The Hougang Single Member Constituency is a
single member constituency
A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a Multiwinner voting, multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes call ...
(SMC) located in the
north-eastern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
area of
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
. Its current Member of Parliament is
Dennis Tan Lip Fong
Dennis Tan Lip Fong ( zh, s=陈立峰, p=Chén Lìfēng; born 31 August 1970) is a Singaporean politician and lawyer. A member of the opposition Workers' Party (Singapore), Workers' Party (WP), he has been the 14th Parliament of Singapore, Member ...
of the
Workers' Party (WP).
History
The constituency was first formed prior to the
1988 general election and was won by the
People's Action Party
The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...
(PAP) in its debut.
However, PAP's representation of Hougang SMC would only last three years, when it lost the seat to
Low Thia Khiang
Low Thia Khiang (; born 5 September 1956) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Secretary-General of the Workers' Party (WP) between 2001 and 2018. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hougang SMC between 1991 and 2011 and Aljun ...
after an almost 12% swing to the
Workers' Party (WP) during the
1991 general election.
From 1991 to 2011, it was one of only two opposition-held (i.e. non-PAP) seats in
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. Low contested in
Aljunied Group Representation Constituency
The Aljunied Group Representation Constituency is a five-member group representation constituency (GRC) in the north-eastern and eastern region of Singapore. The GRC consists of five divisions: Eunos, Bedok Reservoir-Punggol, Kaki Bukit, Sera ...
(GRC) – and won – during the
2011 general election, and was succeeded by
Yaw Shin Leong
Yaw Shin Leong (; born 2 June 1976) is a Singaporean businessman and former opposition politician of the Worker's Party.
He was previously a treasurer and was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Hougang after the 2011 Sin ...
, who retained the seat by defeating PAP candidate
Desmond Choo
Desmond Choo Pey Ching (; born 1978) is a Singaporean politician and former police officer who has been serving as Mayor of North East District since 2017 and Assistant Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress since 2015. A membe ...
with 65% of the vote.
On 15 February 2012, Yaw was expelled from the party for personal indiscretions, triggering a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
. He was succeeded by
Png Eng Huat
Png Eng Huat (; born 9 December 1961) is a Singaporean politician and businessman and a member of the opposition Worker's Party (WP).
Png became an elected opposition MP of Hougang SMC in the 12th and 13th Parliaments from 26 May 2012, to 23 ...
, who retained the seat for the party with 62.1% of the vote.
Png retired prior to the
2020 general election; the WP candidate
Dennis Tan Lip Fong
Dennis Tan Lip Fong ( zh, s=陈立峰, p=Chén Lìfēng; born 31 August 1970) is a Singaporean politician and lawyer. A member of the opposition Workers' Party (Singapore), Workers' Party (WP), he has been the 14th Parliament of Singapore, Member ...
retained the seat in that election with 61.2% of the vote.
Constituency profile
The seat is located in the
North-East Region of the country, with the closest train station being the namesake
Hougang MRT station
Hougang MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the North East line (NEL) in the Hougang planning area in Singapore. Located within the Hougang Town Centre, the station is directly connected to Hougang Central Bus I ...
on the
North East Line
The North East MRT line (NEL) is a high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in Singapore. Operated by SBS Transit, it is the shortest MRT line at . The line runs from HarbourFront station in southern Singapore to Punggol station in the n ...
and the
Cross Island Line (currently under construction), although the station itself is not located within the SMC but just outside it, in the adjacent Aljunied GRC – which is also represented by WP MPs. Hougang Community Club and Hougang Neighbourhood Park are located within the constituency.
The constituency is almost entirely an
enclave
An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
within Aljunied GRC, except for Hougang ActiveSG Sports Centre which consists of
Hougang Stadium, a sports hall and swimming pool that comes under
Ang Mo Kio GRC
The Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the north eastern region of Singapore. The constituency encompasses the majority of Ang Mo Kio (Teck Ghee, Cheng San-Seletar, porti ...
on Hougang SMC's western border. The constituency has been labeled a stronghold for the WP by political analysts, having been retained by the party since 1991.
Town council
Hougang SMC is managed by the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council, a combined town council that administers both Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC.
Members of Parliament
Electoral results
Elections in 1980s
Elections in 1990s
Elections in 2000s
Elections in 2010s
Elections in 2020s
References
Further reading
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Singaporean electoral divisions
Hougang