Multiple People’s Action Party (PAP) politicians representing Marine Parade GRC are organising breakfast events with their fellow ruling party Members of Parliament (MPs) in their respective divisions, days after the Elections Department (ELD) announced that the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) has been convened.
The EBRC’s formation marks the first step towards the next General Election (GE) and has been widely taken as confirmation that the next GE – which must be held by 15 April 2021 – is imminent.
On Friday (6 Sept), Emeritus Senior Minister (ESM) Goh Chok Tong revealed that Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin has invited PAP MPs for breakfast in the Kembangan-Chai Chee division of Marine Parade GRC and that Senior Minister of State Edwin Tong is organising a similar event in his Joo Chiat division of the constituency.
ESM Goh, Singapore’s second Prime Minister, wrote on Facebook: “Tan Chuan-Jin invited his fellow MPs a month ago to have breakfast with him in his constituency. Then the government announced the formation of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee a few days ago. What prescience!”
He added: “Edwin Tong will host the next breakfast. Breakfast at Joo Chiat – as good as but less snobbish than Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.
Tan Chuan-Jin also conducted house visits on the same day that he invited his fellow MPs to join him for breakfast in his division. Sharing pictures from his house visit, he shared on Facebook:
“Amidst Parliamentary duties, diplomatic visits, leadership, sports, SGCares and social work, house visits remain a regular staple in my life as MP of Kembangan-Chai Chee, Marine Parade GRC.
“These few visits to Jalan Selamat, Lor G Telok Kurau, Blk 51 Chai Chee and Blk 334 Ubi Ave 1 allowed me to welcome new residents, renewed old acquaintances, met residents for the first time after missing them previously, gathered feedback…Glad to meet you all!”
The EBRC is in charge of revising the current electoral boundaries. For the next GE, the EBRC has particularly been tasked to reduce the average size of group representation constituencies (GRCs) and increase the number of single-member constituencies (SMCs).
This likely means that the electoral map will be changed significantly. The EBRC will present its recommendations to the Prime Minister through a report once it concludes the review.
In the past three General Elections (GEs), the EBRC has taken between two to four months to complete the review. The time between the release of the EBRC’s report and polling day has ranged from as little as 17 days to as long as six months, in Singapore history.