Spotlight on Punggol: Fierce PAP-WP fight expected in Singapore's youngest GRC

With battle lines redrawn and significant changes to many constituencies, which will be the ones under the spotlight in GE2025? The Straits Times dives into the issues and concerns on the ground, starting with the newly created Punggol GRC.

- Lee Li Ying

It is new, it is young, and it will almost certainly be the site of a fierce contest.

Punggol reflects the Singaporean heartland—though with a youthful tilt.

For years, it has been the nation's youngest town, with over half of its more than 120,000 voters estimated to be aged between 21 and 45.

They will play a key role in shaping voting patterns.

And it is growing, with new Build-To-Order estates completed over the last five years, and more in the pipeline.

Hence, the freshly minted Punggol GRC was created by splitting the existing Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, carving out estates in Punggol and merging those with Punggol West SMC.

With neighbouring Sengkang GRC taken by the Workers' Party in the last election, and WP busy on the ground in areas of Punggol over the last year, a showdown with the incumbent People's Action Party is almost inevitable.

HOW THE BATTLE WILL SHAPE UP

While political parties have been keeping their cards close before the Writ of Election is issued, the PAP is virtually guaranteed to face off with the WP in what will be a keen contest, said political observers.

"The likelihood of an upset—a la Sengkang GRC in GE2020—cannot be understated," said Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan.

Dr Mustafa Izzuddin, a senior international affairs analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore, said that the younger profile of voters means that a party seeking to prevail in Punggol must be able to address the concerns of these "political kingmakers", or field a slate of candidates who can better resonate with them than the competition.

He pointed to Punggol GRC's contiguity with Sengkang GRC, which the WP flipped in GE2020, as a sign of greater unpredictability in the contest for the new GRC.