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[SINGAPORE] The upcoming General Election (GE) will see widespread boundary changes, with only five Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) and four Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) remaining unchanged.

Both the east and the west of the island have been redrawn significantly. GRCs such as Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC and Jurong GRC will be carved up, while polling districts will shift across others – including Workers’ Party-held Aljunied GRC, which will lose some districts to Tampines GRC.

Seven weeks after being formed on Jan 22, the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) has submitted its report and had its recommendations accepted by the government, said the Elections Department (ELD) on Tuesday (Mar 11).

The report’s release is a sign that the next GE – due by November 2025 – could be just a few months away.

“The next milestone will be to update and certify the registers of electors, before the elections are called later,” said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in a Facebook post after the release of the report.

The EBRC recommended 33 electoral divisions: 15 SMCs, up from 14 previously; and 18 four and five-member GRCs. The latter comprise eight four-member GRCs, up from six; and 10 five-member GRCs, down from 11.

While there was a net gain of just one SMC and one GRC, many changes were made to electoral boundaries, including five new or renamed GRCs.

There will be 97 elected Members of Parliament (MPs), up from 93. This is in line with the EBRC’s terms of reference to keep the average ratio of electors to elected MPs similar to the last GE.

There were 2,753,226 electors as at February 2025 – when the registers were last certified – up from 2,651,435 during GE2020.

But the EBRC noted that “this growth was not evenly distributed” across electoral divisions, with some growing more than others – and thus needing to be redrawn.

Big shifts in the east

One of these was Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, which has seen the largest elector growth since GE2020 “and will continue to grow with new housing developments”, said the EBRC.

It will thus be split up. Its Punggol estates will be carved out and merged with the existing Punggol West SMC to form a new four-member Punggol GRC, which EBRC said would “also better reflect the identity of the estates in Punggol town”.

The remaining Pasir Ris polling districts will be merged with adjacent ones from East Coast GRC – comprising Loyang and Flora estates – to form the four-member Pasir Ris-Changi GRC.

This means a string of consequent changes affecting East Coast GRC, Marine Parade GRC and nearby SMCs.

Having lost some districts, East Coast GRC will be kept as a five-member GRC by taking in adjacent districts from Marine Parade GRC: the Chai Chee Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates and the Siglap private estates.

In turn, Marine Parade GRC will get some polling districts from Potong Pasir SMC. This takes into account high population growth in Potong Pasir, from new HDB developments in Bidadari estate.

Marine Parade GRC will also absorb MacPherson SMC and an adjacent polling district from Mountbatten SMC, to remain as a five-member GRC – renamed Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC.

Changes in the west

In the west, the committee recommended splitting Hong Kah North SMC, which has been and will keep growing with housing developments in Tengah and Bukit Batok West.

This meant consequent changes to Chua Chu Kang GRC, Jurong GRC and West Coast GRC.

The Tengah estates in Hong Kah North SMC will be absorbed into Chua Chu Kang GRC – which, to remain a four-member GRC, will have Bukit Gombak and Hillview estates carved out to form Bukit Gombak SMC.

But the rest of Hong Kah North SMC, comprising Bukit Batok West estates, “is still too big and growing”. It will be merged – along with Bukit Batok SMC and districts from Yuhua SMC – into Jurong GRC, forming Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC.

For Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC to remain a five-member one, some districts were carved out to create Jurong Central SMC. Other estates in Jurong West and Taman Jurong were moved to the adjacent West Coast GRC.

The latter will be renamed West Coast-Jurong West GRC. To keep it to five members, its easternmost polling districts – comprising Harbourfront and Sentosa – were moved to Radin Mas SMC. Districts in Dover and Telok Blangah were also moved to Tanjong Pagar GRC.

To keep Tanjong Pagar GRC at five members, some estates in Queenstown were carved out to form Queenstown SMC.

Carve-outs and adjustments

Separately, one new SMC each was carved out of the existing five-member Sembawang, Tampines and Ang Mo Kio GRCs, to account for their large populations. These SMCs will be known as Sembawang West, Tampines Changkat and Jalan Kayu respectively.

Other minor changes were proposed to “regularise” boundaries along “key geographical features”.

Aljunied GRC polling districts in Tampines West, situated east of the Bedok River and comprising 3,834 electors, were moved to Tampines GRC.

The electoral boundary between Chua Chu Kang and Holland-Bukit Timah GRCs was previously aligned to a railway track, which no longer exists. It has thus been realigned along Woodlands Road, resulting in new HDB estates there being assigned to Chua Chu Kang GRC.

Similarly, a polling district east of Upper Bukit Timah Road was reassigned to Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, from Jurong GRC.

The following GRCs remain unchanged:

• Bishan-Toa Payoh

• Jalan Besar

• Marsiling-Yew Tee

• Nee Soon

• Sengkang

Unchanged SMCs were:

• Bukit Panjang

• Hougang

• Marymount

• Pioneer

In total, apart from Hong Kah North SMC being split up, four SMCs were absorbed – Bukit Batok, MacPherson, Punggol West and Yuhua – and six created.

Opposition parties questioned the changes, with the People’s Alliance for Reform also laying early claims to the GRCs and SMCs it plans to contest. The Progress Singapore Party and Singapore Democratic Party raised objections but did not stake claims, saying they would study the report.

The Workers’ Party did not make specific criticisms, but noted “significant changes” to areas where it has been working consistently for years.

Responding to the report, the People’s Action Party (PAP) said: “Our branches and activists will make the necessary adjustments to prepare for the upcoming GE. Meanwhile, residents can continue to seek assistance from their existing PAP branches.”

For the previous GE in 2020, the EBRC report was published on Mar 13, with the election held close to four months later on Jul 10. For the GE in 2015, the report was published on Jul 24, with the election on Sep 11.