1979 Singaporean by-elections

Singaporean by-elections in 1979 August 2023 1979 Singaporean by-elections Singapore Parliamentary no 1977 Singaporean by-elections 1977 10 February 1979 1981 Anson by-election 1981 7 seats to the Parliament of Singapore 74,887 (93.52%) 1.39% Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore Making a Toast at a State Dinner Held in His Honor, 1975.jpg 150x150px Lee Kuan Yew PAP 7 53,222 72.69% 1.37% JoshuaBenjaminJeyaretnam-Singapore-20051107-cropped.jpg 150x150px J. B. Jeyaretnam WP 0 8,036 10.98% 5.59% MP Perumal GovindaswamyYong Nyuk LinNg Yeow ChongOng Soo ChuanIvan BaptistTeong Eng SiongShaik Ahmad bin Abdul Haleem PAP Elected MP Devan NairTeh Cheang WanEugene YapKoh Lip LinHowe Yoon ChongTony TanRohan bin Kamis PAP 80,075 By-elections were held in Singapore on 10 February 1979 for seven constituencies, with nominations being accepted on 31 January. With 80,075 registered voters, the 1979 by-elections remain the largest by-election by combined electorate to have ever taken place in post-independence Singapore. All candidates for the governing People's Action Party (PAP) won their respective by-elections. Background Continuing the trend of the PAP's renewal just as they did in the 1970 by-elections, six seats, including Communications minister Yong Nyuk Lin, were vacated on 12 January to make room for six new MPs. A seventh seat in Anson was earlier vacated a year prior following the death of Perumal Govindaswamy. As such, the seven seats at stake are widely regarded as the biggest-ever by-election in Singapore's history, and it had the most seats changed since the Barisan Sosialis' mass exodus in the inaugural Parliament back in 1966. The United People's Front criticized Barisan Sosialis for abstaining the by-elections citing an uphill contest against opposition stalwarts, notably independent Chiam See Tong, who contested in his eventual safe seat of Potong Pasir for the first time in his career (he contested Cairnhill on his debut in 1976). In the end, only Geylang West (which one United Front (now Democratic Progressive Party) candidate was later disqualified) and Nee Soon were uncontested. As of , this by-election was the most recent by-election in Singapore with walkovers. Candidates The by-election saw the return of Devan Nair into Singapore politics since 1963; his last appearance was in 1955 where he was the only PAP candidate to be defeated in the Farrer Park Constituency, while his wife, Avadai Dhanam Lakshimi, was elected in 1963 under the Moulmein Constituency before retiring one term later in 1968. The following candidates, all from PAP, also marked their debuts: Candidates BackgroundHowe Yoon ChongHowe, a 56-year-old senior civil servant and developer in the modern-day Singapore, was contesting in Potong Pasir; Howe had earlier planned for its debut in the 1955 election but decided not to do so due to job commitments. Jeremy Au Yong The reluctant politician The Straits Times 22 August 2007 H8 Cai Tiancheng Ex-Minister Howe Yoon Chong dies at 84 Lianhe Zaobao 22 August 2007 Keith Lin and Lee Hui Chieh Ex-minister Howe Yoon Chong, 84, dies The Straits Times 22 August 2007 3Late Mr Howe played key role in developing national icons: SM Goh http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/295454/1/.html Channel NewsAsia 22 August 2007 23 August 2007 24 August 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070824054114/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/295454/1/.html live Li Xueying Tribute to Howe Yoon Chong The Straits Times 23 August 2007 Rohan bin KamisRohan bin Kamis, a 30-year-old accountant and law practitioner who was contesting in Telok Blangah.Koh Lip LinKoh, a 44-year-old chemist and a dean of the College of Science of Nanyang University,14 October 1972 New dean https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/newnation19721014-1.2.22 19 March 2024 New Nation 3 NewspaperSG joined PAP a year prior to the by-election. Koh is contesting Nee Soon.12 January 1979 4TH CANDIDATE A CHEMISTRY DON https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/biztimes19790112-1.2.52 19 March 2024 The Business Times 12 NewspaperSGTony TanTan, a 39-year-old general manager in OCBC Bank and a former lecturer of the Department of Mathematics at NUS, marked its debut in the by-election contesting Sembawang. Tan, besides Devan Nair, would later become future presidents when Tan won the 2011 presidential election.Teh Cheang WanTeh, a 51-year-old architect who is also both the chief executive officer of Housing and Development Board (HDB) and Chair of Jurong Town Corporation (JTC), made his debut contesting Geylang West. Teh resigned from both posts prior to the by-election.Eugene Yap Giau ChengYap, a 36-year-old chief chemist of Fraser and Neave, marked his electoral debut contesting in Mountbatten. Results Anson ConstituencyELD 1979 Parliamentary By-election Results https://www.eld.gov.sg/elections_past_by1979.html 2025-07-17 Elections Department SingaporeSingapore Parliamentary By-Elections 1979 > Anson https://sg-elections.com/by-election/1979/anson.html 2025-07-17 sg-elections.com People's Action Party Devan Nair 8,127 86.21 N/A United Front (Singapore) Johnny Wee Lai Seng 1,300 13.79 N/A 6,827 72. N/A 9,427 97.25 N/A 267 2.75 N/A 9,694 86.22 N/A 11,243 11.85 People's Action Party By-election 1979: Geylang West People's Action Party Teh Cheang Wan Walkover 20,874 People's Action Party N/A By-election 1979: Mountbatten People's Action Party Eugene Yap Giau Cheng 10,528 79.9 +14.0 United Front (Singapore) Seow Khee Leng 2,642 20.1 -14.0 7,886 59.8 +28 13,536 94.9 -0.4 People's Action Party +14.0 By-election 1979: Nee Soon People's Action Party Koh Lip Lin Walkover 15,932 People's Action Party N/A By-election 1979: Potong Pasir People's Action Party Howe Yoon Chong 9,056 66.8 -8.0 Independent Chiam See Tong 4,491 33.2 +33.2 4,565 33.6 -16 13,854 94.2 +0.6 People's Action Party -8.0 By-election 1979: Sembawang People's Action Party Tony Tan Keng Yam 12,824 78.4 -5.2 United People's Front Harbans Singh 3,528 21.6 +5.2 9,296 56.8 -10.4 16,714 94.6 -0.2 People's Action Party -5.2 By-election 1979: Telok Blangah People's Action Party Rohan bin Kamis 12,687 61.2 N/A Workers' Party of Singapore Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam 8,036 38.8 N/A 4,651 22.4 N/A 21,089 95.0 N/A People's Action Party N/A References Background of 1979 By election Results of 1979 By election 1979 Singapore By-elections Singaporean by-elections