On 7 May 2016 in Singapore, a parliamentary by-election was held in Bukit Batok Single Member Constituency (SMC) to replace David Ong, the previous Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency, after he resigned from Parliament and the governing People's Action Party (PAP) following revelations of his extramarital affair. This by-election was the third of its kind in less than five years; two had previously occurred in 2012 and 2013.
On polling day, PAP candidate Murali Pillai defeated Chee Soon Juan, candidate for the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) with 61.23% of the vote, a negative swing of almost 12%. Murali become the second ethnic minority MP to be elected in an SMC since the GRC's scheme began in 1988, with former Punggol East SMC MP Michael Palmer being its first. Murali was sworn into Parliament two days later. As of the recent general election in 2025, this was the latest by-election being held in Singapore.
Background On 12 March 2016, David Ong, the incumbent PAP MP for Bukit Batok SMC, suddenly resigned from Parliament and the PAP, citing "personal reasons" and admitting to a "personal indiscretion". His resignation was accepted by Lee Hsien Loong, then-Prime Minister and secretary-general of the PAP. Then-PAP whip Chan Chun Sing stated that the party took "very decisive action" in "a very short time" once it heard of the "indiscretion", due to "standards that the party also [wanted] to uphold". Ong sent a personal letter of apology to Bukit Batok residents in early April 2016.
The Singaporean media stated that Ong had been having an extramarital affair with Wendy Lim, a 41-year-old PAP member and grassroots volunteer. The affair had happened for nearly six months before going public after Lim's husband lodged a complaint; Lim subsequently left the PAP three days later on 15 March while also taking leave from her full-time job as a sales director.
Ong's resignation led to the third by-election within a span of four years, which coincidentally involving an MP resigning over extramaritial affairs. Prior to Ong's case, two other MPs in 2012 also resigned their respective seats for the same reasons and precipated its respective by-elections: the first happened in February with the resignation of Yaw Shin Leong, then-Workers' Party (WP) MP for Hougang SMC, and a by-election was held three months later; the other occurred in December that same year following the resignation of Michael Palmer, then-Speaker of Parliament and PAP MP for Punggol East SMC, which saw a second by-election being held a month later.
Ong's responsibilities as MP for Bukit Batok SMC were tentatively fulfilled by Desmond Lee, incumbent MP for Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and Senior Minister of State, pending the election of a new MP. Ang Wei Neng, another MP for Jurong GRC, fulfilled his responsibilities as chairperson of Jurong–Clementi Town Council.
Calling of by-election After the annual Budget Statement for 2016 was passed, on 20 April, as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was on a working visit to the Middle East at the time, the Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, as Acting Prime Minister, advised President Tony Tan to issue the writ of election. The writ was issued, adjourning nominations to 27 April at Keming Primary School and voting to 7 May.
Bukit Batok SMC
As of 21 April 2016, there were 25,727 registered voters. They accounted for 56% of the total resident population of Bukit Batok SMC. Approximately 96% of the resident population lived in public housing. Bukit Batok have nine polling stations across the constituency, and ballot boxes were sent to either one of the two counting centers, Keming Primary School and Bukit Batok Secondary School.
Candidates Two candidates were successfully nominated for this election:
Candidates Party Background Murali Pillai Peoples Action PartyA member of the PAP, Pillai was the branch secretary for the Bukit Batok division of Jurong GRC under the late MP Ong Chit Chung. Having been the unelected PAP branch chairperson for the Paya Lebar division of Aljunied GRC since May 2012, he was part of the five-member PAP team in the 2015 general election that narrowly lost to the WP in said GRC. On 21 March, the PAP announced that Pillai had been nominated as its candidate for Bukit Batok SMC; he was thus appointed branch chairperson there. Outside of politics, he was the head of commercial litigation at Rajah & Tann. Chee Soon Juan Singapore Democratic PartyChee, who was the current Secretary-general of SDP, and a retired neuro-psychologist, was the first candidate to announce his bid for Bukit Batok SMC on 20 March. While it was the first time Chee had contested in Bukit Batok SMC, this was technically the second time Chee had challenged Bukit Batok back in 2001 where said ward was under the boundaries of Jurong GRC at the time, where Chee's team had once challenged.
Three other men had applied for political donation certificates but were not nominated as candidates:
Candidates Background Kwan Yue Keng A former SDP candidate for Bukit Batok SMC in the 1988 and 1991 general elections, Kwan had since become a member of the People's Power Party (PPP). Under an agreement between SDP and PPP to avoid a walkover, Kwan was set as a designated candidate in the event Chee was disqualified. However, Kwan withdrew from the contest after Chee had nominated, and endorsed him. Abdul Rahim Osman A former WP candidate for Cheng San GRC in 1997. Despite being applied and had a political donation certificate, he withdrew from the contest after consideration, and endorsed Pillai. Shirwin Eu An Uber driver, Eu did not meet the nomination requirements of a proposer, a seconder, and four assentors residing in Bukit Batok SMC. He admitted that he was drawn by the "fame and wealth" of becoming an MP and did not know what residents of the SMC wanted. He had suffered a similar failure during his first bid to be nominated in Bukit Panjang SMC for the 2015 general election.
Five opposition parties, including the PPP, had earlier ruled out contesting in the by-election. The rest were the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), Singaporeans First (SingFirst), and the WP. Samir Salim Neji, an independent who had contested Bukit Batok SMC during the 2015 general election, also announced that he would not contest.
Campaign Summary of election rallies On Nomination Day, 27 April, the Singapore Police Force issued a list of sites available for rallies ("electoral meetings"). They could be held from 28 April to 5 May between 7am to 10pm. It was also announced that the Speakers' Corner would not serve as an "unrestricted area" during the campaigning period. All rallies below were held between 7pm to 10pm.
Party 29 April 1 May 3 May 5 May PAPBukit Gombak Stadium Bukit Gombak Stadium SDPField along Bukit Batok Industrial Park ABukit Gombak StadiumField along Bukit Batok Industrial Park A
SDP plans Chee campaigned with a slogan of "Now Is The Time", and his campaign used technology and social media widely. By 21 April, he had put together a team of four to, within the first 100 days of a victory, advise the SDP on how to take over from the PAP and run the new town council for the SMC. Chee also pledged that the SDP wanted "to surpass current levels of performance of PAP-run town councils". By 29 April, the SDP had established a transition team of 13; they were to ensure that said town council "[worked] without a hitch, all from Day One". Chee also stated that he would personally manage the operation of the town council without managing agents, with the SDP aiming "to set new standards for transparency and accountability in town council governance."
The SDP announced on 23 April that, if Chee won, residents of Bukit Batok SMC would be provided with four social schemes:
Hearts for Bukit Batok, where needy families would be 'adopted' and supported, including with a trust fund. Chee also said that he would use part of his salary as an MP to help 10 families. Pathfinder, a program providing youths with books, fairs, and sports, as well as subsidized tuition for the poor. Dollars And Sense, a financial clinic. Legal Lifeline, a clinic for legal advice.
PAP plans On 24 April, Pillai revealed a $1.9 million plan by the PAP-run Jurong–Clementi Town Council, which was managing Bukit Batok SMC, to upgrade infrastructure around Blocks 140 to 149 in the SMC, saying, "If we don't have the mandate, then we won't have the ability to carry on because we will not form the town council." In response, Chee criticized pending upgrading plans as a "knee-jerk reaction every time an election [came]" and asked for an update on the $23.6 million upgrading plan for Bukit Batok SMC announced by Ong during the 2015 general election. Pillai replied that some projects in the $23.6 million plan were already "fully executed", while others were ongoing or "in the pipeline"; he also claimed that the $1.9 million upgrade was a component of the plan. Later, after Pillai said that the $1.9 million would be disbursed regardless of the party of the by-election winner; Chee said that he would continue with Ong's masterplan while proposing new additions including zebra crossings and covered walkways.
On 26 April, Pillai unveiled his manifesto focusing on the three domains of employment, social mobility and the elderly. On employment, Pillai proposed a program to help the unemployed find jobs faster. On social mobility, he said that volunteers would "inspire children from low-income families to aim high to succeed in life". A "health cooperative" would be implemented to help "sandwiched families" by increasing medical literacy and subsidizing consumables for the elderly. Additionally, he also proposed an "emergency button scheme" for "elderly living alone" to alert "neighbours or community volunteers" of a need for help. In the following days, Pillai pledged to establish a new eldercare centre to "help provide more therapy services and daycare services". He also elaborated on his initial plans: for social mobility, he stated a hope that his volunteer youth mentorship program would eventually be accessible to all residents and be introduced in schools; while for the unemployed, he planned on "leveraging on community contacts within the pool of community volunteers and Bukit Batok residents, and also [his] own business contacts" to help residents secure jobs. At his final rally, Pillai said that if he were elected, he would propose in Parliament to tighten the criteria for receiving employment passes and raise Eldershield insurance payouts for the disabled.
Campaigning On 27 April, Chee pledged that if elected, he would be a "full-time MP", claiming, "...every morning when Mr Murali wakes up, his first destination will be his office. When I wake up every morning, my first destination is Bukit Batok." In response, Pillai said that he would "always put Bukit Batok residents' needs above [his]". He also replied that PAP MPs were able to balance having a "day job" alongside their MP status; while a "team approach" was needed as constituents could not be served by a single person. At the SDP's rally on April 29, several SDP speakers criticized David Ong for his resignation, accusing him of thus failing to serve residents of Bukit Batok SMC; in response, Chee declared that people should "leave Mr Ong alone" and not "kick a man when he's down". The next day, Chee further said that he would "stop" SDP members from attacking Ong for the rest of the by-election period.