# Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency

The Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency is a Single Member Constituency (SMC) in the central region of Singapore. It is managed by Jalan Besar Town Council. The current Member of Parliament of the constituency is People's Action Party (PAP) Sitoh Yih Pin.

## History

The constituency's most famous MP is Chiam See Tong, who currently leads the Singapore People's Party. Back when he was with the Singapore Democratic Party, he defeated the People's Action Party's candidate, Mah Bow Tan (who would later become a Cabinet Minister and MP for Tampines GRC) in the 1984 general election, as well as other candidates such as Sitoh Yih Pin and Andy Gan Lai Chiang.
The seat used to be a hotly contested seat in the general elections. In the 2001 general election, Chiam won the seat by 751 votes to Sitoh, clinching 52.4% of the votes. Chiam subsequently improved his winning margin to 55.8% in the 2006 general election.

### PAP held

In the 2011 Singaporean general election, Chiam did not contest his seat but lead a team to contest at the Bishan–Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency. Chiam's wife, Lina Loh, became his successor for the constituency and contested for the seat against Sitoh. Loh lost the election on a marginal percentage of 0.72%. As the best performing loser at the polls, Loh was offered the non-constituency MP (NCMP) position and accepted it.
In the 2015 Singaporean general election, Sitoh retained his seat, this time with 66.41% of the votes, again defeating Loh.
Following the release of the EBRC report for the 2020 General Election, the Toa Payoh estates under this SMC were transferred into the 4-member Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC while this constituency in return, took the Joo Seng and Woodleigh neighbourhoods from the neighbouring Marine Parade GRC's Geylang Serai ward, to allow further development. Sitoh would defeated Singapore People's Party Jose Raymond with a vote count of 60.67% vs 39.33%, winning a third term as the incumbent MP for Potong Pasir.
Due to new developments in the Bidadari area under the SMC, the Elections Department Singapore on on 11 March 2025 carved part of the SMC out to merge into a new Marine Parade–Braddell Heights Group Representation Constituency for the 2025 Singaporean general election.

## Member of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| Formation ||||
| 1968 | Sellappa Ramaswamy | PAP |
| 1972 | Baptist Ivan Cuthbert | PAP |
| 1979 | Howe Yoon Chong | PAP |
| 1984 | Chiam See Tong | SDP |
| 1988 | Chiam See Tong | SDP |
| 1991 | Chiam See Tong | SDP |
| 1997 | Chiam See Tong | SPP |
| 2001 | Chiam See Tong | SDA |
| 2006 | Chiam See Tong | SDA |
| 2011 | Sitoh Yih Pin | PAP |
| 2015 | Sitoh Yih Pin | PAP |
| 2020 | Sitoh Yih Pin | PAP |

## Electoral results

Note : Elections Department Singapore do not include rejected votes for calculation of candidate's vote share. Hence, the total of all candidates' vote share will be 100%.

### Elections in 1960s

General Election 1968: Potong Pasir :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | PAP | Sellappa Ramaswamy | Walkover | | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | | |
| | PAP win (new seat) | PAP win (new seat) | PAP win (new seat) | PAP win (new seat) | PAP win (new seat) |

### Elections in 1970s

General Election 1972: Potong Pasir :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | PAP | Ivan Cuthbert Baptist | 7,772 | 66.2 | N/A |
| | WP | Rajaratnam Murugason | 3,391 | 28.9 | N/A |
| | United National Front | Harnek Singh | 573 | 4.9 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,381 | 37.3 | − |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,990 | 91.5 | − |
| | PAP hold | PAP hold | Swing | N/A | |
General Election 1976: Potong Pasir :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | PAP | Ivan Cuthbert Baptist | 9,667 | 74.8 | 8.6 |
| | WP | Quek Doh Lam | 3,252 | 25.2 | 8.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,415 | 49.6 | 12.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 13,255 | 93.6 | 2.1 |
| | PAP hold | PAP hold | Swing | 8.6 | |
By Election 1979: Potong Pasir :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | PAP | Howe Yoon Chong | 9,056 | 66.9 | 7.9 |
| | Independent | Chiam See Tong | 4,491 | 33.1 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,565 | 33.7 | 15.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 13,845 | 94.2 | 0.6 |
| | PAP hold | PAP hold | Swing | 7.9 | |

### Elections in 1980s

General Election 1980: Potong Pasir :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | PAP | Howe Yoon Chong | 5,509 | 59.0 | 7.9 |
| | SDP | Chiam See Tong | 3,821 | 41.0 | 7.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,688 | 18.0 | 31.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,486 | 94.2 | 0.6 |
| | PAP hold | PAP hold | Swing | 7.9 | |
General Election 1984: Potong Pasir :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SDP | Chiam See Tong | 10,128 | 60.3 | 19.3 |
| | PAP | Mah Bow Tan | 6,674 | 39.7 | 19.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,454 | 20.6 | 38.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 17,078 | 95.3 | 1.1 |
| | SDP gain from PAP | SDP gain from PAP | Swing | 19.3 | |
General Election 1988: Potong Pasir :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SDP | Chiam See Tong | 11,804 | 63.1 | 2.8 |
| | PAP | Kenneth Chen Koon Lap | 6,893 | 36.9 | 2.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,911 | 26.2 | 5.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 18,697 | 95.4 | 0.1 |
| | SDP hold | SDP hold | Swing | 2.8 | |

### Elections in 1990s

General Election 1991: Potong Pasir :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SDP | Chiam See Tong | 12,582 | 69.64 | 6.5 |
| | PAP | Andy Gan | 5,486 | 30.36 | 6.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,096 | 39.2 | 13.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 18,325 | 95.1 | 0.3 |
| | SDP hold | SDP hold | Swing | 6.5 | |
General Election 1997: Potong Pasir :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SPP | Chiam See Tong | 9,709 | 55.15 | 14.49 |
| | PAP | Andy Gan | 7,895 | 44.85 | 14.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,814 | 10.30 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 17,884 | 95.1 | 0 |
| | SPP gain from SDP | SPP gain from SDP | Swing | 14.4 | |

### Elections in 2000s

General Election 2001: Potong Pasir :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SDA | Chiam See Tong | 8,107 | 52.43 | 2.72 |
| | PAP | Sitoh Yih Pin | 7,356 | 47.57 | 2.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 751 | 4.8 | 5.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 15,463 | 98.9 | 3.8 |
| | SDA gain from SPP | SDA gain from SPP | Swing | 2.8 | |
General Election 2006: Potong Pasir :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SDA | Chiam See Tong | 8,245 | 55.82 | 3.39 |
| | PAP | Sitoh Yih Pin | 6,527 | 44.18 | 3.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,718 | 11.6 | 6.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 14,958 | 94.1 | 4.8 |
| | SDA hold | SDA hold | Swing | 3.4 | |

### Elections in 2010s

General Election 2011: Potong Pasir :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | PAP | Sitoh Yih Pin | 7,992 | 50.36 | 6.18 |
| | SPP | Lina Chiam | 7,878 | 49.64 | 6.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 114 | 0.8 | 12.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 16,112 | 93.0 | 1.1 |
| | PAP gain from SDA | PAP gain from SDA | Swing | 6.2 | |
General Election 2015: Potong Pasir :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | PAP | Sitoh Yih Pin | 10,581 | 66.41 | 16.05 |
| | SPP | Lina Chiam | 5,353 | 33.59 | 16.05 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,228 | 32.10 | 31.30 |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 224 | 1.39 | - |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 16,158 | 92.82 | 0.18 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 17,407 | | |
| | PAP hold | PAP hold | Swing | 16.05 | |

### Elections in 2020s

General Election 2020: Potong Pasir :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | PAP | Sitoh Yih Pin | 11,264 | 60.67 | 5.74 |
| | SPP | Jose Raymond | 7,302 | 39.33 | 5.74 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,962 | 21.34 | |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 279 | 1.48 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 18,845 | 95.51 | 2.69 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 19,731 | | |
| | PAP hold | PAP hold | Swing | 5.74 | |