Short waiting times and no crowds as overseas Singaporeans cast their ballots

Voting is an important reminder of their connection to their home country, they say

- Joyce ZK Lim

HONG KONG/TOKYO/SHENZHEN — Back home in Singapore, Mr Julian Chang, 24, used to pay little attention to politics, calling himself "apolitical".

But since coming to Tokyo as an exchange student a month ago, he has been gripped by election fever, even though he had to watch election rallies online instead of attending in person.

"I didn't imagine I would feel so patriotic in my first voting experience because, honestly, I am quite apolitical at home and I don't really care. But coming here, I realise that I do," said Mr Chang, a Singapore Management University accountancy undergraduate who is on an exchange programme at Keio University and registered to vote in Hougang SMC.

On May 3, he turned up at the Singapore Embassy in Tokyo at around 8am local time.

There was a slight buzz of activity outside the building — located on a hill in the Azabujuban district — when voting opened, with people mingling outside its gates.

Many arrived to vote early before proceeding with their plans for the Golden Week holidays, which run from April 29 to May 6.

Finance professional Annabelle Kan, 33, was also at the embassy in Tokyo early to cast her ballot hours before she was scheduled to fly to Okinawa for a vacation with her family members.

While she has lived abroad for about 10 years, it was her first time voting overseas.

"It is a chance to really consider and think about issues that affect my family back home, even though I am overseas," the Mountbatten SMC voter said.

Singaporeans living abroad encountered no crowds and short waiting times when casting their vote on May 3 in the 2025 General Election at the nation's overseas polling stations.

In Hong Kong, a short queue of about a dozen people had formed at the ground-floor lift lobby of the Admiralty Centre office building housing the Singapore consulate by 7.50am, ahead of the start of voting at 8am.