Sex and politics in Singapore: 3 by-elections held due to politicians' sex scandals

Politicians in Singapore are pretty much a clean-cut bunch, with many of them holding impressive qualifications and high-level appointments previously. In the early noughties, one may be hard-pressed to recall any lurid scandals surrounding local politicians.

That is, until 2012, when we saw the unseating of a member of parliament (MP), thanks to a sex scandal, which marked the start of a string of sex-related scandals that dotted Singapore’s political scene. And all of them have resulted in a, you guessed it, by-election, following the disgraced politician's resignation or expulsion.

Here are the politicians involved in sex scandals you should know about and the by-elections that followed after they left their positions.

Yaw Shin Leong, Workers' Party

Yaw had been handpicked to contest in long-term Workers' Party (WP) stronghold Hougang single-member constituency (SMC), in place of then-incumbent Low Thia Khiang, who left to lead the WP charge in Aljunied GRC. 

After winning the Hougang seat, Yaw was elected to WP’s Central Executive Council as treasurer. 

However in 2012, news that he was having an affair with a married party colleague broke, followed by another report that he had a relationship with a married tuition teacher from China who assisted him with translation work. 

Yaw was subsequently expelled from WP on February 15, 2012, after refusing to break the silence surrounding the allegations. He was seen at Changi Airport the next day with his luggage. 

The ensuing May 2012 by-election was the first by-election to be held in Singapore in 20 years, which WP won, though with a reduced vote share. 

According to a report in The Straits Times in 2017, Yaw now goes by Amos Rao and is a senior vice-president in a private education college in Myanmar. 

Michael Palmer, People’s Action Party 

In December 2012, Palmer shocked his fellow MPs by resigning from the People’s Action Party (PAP), his post as Speaker of Singapore Parliament and as MP of Punggol East SMC. 

The married father of one admitted to having a year-long relationship with People’s Association constituency director Laura Ong and said that he resigned to “take full responsibility for a grave mistake” and to avoid further embarrassment to the PAP and to Parliament. 

The New Paper revealed that prior to Palmer’s resignation, they had received text messages and emails from an unnamed contact that showed intimate conversations between Palmer and Ong. 

A by-election was held on January 26, 2013 for Punggol East SMC and it was won by WP candidate Lee Li Lian with 54.52 per cent of valid votes. 

Palmer then left Harry Elias Partnership where he was a partner in 2013 to join Quahe Woo & Palmer where he serves as a director to date. 

David Ong, People’s Action Party

Similar to Palmer, Ong surprised supporters and fellow party members when he resigned from PAP on March 12, 2016, citing “personal indiscretions” as the reason.

At the point of his resignation, he was in his second term as an MP. He had served in Jurong GRC in 2011 before winning the Bukit Batok seat in the 2015 election. 

It later emerged that he had an affair with Wendy Lim, an active participant in grassroots activities in Bukit Batok and a PAP supporter during the 2015 election. The affair was said to have gone on for several months before it was exposed, allegedly because Lim’s husband had lodged a complaint.

Ong later issued a letter of apology to the residents of Bukit Batok on April 6, 2016, expressing regret for his action and for letting down his residents. 

A by-election held on May 7, 2016, was won by PAP’s Murali Pillai over Singapore Democratic Party’s Chee Soon Juan. 

Little has been heard about David Ong since his resignation.

Steve Chia, National Solidarity Party 

While Chia was involved in a scandal, he didn't resign from his party nor was he expelled, and he kept his position as a non-constituency member of parliament. Hence, there was no by-election held despite his indiscretions. 

In 2003, Chia had a nude photo scandal involving his maid. His then-wife was pregnant and discovered nude photos of their maid in his computer’s recycling bin and lodged a police report. 

Chia insisted that the maid had willingly posed for the photos, a claim that was supported by his Indonesian domestic helper. He was let off with a warning for possession of an obscene film.  

Chia had previously announced that he would contest for the MacPherson SMC with National Solidarity Party (NSP) in the 2015 election, before he abruptly pulled out.

He has since joined the Singapore People's Party (SPP) and on November 6, 2019, he was revealed as the SPP’s newest secretary-general. He will be running for the Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC in the upcoming general election.  

kailun@asiaone.com