1968 Singaporean general election

Elections to the 2nd Parliament of Singapore

1968 Singaporean general election

* * *

| <- 1963 | 13 April 1968 | 1972 ->

|
|

<- outgoing members

elected members ->

* * *

All 58 seats in Parliament
30 seats needed for a majority
Registered| 84,883
Turnout| 91.83% ( 3.28pp)
|  | Majority party  |

|
|

|  |
Leader  | Lee Kuan Yew |
Party  | PAP |
Last election  | 46.93%, 37 seats  |
Seats won  | 58 |
Seat change  | 21  |
Popular vote  | 65,812 |
Percentage  | 86.72% |
Swing  |  39.79pp  |

* * *

Results by constituency

* * *

| Prime Minister before election

Lee Kuan Yew
PAP

| Prime Minister after election

Lee Kuan Yew
PAP

|

This article is part of a series on

Politics of Singapore

Government

* Constitution of Singapore

* Law
* Human rights

Legislature

* Parliament

* Speaker Seah Kian Peng (PAP)

* Leader of the House Indranee Rajah (PAP)

* Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh (WP)

* 14th Parliament

* * *

* Constituencies

Executive

* President of Singapore

* Tharman Shanmugaratnam (I)

* Prime Minister of Singapore

* Lawrence Wong (PAP)

* * *

* Cabinet
* Ministries
* The Reserves

Judiciary

* Supreme Court of Singapore

* Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon

* * *

* Court of Appeal

* Prakash
* Tay
* Chong
* Ang

* * *

* High Court
* State Courts

Elections

* Presidential elections
* General elections

Singapore portal

* Other countries

* v
* t
* e

General elections were held in Singapore on 13 April 1968, the first as a sovereign country after its independence three years prior.[1] The People's Action Party (PAP) won in a landslide, winning all 58 seats at the time, including 44 uncontested constituencies. The PAP would end up occupying all seats in Parliament until 1981.

## Background

[edit]

Following the resignations of eleven MPs from Barisan Sosialis (BS, Socialist Front) and two other BS MPs leaving Singapore in protest against independence, five by-elections were held within three years but PAP were successful in winning all the seats, resulting in complete supermajority control of Parliament by the PAP.

### Campaign

[edit]

BS boycotted the elections on the grounds that Singapore's independence was "phoney" and several opposition parties heeded its call. The leaders of Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura (formerly the local branch of the UMNO), Ahmad Haji Taff, and the Singapore Chinese Party (formerly the local branch of the MCA), Chng Boon Eng, turned up but did not file their nominations.

Three precedents were made in this election: the fewest seats (seven) contested in a general election, and the first time PAP was returned to power on nomination day and the first time it won all seats, which ended up being a recurring theme until 1984. Walkovers also became a perpetual feature in every succeeding general election until 2015.

## Timeline

[edit]

Date  | Event

|

8 February | Dissolution of 1st Parliament
17 February | Nomination Day
13 April | Polling day
6 May | Opening of 2nd Parliament

## Electoral system

[edit]

See also: List of Singaporean electoral divisions (1968–72)

The 58 members of Parliament were elected in 58 single-member constituencies, an increase from 51 in the 1963 elections. The constituencies introduced or removed in the election, as well as constituencies with changes of boundaries, are shown on the table:

Constituency | Changes

|

New Constituencies
Alexandra | Carved out from Queenstown constituency
Bukit Ho Swee | Carved out from Delta constituency
Kampong Chai Chee | Carved out from Kampong Kembangan, Siglap and Tampines constituencies
Kampong Ubi | Carved out from Geylang Serai constituency
Katong | Carved out from Mountbatten constituency
MacPherson
Potong Pasir | Carved out from Aljunied constituency
Whampoa | Carved out from Kallang constituency
Defunct Constituencies
Southern Islands | Absorbed to Jurong, Pasir Panjang and Telok Blangah constituencies

## Results

[edit]

Party| Votes| %| +/–| Seats| +/–
| People's Action Party| 65,812| 86.72| +39.79| 58| +21
| Workers' Party| 3,049| 4.02| +3.97| 0| 0
| Independents| 7,033| 9.27| +8.10| 0| 0
Total| 75,894| 100.00| –| 58| +7
Valid votes| 75,894| 97.36|
Invalid/blank votes| 2,058| 2.64|
Total votes| 77,952| 100.00|
Registered voters/turnout| 759,367| 91.83|
Source: Nohlen et al., Singapore Elections[a]

### By constituency

[edit]

Out of the seven seats contested (all by only two candidates), three had winning margins of over 75%, with the losers forfeiting their deposit. The result for Tanjong Pagar (94% to 6%) remains the biggest winning margin and percentage obtained to date.

Constituency  | Electorate  | Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|
|
|

Alexandra | 13,317  |  | People's Action Party | Wong Lin Ken | Uncontested
Aljunied | 14,472  |  | People's Action Party | Mohamad Ghazali bin Ismail | Uncontested
Anson | 8,764  |  | People's Action Party | Perumal Govindaswamy | Uncontested
Bras Basah | 9,718  |  | People's Action Party | Ho See Beng | Uncontested
Bukit Ho Swee | 17,735  |  | People's Action Party | Seah Mui Kok | Uncontested
Bukit Merah | 19,319  |  | People's Action Party | Lim Guan Hoo | Uncontested
Bukit Panjang | 17,893  |  | People's Action Party | Pathmanaban Selvadurai | Uncontested
Bukit Timah | 16,769  |  | People's Action Party | Chor Yeok Eng | Uncontested
Cairnhill | 12,287  |  | People's Action Party | Lim Kim San | Uncontested
Changi | 15,594  |  | People's Action Party | Sim Boon Woo | Uncontested
Chua Chu Kang | 12,879  |  | People's Action Party | Tang See Chim | Uncontested
Crawford | 7,190  |  | People's Action Party | Low Yong Nguan | Uncontested
Delta | 17,715  |  | People's Action Party | Chan Choy Siong | Uncontested
Farrer Park | 10,290  |  | People's Action Party | Lee Chiaw Meng | 7,826  | 84.91
| Independent  | Madai Puthan Damodaran Nair  | 1,391  | 15.09
Geylang East | 16,185  |  | People's Action Party | Ho Cheng Choon | Uncontested
Geylang Serai | 12,741  |  | People's Action Party | Rahmat bin Kenap | 9,363  | 83.01
| Independent  | Darus bin Shariff  | 1,916  | 16.99
Geylang West | 14,609  |  | People's Action Party | Yong Nyuk Lin | Uncontested
Havelock | 11,049  |  | People's Action Party | Lim Soo Peng | Uncontested
Hong Lim | 10,388  |  | People's Action Party | Lee Khoon Choy | Uncontested
Jalan Besar | 11,400  |  | People's Action Party | Chan Chee Seng | Uncontested
Jalan Kayu | 12,878  |  | People's Action Party | Hwang Soo Jin | 9,581  | 82.30
| Workers' Party | Sum Chong Meng  | 2,060  | 17.70
Joo Chiat | 12,335  |  | People's Action Party | Yeoh Ghim Seng | Uncontested
Jurong | 11,445  |  | People's Action Party | Ho Kah Leong | Uncontested
Kallang | 9,309  |  | People's Action Party | Abdul Aziz bin Karim | Uncontested
Kampong Chai Chee | 17,636  |  | People's Action Party | Sha'ari bin Tadin | Uncontested
Kampong Glam | 9,484  |  | People's Action Party | S. Rajaratnam | Uncontested
Kampong Kapor | 10,818  |  | People's Action Party | Lim Cheng Lock | Uncontested
Kampong Kembangan | 15,862  |  | People's Action Party | Mohamed Ariff bin Suradi | Uncontested
Kampong Ubi | 13,434  |  | People's Action Party | Ya'acob bin Mohamed | 9,797  | 81.87
| Independent  | Tay Mook Yong  | 2,169  | 18.13
Katong | 14,872  |  | People's Action Party | Joseph Francis De Conceicao | Uncontested
Kreta Ayer | 11,575  |  | People's Action Party | Goh Keng Swee | Uncontested
MacPherson | 13,099  |  | People's Action Party | Chua Sian Chin | Uncontested
Moulmein | 11,888  |  | People's Action Party | Sia Khoon Seong | 9,675  | 90.56
| Independent  | T. T. Joseph  | 1,009  | 9.44
Mountbatten | 12,760  |  | People's Action Party | Ng Yeow Chong | Uncontested
Nee Soon | 12,846  |  | People's Action Party | Ong Soo Chuan | 10,442  | 91.35
| Workers' Party | Wong Hong Toy  | 989  | 8.65
Pasir Panjang | 12,394  |  | People's Action Party | Othman Wok | Uncontested
Paya Lebar | 17,573  |  | People's Action Party | Tay Boon Too | Uncontested
Potong Pasir | 11,782  |  | People's Action Party | Sellappa Ramaswamy | Uncontested
Punggol | 12,277  |  | People's Action Party | Ng Kah Ting | Uncontested
Queenstown | 16,193  |  | People's Action Party | Jek Yeun Thong | Uncontested
River Valley | 10,865  |  | People's Action Party | Low Guan Onn | Uncontested
Rochore | 12,222  |  | People's Action Party | Toh Chin Chye | Uncontested
Sembawang | 11,220  |  | People's Action Party | Teong Eng Siong | Uncontested
Sepoy Lines | 11,409  |  | People's Action Party | Wee Toon Boon | Uncontested
Serangoon Gardens | 9,454  |  | People's Action Party | Leonard Peter Rodrigo | Uncontested
Siglap | 11,627  |  | People's Action Party | Abdul Rahim Ishak | Uncontested
Stamford | 9,919  |  | People's Action Party | Andrew Fong Sip Chee | Uncontested
Tampines | 12,703  |  | People's Action Party | Phua Bah Lee | Uncontested
Tanglin | 13,332  |  | People's Action Party | Edmund W. Barker | Uncontested
Tanjong Pagar | 10,806  |  | People's Action Party | Lee Kuan Yew | 9,128  | 94.34
| Independent  | Rengaswamy Vetrivelu  | 548  | 5.66
Telok Ayer | 11,721  |  | People's Action Party | Ong Pang Boon | Uncontested
Telok Blangah | 14,785  |  | People's Action Party | N. Naidu Govindasamy | Uncontested
Thomson | 15,911  |  | People's Action Party | Ang Nam Piau | Uncontested
Tiong Bahru | 16,532  |  | People's Action Party | Ch'ng Jit Koon | Uncontested
Toa Payoh | 19,143  |  | People's Action Party | Eric Cheong Yuen Chee | Uncontested
Ulu Pandan | 13,289  |  | People's Action Party | Lee Teck Him | Uncontested
Upper Serangoon | 13,373  |  | People's Action Party | Sia Kah Hui | Uncontested
Whampoa | 12,854  |  | People's Action Party | Buang bin Omar Junid | Uncontested
Source: ELD

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ 674,484 of the 759,367 voters were registered in uncontested constituencies

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p254 ISBN 0-19-924959-8

* v
* t
* e

Elections and referendums in Singapore

General elections|

* 1948
* 1951
* 1955
* 1959
* 1963
* 1968
* 1972
* 1976
* 1980
* 1984
* 1988
* 1991
* 1997
* 2001
* 2006
* 2011
* 2015
* 2020
* Next

By-elections|

* 1948
* 1952
* 1957
* 1961
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1970
* 1977
* 1979
* 1981
* 1992
* 2012
* 2013
* 2016

Presidential elections|

* 1993
* 1999‡
* 2005‡
* 2011
* 2017‡
* 2023

Local elections|

* 1889
* 1890
* 1891
* 1892
* 1893
* 1894
* 1895
* 1896
* 1897
* 1898
* 1899
* 1900
* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910
* 1911
* 1949 (Apr)
* 1949 (Dec)
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1957
* 1958

Referendums|

* 1962

‡ uncontested
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template