The People's Action Party contesting East Coast GRC, helmed by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, has defeated the Workers' Party (WP) team with 53.41 per cent of the votes.

The PAP team, which consists of Heng, Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman, Jessica Tan, Cheryl Chan, and newcomer Tan Kiat How, garnered 61,009 votes.

The WP team, which was made up of Nicole Seah, Abdul Shariff Bin Aboo Kassim, Dylan Ng, Terence Tan, and Kenneth Foo, got 53,228 votes (41.26 per cent).

Thank you speech

In a press conference after the results for East Coast GRC were announced, Heng thanked voters for voting and for their trust:

"Thank you for braving the long queue and the hot sun to cast your vote. My team and I thank you for your trust and support for us.

With your mandate, we are determined to serve you better and to emerge stronger from this global economic crisis."

He told constituents that he and his team will be reaching out in order to better understand people's concerns and aspirations, in order to work together to "realise our East Coast plan, to build a more vibrant, caring, and green community."

He went on to thank the party activists, volunteers, members of media, and election officials.

He closed the English part of his speech by thanking the Workers' Party team "for giving us a strong contest."

You can watch his full speech, plus his Mandarin speech and Maliki's speech in Malay, here:

Top image via Facebook / Heng Swee Keat.