The first sample count of the votes from Bukit Batok Single Member Constituency (SMC) for the 2020 General Elections (GE) predicts that Murali Pillai of the nation’s ruling party, the People’s Action Party (PAP), steals the constituency yet again from Singapore Democratic Party (SDP)’s Dr Chee Soon Juan. The count revealed that while Mr Murali got 57 per cent of the votes, Dr Chee got 43 per cent.
Bukit Batok SMC has been the longtime battleground between Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) leader, Dr Chee Soon Juan and the People’s Action Party (PAP)’s Murali Pillai.
In the 2015 General Elections, Bukit Batok SMC saw a three-cornered fight among the PAP’s David Ong, the SDP’s Sadasivam Veriyah, and independent politician, Samir Salim Neji. The PAP’s Mr Ong emerged the victor, bagging 73 per cent of the votes. However, after he resigned from office in 2016, a by-election was held.
The 2016 by-election saw Mr Murali go head to head with Dr Chee. Mr Murali emerged the victor with 61.2 per cent of votes, while Dr Chee earned 38.8 per cent.
In this year’s election, Bukit Batok saw a rematch between the two. However, despite it being the second round between the contenders, Mr Murali emerged the victor yet again.
Recently, Dr Chee was praised for his display of character after he criticised a personal attack on his opponent’s son. According to a previous story, Mr Murali reported that shortly after Bukit Batok declared elections, an online post about his son was circulated. The post covered a scandal which his son was involved with in the past.
Mr Murali reported that his son was a victim of the scandal but is serving sentence for offences made on his part.
Dr Chee, though running against Mr Murali, did not stay silent on the matter. Having taken notice of his opponent’s anguished response, he called out the incident, saying political differences do not merit such actions. In turn, netizens rallied behind him, calling the opposition politician a “gentleman.”
Despite this, the initial count predicts Dr Chee’s loss a second time around. In response, many netizens have expressed their disappointment over the opposition’s predicted fate in Bukit Batok SMC. Many considered the dedication Dr Chee has shown to contesting Bukit Batok SMC.
Bukit Batok SMC was formed in 1972 and lasted until 1997, after which it became part of Bukit Timah GRC. Before being re-instated again in 2015, it was part of Jurong GRC.
In the 2020 General Elections, there were no changes made to its electoral boundaries.