Op GP Journal 7: Boundary changes of Constituencies & alleged gerrymandering

13 July 2020

as a map lover, i love to study the boundary changes of the constituencies & alleged gerrymandering. i have been studying this since 1996, as GE1997 was the 1st election after i fell in love with maps. in fact, i find this subject more exciting than the election itself (map otaku mode).

the 1st batch of GRCs are political, as these GRCs are merely ‘random’ grouping of 3 adjacent constituencies, with little reference to geographic accuracy. this resulted in many legacy names like Brickworks GRC, Cheng San GRC & Eunos GRC that aint names of any new town or major district.

GRC grew to 4-members in GE1991. ironically, boundaries changes aint drastic, as the GRC either add a 4th seat (e.g. addition of Pasir Ris in Eunos GRC & Changkat South in Tampines GRC; mostly seen at newer developing areas), spliting of existing division (e.g. splitting of Hong Kah Central into Hong Kah East & Hong Kah West in Hong Kah GRC), or absorbing an adjacent constituency (e.g. Bukit Panjang into Sembawang GRC, Punggol into Cheng San GRC, Tanjong Pagar into Tiong Bahru GRC). generally, there isnt drastic changes to the boundaries of each ward/division.

1997 is the peak of gerrymandering, as it saw the born of 5-members & 6-members GRC + the creation of awkward long corridors that dont make geographic sense! the most infamous example being Marine Parade GRC’s absorption of Braddell Heights & Serangoon Garden (notoriously known as the part of Marine Parade without the sea breeze). weird long corridors were also created to link Aljunied GRC to Changi-Simei, Bukit Timah GRC to Tuas & Tanjong Pagar GRC to Macritchie Reservoir.

these changes were major & it leads to an eastward shift of constituency names that remains till today. For example, Geylang Serai ward is at Eunos; Eunos ward is at Bedok Reservoir; Kampong Kembangan ward is at Chai Chee; Kampong Chai Chee is at Bedok N4; Kaki Bukit ward is at Bedok N5; Joo Chiat ward is at Siglap; Siglap ward is at Bedok Corner & stretches all the way to Loyang, Changi Village, Ubin & Tekong).

in fact, many areas were completely outside their name-sake constituency. For example, Aljunied GRC does not contain Aljunied, Upper Aljunied or Joo Seng. it would have been more appropriate to renamed Aljunied GRC to Paya Lebar GRC, as Paya Lebar ward, PLAB, Tai Seng & Tai Keng are inside the GRC.

in the past, CC will be renamed after the new constituency it is located in. this can be confusing to taxi-drivers & the average Singaporeans. thank god that this practice has stopped. some wards have been renamed to reflect their new locality (e.g. Kembangan - Chai Chee), but most of the ward names are not changed. amenities & infrastructures within opposition or hotly contested wards are also awkwardly named to avoid association with opposition (e.g. Cheng San Library instead of Hougang Library, Ci Yuan CC instead of Hougang West CC, Potong Pasir MRT was originally planned as Sennett MRT etc).

GE2001 witnessed the birth of an enclaved SMC, as Hougang SMC was entirely surrounded by Aljunied GRC & it remained as such till 2011. Subsequently, several new enclaved SMC were formed/absorbed over the years: Bukit Panjang (2006), Yuhua (2011) & Pioneer (2020).

contrary to popular beliefs, boundaries actually starts to improve since 2001 & continue to improve over the years. while many GRCs & Town Councils (TC) still have little pockets of foreign territories within their control, the boundaries start to make more logical sense than 1997. more GRCs & TCs starts to correspond to the actual boundaries of new towns (e.g. Tampines, Bishan, Yishun, Sengkang). although it is still a big mess in the West & Northwest (e.g. Woodlands is awkardly split by Sembawang GRC & Marsiling Yew Tee GRC along minor streets. Bukit Batok is divided into Bukit Batok SMC, Hong Kah North SMC, Chua Chu Kang GRC & Jurong GRC).

traditionally, boundaries of opposition wards remain intact as long as the opposition remains in power. however, hotly contested wards tends to disappear or with boundaries drastically redrawn.

therefore, i’m very curious on how East Coast GRC & Marine Parade GRC will be split & re-group. West Coast GRC (that stretches from Sentosa & Telok Blangah to Tuas) will likely be split & regroup with parts of Tanjong Pagar GRC & Jurong GRC. Chua Chu Kang GRC will likely re-group with Marsiling Yew Tee GRC.

furthermore, with the impending population explosion at pockets of Hougang & massive development at Tampines South, the splitting of Aljunied GRC seems inevitable. i doubt 6-member GRC will make a comeback, so the fairest approach will be the re-introduction of 3-member GRC for the entire Singapore. in this way, Aljunied GRC could be split into 2x 3-member GRCs (Hougang portion & Bedok Reservoir portion) without massive boundary changes.

or maybe GRC, the huge elephant in the room, might be scrapped for good. afterall racial quotas can still be implemented on specific SMCs & adjacent SMCs may still group to form a TC.

Response to "If Electoral Boundaries Make No Sense, The EBRC’s Explanation Only Makes Things More Confusing" by Sophie Chew (original article at https://www.ricemedia.co/current-affairs-commentary-do-our-electoral-boundaries-make-sense-ebrc).

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