Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency

Not to be confused with Jalan Besar Single Member Constituency.

Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency is a four-member Group Representation Constituency composed of several city suburbs along with the Central Area of Singapore. The Jalan Besar GRC is the electoral division representing the largest area of the downtown city centre of Singapore, followed by Tanjong Pagar GRC. There are four wards in the GRC: Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng, Kolam Ayer, Whampoa and lastly Kampong Glam managed by Jalan Besar Town Council. The current Members of Parliament are Josephine Teo, Denise Phua, Wan Rizal and Shawn Loh from the People's Action Party (PAP).

Jalan Besar
Kawasan Undi Perwakilan Berkumpulan Jalan Besar 惹兰勿刹集选区 ஜாலான் புசார் குழுப் பிரதிநிதித்துவத் தொகுதி
Group Representation constituency for the Parliament of Singapore
Region	Central Region, Singapore
Electorate	106,342
Current constituency
Created	1988; 37 years ago (1988)
Seats	4
Party	People's Action Party
Member(s)	Josephine Teo Denise Phua Wan Rizal Shawn Loh
Town Council	Jalan Besar
Created from	Geylang West SMC Jalan Besar SMC Kolam Ayer SMC Kampong Glam SMC Kreta Ayer SMC
Dissolved	2011
Dissolved to	Moulmein–Kallang GRC Whampoa SMC
Reformed	2015
Reformed from	Moulmein–Kallang GRC Whampoa SMC

History

It is named after Jalan Besar, a street in Singapore that forms this GRC's centrepiece. The street itself is within the Kallang planning area, Kallang itself being part of this GRC. The GRC encompasses several heritage areas, including Little India, Desker Road, Kolam Ayer and Crawford in the North. Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng itself includes the Singapore River, Chinatown and Bukit Ho Swee.

During 1988 general election, the three-member PAP team led by Lee Boon Yang won the election with 62.68% of the votes against the WP with 37.32% of the votes.

During 1997 general election, the four-member PAP team led by Lee won the election with 67.55% of the votes against the WP with 32.45% of the votes.

In 1999, Choo Wee Khiang was charged with cheating for issuing a false invoice from his company in November 1990 to Wong See Kee, Choo's brother-in-law. Choo resigned from PAP and Parliament before pleading guilty in court to a charge which was reduced from aggravated to simple cheating.^[1] Under the Singapore Law, an MP will lose their seat if they get a year of jail or more than a S$2,000 fine.^[2] Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had said that Choo has done the right thing in resigning from the party and as an MP, before pleading guilty in court.^[2] Choo was sentenced to two weeks' jail and fined S$10,000.^[3][4]

During 2001 general election, the five-member PAP team led by Lee won the election with 74.49% of the votes against the SDA led by Desmond Lim with 25.51% of the votes.

During 2006 general election, the five-member PAP team led by Lee the election with 69.26% of the votes against the SDA with 30.74% of the votes.

Jalan Besar GRC was dissolved ahead of the 2011 elections and along with Moulmein from Tanjong Pagar GRC to form Moulmein–Kallang Group Representation Constituency while a majority of the Kreta Ayer–Kim Seng and Whampoa were redrawn into Tanjong Pagar GRC and as a SMC, respectively.

However, its GRC were again reformed one parliamentary term later in 2015 Singaporean general election,^[5] where changes made from a majority of the GRC were reversed, while the Jalan Besar division was dissolved into other wards.

In 2015 Singaporean general election, the four-member PAP team led by Yaacob Ibrahim won the election with 67.75% of the votes while WP got 32.25% of the votes.

In 2020 general election, the four-member PAP team led by Josephine Teo won the election with 65.36% of the votes while the Peoples Voice led by Lim Tean obtained 34.64% of the votes.

On 17 April 2025, PAP announced Heng Chee How was to be replaced by Shawn Loh in the PAP team to contest the GRC for the 2025 general election.^[6]

Members of Parliament

Election	Division	Members of Parliament	Party
Formation
1988	Geylang West Jalan Besar Kolam Ayer	Peh Chin Hua Lee Boon Yang Sidek Saniff		PAP
1991	Geylang West Jalan Besar Kallang Kolam Ayer	Peh Chin Hua Lee Boon Yang Choo Wee Khiang Zulkifli bin Mohamed
1997	Geylang West Jalan Besar Kolam Ayer Whampoa	Peh Chin Hua Lee Boon Yang Yaacob Ibrahim Choo Wee Khiang (1997–19991)
2001	Jalan Besar Kampong Glam Kolam Ayer Kreta Ayer - Kim Seng Whampoa	Lee Boon Yang Loh Meng See Yaacob Ibrahim Lily Neo Heng Chee How
2006		Lee Boon Yang Denise Phua Yaacob Ibrahim Lily Neo Heng Chee How
Constituency abolished (2011–2015)
2015	Kampong Glam Kolam Ayer Kreta Ayer - Kim Seng Whampoa	Denise Phua Yaacob Ibrahim Lily Neo Heng Chee How		PAP
2020		Denise Phua Wan Rizal Josephine Teo Heng Chee How
2025		Denise Phua Wan Rizal Josephine Teo Shawn Loh

^ Choo resigned before being charged and convicted in 1999 for cheating offences.^[7] However, no by-election was called on the ground since it was a Group Representation Constituency, and the workload for the Whampoa ward was distributed among the rest of the team.

Electoral results

Note : Elections Department Singapore do not include rejected votes for calculation of candidate's vote share. Hence, the total of all candidates' vote share will be 100%.

Elections in 1980s

General Election 1988: Jalan Besar GRC^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	PAP	Peh Chin Hua Lee Boon Yang Sidek Saniff	31,604	62.68
	WP	Marsh Edund Richard Mohamed Bin Idris Toh Keng Thong	18,814	37.32
Majority			12,790	25.37
Registered electors			54,941
Turnout			50,418	91.77
	PAP win (new seat)

Elections in 1990s

General Election 1991: Jalan Besar GRC^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Peh Chin Hua Lee Boon Yang Choo Wee Khiang Zulkifli Mohammed	Unopposed
Registered electors			82,615
	PAP hold

General Election 1997: Jalan Besar GRC^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Peh Chin Hua Lee Boon Yang Yaacob Ibrahim Choo Wee Khiang	44,840	67.55	N/A
	SDP	Gandhi Ambalam Jufrie Mahmood David Chew Low Yong Nguan	21,537	32.45
Majority			23,303	35.10	N/A
Registered electors			71,922		N/A
Turnout			66,377	92.29	N/A
	PAP hold

Elections in 2000s

^[11]

General Election 2001: Jalan Besar GRC

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Lee Boon Yang Loh Meng See Yaacob Ibrahim Lily Neo Heng Chee How	68,309	74.49	6.94
	SDA	Desmond Lim Sin Kek Tong M Rahizan Reno Fong Ng Kee How	23,391	25.51	N/A
Majority			44,918	48.98	13.88
Registered electors			100,268		39.41
Turnout			91,700	91.45	0.84
	PAP hold		Swing	6.94

General Election 2006: Jalan Besar GRC^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Lee Boon Yang Denise Phua Yaacob Ibrahim Lily Neo Heng Chee How	58,913	69.26	5.23
	SDA	Cheo Chai Chen Sebastian Teo Reno Fong Muhammad Ali Aman Vincent Yeo	26,151	30.74	5.23
Majority			32,762	38.51	10.47
Registered electors			93,025		7.22
Turnout			85,064	91.50	0.05
	PAP hold		Swing	5.23

Elections in 2010s

General Election 2015^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	PAP	Denise Phua Yaacob Ibrahim Lily Neo Heng Chee How	63,644	67.75
	WP	Frieda Chan L Somasundaram Redzwan Hafidz Abdul Razak Adrian Sim	30,302	32.25
Majority			33,342	35.50
Registered electors			102,540
Rejected ballots			1,550	1.6
Turnout			95,496	93.1
	PAP win (new seat)

Elections in 2020s

General Election 2020^[14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Denise Phua Wan Rizal Josephine Teo Heng Chee How	64,631	65.36	2.37
	PV	Lim Tean Leong Sze Hian Nor Azlan Sulaiman Michael Fang Amin	34,261	34.64	N/A
Majority			30,370	30.72	4.78
Total valid votes			98,892	97.11
Rejected ballots			2,948	2.89	1.29
Turnout			101,840	94.54
Registered electors			107,720		5.05
	PAP hold		Swing	2.37

General Election 2025^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Denise Phua Wan Rizal Josephine Teo Shawn Loh	70,602	75.21	9.85
	PAR	Chiu Shin Kong Mohamad Hamim Aliyas Sarina Abu Hassan Vigneswari V Ramachandran	23,267	24.79	N/A
Majority			47,335	50.42	19.70
Total valid votes			93,869	96.56	0.55
Rejected ballots			3,349	3.44	0.55
Turnout			97,218	91.42	3.12
Registered electors			106,342		1.28
	PAP hold		Swing	9.85

See also

• Jalan Besar SMC
• Moulmein–Kallang GRC