleh Mohd Bawthan	4,408	28.03
Braddell Heights SMC	1	27,019		People's Action Party	Goh Choon Kang	14,862	58.80
				Singapore Democratic Party	Sin Kek Tong	10,412	41.20
Brickworks GRC	3	43,117		People's Action Party	Ahmad Mattar Chay Wai Chuen Tan Soo Khoon	26,870	67.43
				Workers' Party	J C Corera Goh Teng Hoon Ismail Yaacob	12,977	32.57
Bukit Batok SMC	1	24,138		People's Action Party	Ong Chit Chung	12,873	55.94
				Singapore Democratic Party	Kwan Yue Keng	10,139	44.06
Bukit Gombak SMC	1	25,221		People's Action Party	Seet Ai Mee	12,661	53.46
				Singapore Democratic Party	Ling How Doong	11,024	46.54
Bukit Merah SMC	1	14,723		People's Action Party	Lim Chee Onn	9,414	69.78
				Workers' Party	Pok Lee Chuen	4,077	30.22
Bukit Panjang SMC	1	33,824		People's Action Party	Lee Yiok Seng	18,314	57.28
				Singapore Democratic Party	Kwek Guan Kwee	9,864	30.86
				Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	Ibrahim Ariff	3,790	11.86
Bukit Timah SMC	1	20,222		People's Action Party	Wang Kai Yuen	Uncontested
Buona Vista SMC	1	15,850		People's Action Party	Peter Sung	8,859	61.76
				Singapore Democratic Party	Low Yong Nguan	5,037	35.11
				Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	Abdul Karim B Abdul Sattar	449	3.13
Cairnhill SMC	1	23,197		People's Action Party	Wong Kwei Cheong	12,779	63.98
				Singapore Democratic Party	Jimmy Tan Tiang Hoe	7,194	36.02
Changi SMC	1	17,145		People's Action Party	Teo Chong Tee	9,398	59.73
				Workers' Party	Chiam Yeow Juan	6,431	40.63
Cheng San GRC	3	56,352		People's Action Party	Lee Yock Suan Chandra Das S Heng Chiang Meng	Uncontested
Chua Chu Kang SMC	1	19,628		People's Action Party	Low Seow Chay	11,058	59.28
				Workers' Party	Goh Seng Soon	7,597	40.72
Eunos GRC	3	75,723		People's Action Party	Tay Eng Soon Chew Heng Ching Zulkifli Mohammed	36,500	50.89
				Workers' Party	Lee Siew Choh Mohd Khalit B Md Baboo Francis Seow	35,221	49.11
Fengshan SMC	1	17,389		People's Action Party	Arthur Beng Kian Lam	9,507	57.92
				Workers' Party	Chng Chin Siah	6,907	42.08
Hong Kah GRC	3	67,431		People's Action Party	A Nasser Kamaruddin John Chen Seow Phun Yeo Cheow Tong	Uncontested
Hougang SMC	1	21,703		People's Action Party	Tang Guan Seng	11,983	58.96
				Workers' Party	Lim Chiu Liang	8,342	41.04
Jalan Besar GRC	3	54,941		People's Action Party	Lee Boon Yang Peh Chin Hua Sidek Saniff	31,604	62.68
				Workers' Party	Edmund Richard Marsh Mohamed Bin Idris Toh Keng Thong	18,814	37.32
Jurong SMC	1	21,420		People's Action Party	Ho Kah Leong	14,769	75.17
				Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	Mohamed Awang	4,879	24.83
Kallang SMC	1	21,245		People's Action Party	S. Dhanabalan	13,097	66.13
				Workers' Party	A L Sundram	6,707	33.87
Kampong Glam SMC	1	21,773		People's Action Party	Loh Meng See	12,525	67.32
				Workers' Party	Frederick De Wind	5,800	31.87
				Angkatan Islam	M Sani Jan	280	1.51
Kebun Baru SMC	1	22,515		People's Action Party	Lim Boon Heng	15,734	75.36
				National Solidarity Party	Mohamed Affendy Bin Abdul Rahim	5,145	24.64
Kim Keat SMC	1	15,850		People's Action Party	Ong Teng Cheong	10,644	73.00
				Singapore Democratic Party	Md Shariff Bin Yahya	3,937	27.00
Kim Seng SMC	1	18,474		People's Action Party	Yeo Ning Hong	11,460	66.90
				Workers' Party	Chin Tian Choo	5,670	33.10
Kreta Ayer SMC	1	21,470		People's Action Party	Richard Hu	13,158	70.50
				Workers' Party	Loh Fook Cheong	5,507	29.50
Leng Kee SMC	1	21,964		People's Action Party	Ow Chin Hock	13,334	64.96
				Workers' Party	Chua Chwee Huat Peter	7,192	35.04
MacPherson SMC	1	17,063		People's Action Party	Chua Sian Chin	10,453	65.98
				National Solidarity Party	Kum Teng Hock	5,390	34.02
Marine Parade GRC	3	62,385		People's Action Party	Goh Chok Tong Choo Wee Khiang Othman Haron Eusofe	41,325	73.81
				Singapore Justice Party	A R Suib M Ramasamy Theng Chin Eng	14,660	26.19
Moulmein SMC	1	19,229		People's Action Party	Lawrence Sia	11,334	66.08
				Workers' Party	A Balakrishnan	5,817	33.92
Mountbatten SMC	1	17,747		People's Action Party	Eugene Yap Giau Cheng	12,712	78.15
				Independent	Chiam Pan Boon	3,554	21.85
Nee Soon Central SMC	1	24,403		People's Action Party	Ng Pock Too	13,396	57.61
				Singapore Democratic Party	Cheo Chai Chen	8,944	38.46
				United People's Front	Giam Lai Cheng	914	3.93
Nee Soon South SMC	1	22,542		People's Action Party	Koh Lip Lin	13,793	64.88
				Singapore Democratic Party	Yong Chu Leong	6,533	28.98
				United People's Front	Munjeet Singh	932	4.39
Pasir Panjang GRC	3	66,600		People's Action Party	Abbas Abu Amin Bernard Chen Tien Lap Wan Soon Bee	38,545	61.57
				Workers' Party	Gan Eng Guan Mohd Taib Sattar Wee Han Kim	24,059	38.43
Paya Lebar SMC	1	25,076		People's Action Party	Philip Tan Tee Yong	12,352	52.36
				Singapore Democratic Party	Chew David	11,240	47.64
Potong Pasir SMC	1	19,852		Singapore Democratic Party	Chiam See Tong	11,804	63.13
				People's Action Party	Kenneth Chen Koon Lap	6,893	36.87
Punggol SMC	1	31,577		People's Action Party	Ng Kah Ting	17,914	59.85
				Singapore Democratic Party	Abdul Rasheed Y. Abdul Kuthus	12,017	40.15
Sembawang GRC	3	55,633		People's Action Party	Tony Tan Charles Chong K. Shanmugam	36,154	70.08
				United People's Front	Ang Bee Lian Kasim Bin Ibrahim Harbans Singh	15,436	29.92
Serangoon Gardens SMC	1	24,831		People's Action Party	Lau Teik Soon	16,234	74.17
				Independent	Harry Baptist	5,654	25.83
Siglap SMC	1	18,650		People's Action Party	Abdullah Tarmugi	12,101	73.73
				Workers' Party	Chong Tung Shang	4,311	26.27
Tampines GRC	3	65,148		People's Action Party	Mah Bow Tan Aline Wong Yatiman Yusof	37,216	61.00
				National Solidarity Party	Abdul Malik Bin Ali Chan Yeng Cheong Lim Ah Yong	23,796	39.00
Tanglin SMC	1	17,497		People's Action Party	Lew Syn Pau	Uncontested
Tanjong Pagar SMC	1	19,041		People's Action Party	Lee Kuan Yew	14,043	81.60
				Independent	M G Guru	3,167	18.40
Teck Ghee SMC	1	15,510		People's Action Party	Lee Hsien Loong	11,512	79.13
				Independent	Patrick Leong S C	3,037	20.87
Telok Blangah SMC	1	18,609		People's Action Party	Koh Lam Son	11,160	64.21
				Workers' Party	Tan Soo Phuan	6,220	35.79
Thomson SMC	1	34,886		People's Action Party	Leong Horn Kee	21,514	67.01
				Singapore Democratic Party	Ng Teck Siong	10,590	32.99
Tiong Bahru GRC	3	58,898		People's Action Party	Chng Hee Kok Ch'ng Jit Koon S Vasoo	31,732	57.84
				Workers' Party	Low Thia Khiang Lim Lye Soon Gopalan Nair	23,132	42.16
Toa Payoh GRC	3	49,243		People's Action Party	Davinder Singh Ho Tat Kin Wong Kan Seng	Uncontested
Ulu Pandan SMC	1	23,587		People's Action Party	Dixie Tan	14,436	69.07
				Singapore Democratic Party	George Sita	6,466	30.93
Whampoa SMC	1	13,819		People's Action Party	Augustine Tan Hui Heng	7,522	59.47
				National Solidarity Party	Ken Sunn	5,126	40.53
Yio Chu Kang SMC	1	15,991		People's Action Party	Lau Ping Sum	10,996	73.67
				National Solidarity Party	Rasiah Thiagarajah	3,931	26.33
Yuhua SMC	1	19,190		People's Action Party	Yu-Foo Yee Shoon	11,497	62.96
				Singapore Democratic Party	Toh Kim Kiat	6,765	37.04
Source: ELD

Aftermath

In a further development in the structure of Parliament, the government implemented the Nominated Member of Parliament (NMPs) scheme in November 1990, two years after the general election. The initiative was intended to provide a platform for non-partisan and expert voices in legislative discussions. Although the enabling law permitted up to six Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) to be appointed, only two were selected initially. These NMPs served for a one-year term before the end of that Parliament's session, laying the groundwork for broader inclusion of civil society and professional perspectives in subsequent terms.