# 2001 Singaporean general election

General elections were held in Singapore on 3 November 2001. President S.R. Nathan dissolved parliament on 18 October 2001 on the advice of Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. The ruling People's Action Party (PAP) won 82 of the 84 elected seats in Parliament in a landslide victory. Due to the large number (55) of uncontested seats, only 675,306 of the 2,036,923 eligible voters (33%) had an opportunity to vote. As of the recent election in 2020, this was the most recent, and fourth overall (third consecutive) election PAP returned to power on nomination day with a majority of uncontested walkovers.
This election marked the first time that total eligible voter population exceeded the 2 million mark.

## Background

The ruling PAP's secretary-general and Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong initially scheduled for the election to be held in 2002, but pushed to November after Singapore faced an economic crisis due to the events of September 11 attacks in the United States.
For the first time since 1963, a formal political umbrella emerged from within the opposition. The four-party Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), which consist of the leader party Singapore People's Party (SPP), the National Solidarity Party (NSP), Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura (PKMS) and Singapore Justice Party (SJP), was led by Chiam See Tong. SDA fielded the most candidates in the election, where NSP provided the bulk of nine candidates, SPP with four, and PKMS providing a required minority candidate.
Former Workers' Party (WP) Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, who lost his seat after being declared a bankrupt owing to lawsuits by PAP leaders, resigned from the party, citing disagreements with the present leadership. The only WP Member of Parliament, Low Thia Khiang took over as secretary-general. During nomination day, WP was nominated on only two wards (Hougang and Nee Soon East SMC), as their sole GRC team who attempt to nominate in Aljunied Group Representation Constituency was disqualified for filing incomplete papers.
A seat had been vacated in 1999 after the conviction of Jalan Besar GRC's MP Choo Wee Khiang over commercial crimes, but no by-election was held as the seat was within a GRC. Under the law, an entire electoral constituency (for both single member and GRC seats) has to be vacated before a by-election could be called, as this was done during the Marine Parade GRC by-election of 1992.

### Campaign

This election saw its shortest campaigning period of 17 days after opening of the register of electors, as well as the absence of four-member GRCs from the electoral map (four-member GRCs would reappear again in the 2011 elections, in nearly a decade later). Another increase of the election deposit amount this time was the most significant one in history, increasing from $8,000 to $13,000.

## Timeline

| Date | Event |
| 17 October | Publication of Electoral Boundaries report; Certification of Registers of Electors |
| 18 October | Dissolution of 9th Parliament; Writ of Election issued |
| 25 October | Nomination Day |
| 26 October-2 November | Campaigning Period |
| 3 November | Polling Day |
| 25 March 2002 | Opening of 10th Parliament |

## Electoral boundaries

The Publication of Electoral Boundaries report for the 2001 election was released on 17 October 2001, the day prior to the current parliament's dissolution. The 10th Parliament will return 84 seats, with nine SMCs, nine five-member GRCs and five six-member GRCs; all the four-member GRCs were eliminated. For the first time ever, some group representation constituencies kept their status quo from the last election, meaning that the boundaries for these wards are left untouched (in this case, Bishan-Toa Payoh and Marine Parade), a recurring feature seen in every succeeding general election.
| Constituency | Changes |
| Aljunied GRC | Absorbed the southern Punggol divisions from Cheng San GRC, and Lorong Halus area/Paya Lebar Air Base from Pasir Ris GRC Kampong Kembangan division was split into Aljunied-Kembangan and Kembangan-Punggol divisions (the latter absorbed with Punggol East from Cheng San GRC), while Punggol South division was renamed to Aljunied–Hougang Carved out Changi-Simei division to East Coast GRC and Aljunied division to Marine Parade GRC |
| Ang Mo Kio GRC | Ward upsized to six members Absorbed Cheng San and Jalan Kayu divisions from Cheng San GRC Ang Mo Kio division was absorbed into Yio Chu Kang and Teck Ghee divisions |
| East Coast GRC | Absorbed Changi-Simei division from Aljunied GRC Carved out Joo Chiat division into SMC |
| Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC | New Constituency Formed with Ulu Pandan, Bukit Panjang and Buona Vista divisions from Bukit Timah GRC, Sembawang GRC and Tanjong Pagar GRC, respectively Bukit Panjang divisions was split to include Cashew and Zhenghua divisions, while some of Zhenghua division was split from Tanglin division |
| Hong Kah GRC | Absorbed Bukit Gombak SMC, and a portion of Chua Chu Kang SMC (to form Keat Hong division) Carved out Hong Kah East division to Jurong GRC Hong Kah West was merged into Nanyang division |
| Jalan Besar GRC | Ward upsized to five members Absorbed Kampong Glam SMC, Kreta Ayer and Kim Seng divisions (which would merge into Kreta Ayer–Kim Seng division) from Kreta Ayer–Tanglin GRC Geylang West division was absorbed into Kolam Ayer and Jalan Besar divisions |
| Jurong GRC | New Constituency Formed from a majority of Bukit Timah GRC (except for Bukit Timah division, which carved into SMC), and Hong Kah East division from Hong Kah GRC Jurong division was split into Pioneer and Taman Jurong divisions, while Bukit Batok East division was formed from portions of Bukit Batok, Bukit Gombak & Bukit Timah divisions |
| Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC | New Constituency Formed from Pasir Ris GRC (except for the Pasir Ris South division, which was absorbed into Tampines GRC) and northern Punggol divisions of Cheng San GRC (Punggol Central, North and South) |
| Sembawang GRC | Carved out Nee Soon East division into SMC, and Bukit Panjang division into Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC Sembawang and Woodlands division were split to include Canberra and Admiralty divisions respectively |
| Tampines GRC | Ward upsized to five members Absorbed Pasir Ris South division from Pasir Ris GRC (renamed to Tampines North) |
| Tanjong Pagar GRC | Absorbed Moulmein and Tanglin (renamed to Tanglin-Cairnhill) divisions from Kreta Ayer–Tanglin GRC Carved out Buona Vista division to Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC Leng Kee division was absorbed into Queenstown, Radin Mas and Tanglin-Cairnhill divisions |
| West Coast GRC | Ward upsized to five members Absorbed Boon Lay SMC and some of Bukit Timah GRC (Jurong, Joo Koon, Gul Circle and Tuas) Pasir Panjang division was dissolved into Telok Blangah and West Coast divisions |

## Outgoing/New MPs

There were a total of 40 (25 PAP) candidates making their political debut in the 2001 election. Notable figures were Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Halimah Yacob, both of which would later go on to become Presidents of Singapore. 24 incumbent MPs retired prior to the announcements. 15 candidates outside PAP were also new, among which new faces include Chee Siok Chin, sister of the SDP's leader Chee Soon Juan, as well as Desmond Lim, who would later lead the newly formed SDA in future years, and a future Perennial candidate Ooi Boon Ewe.
| New PAP candidates | Outgoing MPs | New opposition candidates |
| Ahmad Khalis, 40 Amy Khor, 43 Arthur Fong, 37 Balaji Sadasivan, 46 Cedric Foo, 41 Chong Weng Chiew, 32 Cynthia Phua, 43 Eric Low, 53 Gan Kim Yong, 42 Halimah Yacob, 47 Indranee Rajah, 38 Irene Ng, 37 Khaw Boon Wan, 48 Madeleine Ho, 45 Mohammed Maliki bin Osman, 36 Ng Eng Hen, 42 Ong Seh Hong, 37 Penny Low, 34 Raymond Lim, 42 Sitoh Yih Pin, 38 Tharman Shanmugaratnam, 44 Vivian Balakrishnan, 40 Warren Lee, 41 Wee Siew Kim, 41 Zainudin Nordin, 38 | Aline Wong (Tampines GRC (Changkat)) Bernard Chen Tien Lap (West Coast GRC (Clementi)) Chng Hee Kok (East Coast GRC (Fengshan)) Eugene Yap (Marine Parade GRC (Mountbatten)) Goh Chee Wee (Boon Lay) Goh Choon Kang (Marine Parade GRC (Braddell Heights)) Harun Abdul bin Ghani (Hong Kah GRC (Hong Kah West)) Heng Chiang Meng (Cheng San GRC (Jalan Kayu)) Ho Tat Kin (Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC (Bishan North)) Ibrahim Othman (Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC (Toa Payoh Central)) Kenneth Chen Koon Lap (Hong Kah GRC (Hong Kah North)) Ker Sin Tze (Aljunied GRC (Paya Lebar)) Lew Syn Pau (Kreta Ayer–Tanglin GRC (Tanglin)) Ow Chin Hock (Tanjong Pagar GRC (Leng Kee)) Peh Chin Hua (Jalan Besar GRC (Geylang West)) Peter Chen (Hong Kah GRC (Nanyang)) Richard Hu (Kreta Ayer–Tanglin GRC (Kreta Ayer)) S Vasoo (Tanjong Pagar GRC (Radin Mas)) Sidek bin Saniff (Aljunied GRC (Eunos)) Sinakruppan Ramasamy (Kreta Ayer–Tanglin GRC (Moulmein)) Tang Guan Seng (Ang Mo Kio GRC (Ang Mo Kio)) Toh See Kiat (Aljunied GRC (Aljunied)) Wan Soon Bee (West Coast GRC (Pasir Panjang)) | Chee Siok Chin, 35 (SDP) Fong Chin Leong, 32 (SDA) Foo Kok Wah, 30 (SDA) Mohamad Isa bin Abdul Aziz, 43 (SDP) Desmond Lim Bak Chuan, 34 (SDA) Lim Boon Heng, 25 (SDP) Arthero Lim Tung Hee, 46 (SDP) Ng Kee How, 47 (SDA) Ooi Boon Ewe, 60 (IND) Poh Lee Guan, 40 (WP) Mohamad Rahizan bin Yaacob, 45 (SDA) Tan Kim Chuang, 55 (IND) Sebastian Teo Kway Huang, 53 (SDA) Tong Meng Chye, 53 (SDA) Vincent Yeo Boon Keng, 48 (SDP) |
* ^ Richard Hu initially announced that he would seek another term in leading a team for the new Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC, but the idea was scrapped.

## Results

PAP won a landslide victory and its best result since 1980, achieving its third highest score among the general elections it has contested since 1959. The PAP's vote percentage of 75.3% signaled an overwhelming endorsement of the PAP to lead the nation out of the crisis that came at a time of great uncertainty over world security and the recession that came after the September 11 attacks. Notably, Chong Weng Chiew and Penny Low became the first two MPs to be born in post-independent Singapore.
Both opposition-held wards were successfully retained but saw their winning margins reduced. With these two opposition wins, one NCMP seat was offered to and accepted by Steve Chia of Singapore Democratic Alliance, who became the youngest and first-ever non-WP NCMP. It would be the last election until 2020 where NCMP seats would not be given to WP.
Two candidates, Tan Kim Chuang and Tan Lead Shake, had each forfeited their $13,000 election deposit, the latter being a straight contest where Tan Cheng Bock won the best performing election result at 87.96% in Ayer Rajah Constituency; This is the last election to date where there was a forfeiture of election deposit outside multi-cornered contests.
| | People's Action Party | 470,765 | 75.29 | +10.31 | 82 | +1 |
| | Singapore Democratic Alliance | 75,248 | 12.03 | +2.95 | 1 | 0 |
| | Singapore Democratic Party | 50,607 | 8.09 | –2.53 | 0 | 0 |
| | Workers' Party | 19,060 | 3.05 | –11.12 | 1 | 0 |
| | Democratic Progressive Party | 5,334 | 0.85 | +0.15 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independents | 4,253 | 0.68 | +0.23 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 625,267 | 100.00 | – | 84 | +1 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 625,267 | 97.87 | | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 13,636 | 2.13 | | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 638,903 | 100.00 | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 2,036,923 | 94.61 | | | |
| Source: Singapore Elections |||||||

### By constituency

| Constituency | Seats | Electorate | Party | Candidates | Votes | % |
| Aljunied GRC | 5 | 125,115 | People's Action Party | Ong Seh Hong Cynthia Phua Yeo Guat Kwang George Yeo Zainul Abidin | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Ang Mo Kio GRC | 6 | 166,644 | People's Action Party | Inderjit Singh Lee Hsien Loong Balaji Sadasivan Seng Han Thong Tan Boon Wan Wee Siew Kim | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Ayer Rajah SMC | 1 | 18,475 | People's Action Party | Tan Cheng Bock | 15,024 | 87.96 |
| Ayer Rajah SMC | 1 | 18,475 | Democratic Progressive Party | Tan Lead Shake | 2,057 | 12.04 |
| Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC | 5 | 114,621 | People's Action Party | Davinder Singh Leong Horn Kee Ng Eng Hen Wong Kan Seng Zainudin Nordin | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Bukit Timah SMC | 1 | 26,951 | People's Action Party | Wang Kai Yuen | 19,121 | 77.37 |
| Bukit Timah SMC | 1 | 26,951 | Singapore Democratic Alliance | Tong Meng Chye | 4,376 | 17.71 |
| Bukit Timah SMC | 1 | 26,951 | Independent | Tan Kim Chuang | 1,215 | 4.92 |
| Chua Chu Kang SMC | 1 | 24,863 | People's Action Party | Low Seow Chay | 15,349 | 65.34 |
| Chua Chu Kang SMC | 1 | 24,863 | Singapore Democratic Alliance | Steve Chia | 8,143 | 34.66 |
| East Coast GRC | 6 | 144,012 | People's Action Party | Abdullah Tarmugi Chew Heng Ching Lee Yock Suan Raymond Lim S. Jayakumar Tan Soo Khoon | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Holland-Bukit Panjang GRC | 5 | 118,834 | People's Action Party | Gan Kim Yong Lim Swee Say David Lim Teo Ho Pin Vivian Balakrishnan | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Hong Kah GRC | 5 | 129,073 | People's Action Party | Ahmad Khalis Abdul Ghani Ang Mong Seng John Chen Amy Khor Yeo Cheow Tong | 96,450 | 79.74 |
| Hong Kah GRC | 5 | 129,073 | Singapore Democratic Party | Cheo Chai Chen Lim Boon Heng Lim Tung Hee Sarry Bin Hassan Wong Hong Toy | 24,513 | 20.26 |
| Hougang SMC | 1 | 23,320 | Workers' Party | Low Thia Khiang | 12,070 | 54.98 |
| Hougang SMC | 1 | 23,320 | People's Action Party | Eric Low | 9,882 | 45.02 |
| Jalan Besar GRC | 5 | 100,268 | People's Action Party | Heng Chee How Lee Boon Yang Loh Meng See Lily Neo Yaacob Ibrahim | 68,309 | 74.48 |
| Jalan Besar GRC | 5 | 100,268 | Singapore Democratic Alliance | Fong Chin Leong Lim Bak Chuan Mohd Rahizan Bin Yaacob Ng Kee How Sin Kek Tong | 23,391 | 25.51 |
| Joo Chiat SMC | 1 | 21,745 | People's Action Party | Chan Soo Sen | 15,426 | 83.55 |
| Joo Chiat SMC | 1 | 21,745 | Independent | Ooi Boon Ewe | 3,038 | 16.45 |
| Jurong GRC | 5 | 115,113 | People's Action Party | Foo Yee Shoon Halimah Yacob Lim Boon Heng Ong Chit Chung Tharman Shanmugaratnam | 84,742 | 79.75 |
| Jurong GRC | 5 | 115,113 | Singapore Democratic Party | Chee Siok Chin Chee Soon Juan Karuppiah Ambalam Gandhi Mohamed Isa Bin Abdul Aziz Vincent Yeo | 21,511 | 20.25 |
| MacPherson SMC | 1 | 22,010 | People's Action Party | Matthias Yao | 16,870 | 83.73 |
| MacPherson SMC | 1 | 22,010 | Democratic Progressive Party | Tan Soo Phuan | 3,277 | 16.27 |
| Marine Parade GRC | 6 | 140,174 | People's Action Party | Gan Lai Chiang Goh Chok Tong Mohamad Maidin bin Packer Mohd Othman Haron Eusofe R Ravindran Lim Hwee Hua | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Nee Soon Central SMC | 1 | 22,975 | People's Action Party | Ong Ah Heng | 16,755 | 78.52 |
| Nee Soon Central SMC | 1 | 22,975 | Singapore Democratic Party | Ling How Doong | 4,583 | 21.48 |
| Nee Soon East SMC | 1 | 28,465 | People's Action Party | Ho Peng Kee | 19,566 | 73.68 |
| Nee Soon East SMC | 1 | 28,465 | Workers' Party | Poh Lee Guan | 6,990 | 26.32 |
| Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC | 5 | 134,151 | People's Action Party | Ahmad Magad Charles Chong Michael Lim Penny Low Teo Chee Hean | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Potong Pasir SMC | 1 | 16,616 | Singapore Democratic Alliance | Chiam See Tong | 8,107 | 52.43 |
| Potong Pasir SMC | 1 | 16,616 | People's Action Party | Sitoh Yih Pin | 7,356 | 47.57 |
| Sembawang GRC | 6 | 166,137 | People's Action Party | Chin Tet Yung Hawazi Daipi K. Shanmugam Warren Lee Maliki Osman Tony Tan | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Tampines GRC | 5 | 125,432 | People's Action Party | Mah Bow Tan Irene Ng Ong Kian Min Sin Boon Ann Yatiman Bin Yusof | 85,915 | 73.34 |
| Tampines GRC | 5 | 125,432 | Singapore Democratic Alliance | Abdul Rahim Bin Osman Foo Kok Wah Neo Ting Wei Sebastian Teo Yip Yew Weng | 31,231 | 26.66 |
| Tanjong Pagar GRC | 6 | 141,150 | People's Action Party | Chay Wai Chuen Chong Weng Chiew Indranee Rajah Khaw Boon Wan Koo Tsai Kee Lee Kuan Yew | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| West Coast GRC | 5 | 110,779 | People's Action Party | Arthur Fong Cedric Foo Ho Geok Choo Lim Hng Kiang S. Iswaran | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Source: ELD ||||||||

## Aftermath
### Chee Soon Juan incident

Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) leader Chee Soon Juan came under fire in the media when he encountered Prime Minister Goh while campaigning at a hawker centre. He used a megaphone to ask Goh, "Where is the $18 billion that you have lent to (then-Indonesian President) Suharto?". Goh and Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew sued Chee for defamation shortly after the election.
Chee lost the lawsuits and was ordered to pay damages of S$300,000 to Goh and S$200,000 to Lee. Ahead of the 2006 elections, Chee was declared bankrupt on 10 February, making him ineligible from standing in elections. Chee would return again in the 2015 elections after being discharged from bankruptcy on 23 November 2012.