Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong waves as he leaves the polling station with his wife Loo Tze Lui during the general election, in Singapore May 3, 2025. - Reuters
SINGAPORE: Some of Singapore’s 2.6 million voters got a rainy start at the polls on May 3, with many braving the early morning torrential downpour to cast their votes amid flash-flood warnings in several areas.
Lines started forming about an hour before the 1,240 polling centres, across schools, void decks and Housing Board pavilions, opened their gates at 8am.
In Punggol, lawyer Raphael Louis, 54, and his wife, Irene Lum, 51, were the first to cast their votes at the Block 264 polling station.
They had arrived at 6.15am to beat the queue to cast their votes in what they said was likely “the most exciting election ever”.
“There was a lot of (campaigning on) social media, especially YouTube and podcasts. We had a lot more info pertaining to (the) candidates,” Louis said.
The couple, who said they attended one rally, have a 19-year-old daughter. They said she followed the campaigning closely, but was disappointed that she is not old enough to vote.
Singaporeans have to be not less than 21 years old to vote.
Farther east, at Poi Ching School in Tampines, residents arrived in dribs and drabs clutching large umbrellas.
Juanda and Sariah, who gave only their first names, were two of the earliest voters at Poi Ching School. They turned up before 8am because they had planned a short break across the Causeway on Polling Day.
In Woodlands, where Prime Minister Lawrence Wong is contesting as part of the Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC team, early voters were spared the downpour seen in other parts of the island.
The four-member team is up against contenders from the Singapore Democratic Party.
At least 50 people were in line at 8.05am at the polling station at Block 168 Woodlands Street 11.
By late morning, the skies had cleared. Most Singaporeans reported the voting process to have been a breeze, with few or no queues at the polling centres.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and his wife Loo Tze Lui showed up to cast their votes at the MOE (Evans) Sport Hall, a polling centre for Tanjong Pagar GRC, just after 12pm.
Shortly before that, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, accompanied by his wife Ho Ching, had arrived to vote at Crescent Girls School, also a polling centre for Tanjong Pagar GRC.
As at 12pm, 1,261,449 Singaporeans had turned up to cast their votes at the 1,240 polling stations islandwide on May 3, the Elections Department said.
This is about 48 per cent of the 2,627,026 eligible electors in all contested electoral divisions.
General Election 2025 saw physical rallies returning for the first time since 2015, after the pandemic limited campaigning in 2020.
Covid-19 pandemic prevention rules meant long waiting times in the 2020 General Election. Polls were kept open for an additional two hours so that everyone could have a chance to vote.
The 2025 election saw nine days of intense campaigning, with 92 of 97 parliamentary seats to be decided on Polling Day. Only the PAP team in Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC was returned unopposed on Nomination Day.
The PAP is contesting all seats against 10 opposition parties and two independent candidates in 32 constituencies, with multi-cornered fights in Ang Mo Kio, Sembawang and Tampines GRCs and the single seats of Potong Pasir and Radin Mas.
Tampines has the most number of contenders, with the PAP up against three opposition parties – the WP, National Solidary Party and People’s Power Party.
Other closely watched battlegrounds that emerged during the hustings include the new Punggol GRC and Jalan Kayu SMC.
A last-minute switch on nomination day on April 23 saw Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong moved from Chua Chu Kang GRC, where he had been for 14 years, to lead the team in Punggol GRC.
They are up against a WP team led by Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh.
Meanwhile, in Tampines GRC, the WP’s former Aljunied GRC MP Faisal Manap is leading a five-member team against the PAP incumbents, led by Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli.
First-time voter Natasha, a 25-year-old information technology worker who declined to give her last name, was among residents at the polling station at Block 436 Fernvale Road, in the new Jalan Kayu SMC.
The constituency was previously part of Ang Mo Kio GRC led by SM Lee.
Natasha, who followed most of the rallies online, said the most novel part of this election was the big social media push from all parties.
Actress Sora Ma, a first-time voter, was seen with her eight-month-old son Skye, casting her vote at a polling station in Tampines GRC at about 12.05pm.
“To be able to have a voice in shaping the future of Singapore is very meaningful,” she told The Straits Times.
The 41-year-old mother said she had limited time to follow the entire election campaign, focusing instead on studying the leaflets that the parties contesting Tampines GRC sent in the mail.
Ma was deliberating or not whether to take her son to the polling station and eventually decided to.
“I wanted him to witness and see the whole process.”
The Malaysia-born actress became a Singapore citizen in 2025. - The Straits Times/ANN
(For more information on Singapore elections: the electoral maps (https://elections.data.gov.sg/en)
