The Straits Times and Today both carried reports analysing why the Workers' Party (WP) won Sengkang GRC convincingly with 52.13 per cent of the vote.
Although not explicitly mentioned, but to summarise, both reports converged on one point: The PAP lost the youth vote in Sengkang GRC.
The youthfulness of Sengkang GRC
Sengkang GRC has 120,100 voters, who are mainly young couples living in HDB estates.
This demographic composition is derived from data from the Singapore Department of Statistics.
Sengkang residents are younger than the national average.
More than 65 per cent of residents are aged below 45.
Less than 10 per cent are aged above 65.
The youthful constituents were mistakenly believed not to want to rock the boat too much as they build up their first homes, ST reported.
The caveat is that it is not known how many young couples constitute the more than 65 per cent of residents in Sengkang.
A new constituency creates a far more level playing field for opponents
Historian Kevin Tan, in a GE2020 forum hosted by Academia SG, a site managed by a group of Singaporean academics, noted that the creation of a new GRC like Sengkang means one is creating something new, a constituency with a new identity with little or no baggage.
"If you were the opposition (in a new constituency), you are actually on a far more level playing field, than as a team who has been there as an incumbent," said Tan pointing out to the incumbency advantages in Hougang and Aljunied.
"So it depends on how you play your cards," Tan said.
WP played a brilliant set of cards with its candidates and strategy, he added.
How was Sengkang GRC carved up into different wards by the PAP?
Sengkang GRC is made up of three parts: The ballooning Sengkang Central, Sengkang West, and Punggol East.
Each PAP candidate was to oversee one part of it.
Ng Chee Meng, 51: One half of Sengkang Central
Amrin Amin, 41: The other half of Sengkang Central
Lam Pin Min, 50: Sengkang West
Raymond Lye, 54: Punggol East
According to ST's source, only Lam's ward fared better, implying that the rest of his team mates lost.
For the general public, do note that this information is an insider PAP source and not from any official announcements as such breakdown of votes is not available.
Lam used to be MP of Sengkang West SMC.
Lam won the seat against Koh Choong Yong, a WP candidate, with 62.1 per cent in 2015 and 58.11 in 2011.
Punggol East has the distinction of formerly being a WP SMC overseen by former MP Lee Li Lian, but it got absorbed into Sengkang GRC this GE2020.
For this round, the WP fielded a youthful batch of candidates:
Jamus Lim, 44, economics associate professor
Louis Chua, 33, equity research analyst
Raeesah Khan, 26, founder of women’s empowerment group Reyna Movement
He Ting Ru, 37, lawyer
PAP's all-male slate of high-powered individuals alienating
ST reported that residents said they could not relate to the PAP slate of candidates.
Residents instead found affinity with WP's candidates who are all young parents.
And residents liked the WP's proposals.
The WP team proposed more coffee shops and social spaces for people to meet, eat and shop in an estate sorely lacking in such amenities.
The PAP team proposed building sheltered walkways and lift upgrading.
The WP team also proposed more cycling track networks.
The PAP team's Lam was known for being the bearer of bad news during the clampdown on PMDs in 2019 -- but ironically, he performed well in his ward, while his team mates lost theirs.
The WP team proposed recognising the unpaid labour of caregivers.
The PAP team came nowhere close to any such suggestions.
Young voters have broader understanding of electing MPs
One 24-year-old Sengkang resident interviewed by Today talked about how the strong mandate PAP asked for was off-putting.
“Since 2015, there's been plenty of instances of how the Government had used its 'strong mandate' to pass controversial laws such as the reserved presidency and POFMA (Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act).”
WP’s message on not giving the ruling party a “blank cheque” was what won him over, he added.
Doesn't matter who the MP is
One problem with changing electoral boundaries is: MPs come and go over the years, while residents remain the same.
So, in the end, who is the PAP MP for a ward is no longer a big deal.
This was the view of one 50-year-old resident who has been a Sengkang resident for 20 years and claims not to have seen her PAP MP over the years.
The WP, likely due to chance and purpose, fielded a recognisable team of individuals, each with their own personality.
Late to the game
Due to the interchangeable faces, PAP ran the risk of being personality-less.
ST found out that Amrin, who is Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs and Health and was from Sembawang GRC, started walking the ground only in the last six months.
Ng, who was from the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC team previously, began walking the ground some eight months ago.
PAP volunteers told ST that days before Polling Day, the candidates were given the cold shoulder and even met with hostility from the ground.
#IStandWithRaeesah
Another issue that gained traction among the young voters: The smear campaign against Raeesah Khan.
On the last weekend before Polling Day, police reports were lodged against the WP candidate for social media comments that allegedly promoted racial or religious enmity.
This likely backfired on the PAP instead, ST reported.
ST quoted Assistant Professor Walid Jumblatt Abdullah from Nanyang Technological University's School of Social Sciences.
He said: "Younger voters and minorities were quite upset at how they perceived her to be treated, and I think, this should demonstrate to the 4G that perhaps a new approach towards politics is needed."
As Khan is a minority, this issue was likely to have been grating for minorities who identify with what the WP candidate was getting at.
Most Sengkang residents ST spoke to even said they were not bothered by this issue.
PAP had, in the course of hustings, issued a press statement challenging WP to explain its choice of Raeesah as a candidate.
Famous Jamus 'Warm The Cockles Of My Heart' Lim
One WP superstar emerged: Jamus Lim.
He held his own against PAP's Vivian Balakrishnan during the televised live debate.
His face was subsequently plastered all over social media.
He spawned fancams.
The optics was also stark: Lim is a fresh-faced candidate in the debate facing off a grizzled long-time PAP minister who looked lovingly at Lim.
Before his unveiling by the WP, Lim was noted for his big brain energy.
Another major force is Lim's running mate, He Ting Ru, who entered politics in 2015 and ran in Marine Parade GRC.
She is a Cambridge natural sciences graduate, who later went on to read law in London.
Singaporeans would pick WP over PAP
One particular fact has stood out in the aftermath of GE2020.
The WP secured 50.49 per cent of votes in the four GRCs and two SMCs it contested in.
This means that more people voted for the WP than the PAP in the five constituencies that WP candidates offered themselves up for election.
This election has elevated the WP to solid opposition status, which indicates that Singaporeans might have taken the WP message of not giving the PAP a blank cheque to heart.
Top photo via Workers' Party