From Jurong East-Bukit Batok to Pasir Ris-Changi: Why are more constituencies having double-barrelled names?

Double-barrelled surnames.

Double-barrelled school names.

And now the latest trend in Singapore? Double-barrelled constituency names.

Discerning readers might have noticed that among the 18 GRCs and 15 SMCs in Singapore's new electoral map, seven had double-barrelled names.

This marks an almost twofold increase from the four in the previous General Election.

But why?

What's in a name?

First, for your easy reference, here's a quick list of all the double-barrelled constituencies up for contest this GE.

• Jurong East-Bukit Batok
• Marine Parade-Braddell Heights
• West Coast-Jurong West
• Bishan-Toa Payoh
• Holland-Bukit Timah
• Marsiling-Yew Tee
• Pasir Ris-Changi

And here's the list from the last elections:

• Bishan-Toa Payoh
• Holland-Bukit Timah
• Marsiling-Yew Tee
• Pasir Ris-Punggol

Most of these names are a bit of a mouthful.

But it's more complex than two constituencies simply coming together.

Marine Parade, for instance, absorbed MacPherson SMC and a polling district from Mountbatten SMC — but was renamed Marine Parade-Braddell Heights.

While with the new Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC, it was an amalgamation of Jurong GRC with absorbed districts from Hong Kah North, Bukit Batok, and Yuhua SMCs.

But only one of those three made it to the final name.

Identity crisis

The shift in naming convention was part of the recommendations by the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC).

In its White Paper published on Mar. 11, the EBRC noted that the use of double-barrelled names was to "better reflect the identities of the geographical areas in the GRCs".

As such, it recommended the practice for the Jurong East-Bukit Batok, Pasir Ris-Changi, and West Coast-Jurong West GRCs — all of which underwent some pretty extensive boundary-redrawing due to population changes.

It also recommended the renaming of Marine Parade GRC to Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC.

History lesson

Double-barrelled constituency names aren't new.

The first one appeared pre-independence, in the 1955 GE: the Punggol-Tampines SMC.

It was a small constituency with 6,628 voters, of which just 3,841 votes were valid. It was quickly split into the Punggol and Tampines SMCs for the next elections.

It stands to reason that at that time, the population was sparse enough that for a constituency to get enough voters to warrant representation, it'd have to encompass a larger area (and hence, more towns).

Singapore's a different place today. Population density is unlikely to be as much of an issue, as far as determining boundaries is concerned.

And yet, every election has seen constituencies merged and carved up, and renamed accordingly.

The government has rejected suggestions of gerrymandering by opposition MPs, including a call by Hazel Poa for the process of determining electoral boundaries to be reviewed "in order to increase the transparency and fairness".

Chan Chun Sing, Education Minister and Minister-in-charge of the Public Service, said in parliament last year that the EBRC works independently of political influence.

The process is “meant to serve the interests of Singaporeans and not the interests of political parties”, he said.

He added that gerrymandering in other countries involves the manipulation of boundaries to favour supporters in specific areas, like of a certain ethnicity or social-economic status.

"But in Singapore, every electoral division is more or less a microcosm of our nation. This is a result of our urban planning, where we do not want to have racial or religious enclaves in Singapore, nor do we have a rural-urban divide," he said.

Name game

While the rationale for double-barrelled names in general has been made clear by the EBRC, it's less certain how the specific names are selected.

Is land area the main factor? The prominence of the estate? The number of voters?

It's anyone's guess. But that's a discussion for another day.

For now, all that's left to do is to watch and wait for Polling Day itself.

And to consider if maybe one day, there might be a triple-barrelled, or even a quadruple-barrelled GRC name.

For instance, two of our new GRCs happen to be next to each other.

Jurong East-Bukit Batok-West Coast-Jurong West GRC, anyone?

Related story

Top image from Canva and EBRC report