Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC

Etymology:  Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) located in the central region of Singapore. The GRC consists the entire areas of Bishan, the majority of Toa Payoh and parts of Thomson. Its sub-constituencies are Bishan East, Bishan-Toa Payoh North, Thomson, Toa Payoh Central and Toa Payoh East.

Establishment: The GRC was formed in 1997 by merging the Bishan East, Bishan North, and Thomson divisions of the Thomson Group Representation Constituency with that of the Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency. The remaining Serangoon Gardens Division was split between the Ang Mo Kio, Aljunied, Cheng San and Marine Parade GRCs.

MP: Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC is currently headed by Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen after the retirement of former Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng from the Singapore Cabinet.

Political Aspect: Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC is maintained by Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council.

History: Peck San Theng cemetery was established in 1870 on the site of present-day Bishan by Cantonese and Hakka immigrants. During World War 2, the Peck San Theng cemetery became a battle ground between British and Japanese forces. n the 1980s, the Housing Development Board (HDB) decided redevelop the area into a housing estate to meet the rising demand for housing from Singapore's then-growing population. The residents in Kampong San Teng were resettled and a mass exhumation of the 170,000 graves were carried out in 1980, Redevelopment of the area officially started in 1982.

 

 

Potong Pasir

Etymology: Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency is a Single Member Constituency (SMC) in the central region of Singapore.

Establishment: In the early days, Potong Pasir was a sand quarry. Potong Pasir Town Council was formed in 1989 by virtue of an Act of Parliament The Town Councils Act, Chapter 329A.

 

MP: The constituency's most famous MP is opposition leader Chiam See Tong when People's Action Party candidate Mah Bow Tan (who is currently the Minister for National Development) lost to the former in the 1984 general election.

As of now, People's Action Party's Sitoh Yih Pin is the current MP of the SMC.

Sitoh first entered the political arena in 2001 contesting against longtime opposition leader Chiam See Tong for Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency since 1984. He failed but garnered a respectable 47.6% of the votes against the veteran. In 2011, Chiam who had been ruling Potong Pasir for 27 years left to contest in the Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency. As a result, Sitoh contested against Lina Chiam who is the wife of Chiam See Tong. It was the closest fight of the 2011 election and he won by a mere 114 votes against Lina Chiam, receiving 50.36% of the votes. Sitoh was officially declared as a Member of Parliament on 9 May 2011.

 

Political Aspect: The Potong Pasir Town Council is incharge of overseeing the development and overall maintenance of Potong Pasir SMC.

 

History: From 1910 to 1937, it was dominated by sand-quarries, hence giving it its present name, which means 'cut sand' in Malay

In the mid 1950s, Potong Pasir was one of the most important vegetable growing areas in Singapore. The land here had been cultivated since the 1830s. Watercress was the most important type of vegetable grown in Potong Pasir. A small portion of farmland was used for planting coconut palms.

Rapid change took place for the past five decades, with the building of a bridge across the ponds in the 1950s, a venue for education introduced in the form of a village community centre in 1952, piped water and electricity in the 1960s, and by the 1970s, most of the villagers had already started to move out as the land was acquired by the government for massive redevelopment.

Hence, a public housing estate, Potong Pasir Estate, began to take shape in the 1980s, with construction commencing in 1982, and the first blocks completed two years later.