SINGAPORE: A man who became the only registered voter in a polling district within Tampines Changkat Single Member Constituency (SMC) has received a verbal advisory from authorities for failing to update his address as required by law.
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and the Elections Department (ELD) issued a joint statement on 3 June 2025 confirming the incident.
They noted that the man had used his business address in an industrial park in Tampines as his residence.
He had registered this industrial unit as his home address in 2020, citing that he temporarily lived there during that period.
However, after moving to a new residence in 2022, he failed to update his address within the 28-day timeframe mandated under the National Registration Act.
ICA launched an investigation and found no evidence of criminal or malicious intent. As this was his first offence, a verbal advisory was issued instead of a fine or prosecution.
Authorities stated that the Registers of Electors would reflect Yeo’s updated address in the next revision cycle.
The case drew public attention after the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) released its report on 11 March 2025.
The report, based on the provisional Registers of Electors as at 1 February, highlighted that there was a single registered voter in the East Coast 42 (EC42) polling district within the newly formed Tampines Changkat SMC.
Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao identified the voter with surname Yeo, who runs an electric bicycle business in Tampines Industrial Park A. The area is not zoned for residential use.
Polling district EC42 includes new Build-To-Order (BTO) housing projects, SAFRA Tampines, several industrial buildings, and an international school. Most residential developments remain unoccupied, with renovation work having started only in February 2025.
In an earlier interview reported by AsiaOne, Yeo said he had changed his address from central Singapore to the industrial unit more than two decades ago, after taking over his family’s business.
He admitted that while he does not live there, the registration was done for convenience, as he spent long hours at the unit due to work.
The industrial block where Yeo’s unit is located was formerly part of EC03 polling district in East Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC).
It was reassigned to EC42 in the new SMC configuration, inadvertently making Yeo the sole elector there.
ICA reiterated that residential addresses must reflect the actual place of residence.
These records are used by various government agencies for critical administrative functions such as voter registration and public communication.
The agency acknowledged that verifying the accuracy of each registered address is operationally difficult. However, it stressed that premises owners must ensure their properties are not misused for unauthorised residential purposes.
Under the National Registration Act, individuals who fail to update their address or make false declarations can face a fine of up to S$5,000, up to five years’ imprisonment, or both.
PAP’s Desmond Choo wins Tampines Changkat SMC
In the General Election held on 3 May 2025, Tampines Changkat SMC was won by Desmond Choo of the People’s Action Party (PAP), who secured 56.17 per cent of the vote.
He defeated Workers’ Party candidate Kenneth Foo, who obtained 43.83 per cent. Of the 22,148 valid votes cast, 12,441 went to PAP and 9,707 to WP.
Tampines Changkat SMC is one of six new single-seat constituencies created in the March 2025 electoral boundaries review.
The ward was carved out of Tampines GRC due to population growth and demographic changes, according to the EBRC. The constituency comprises 23,802 registered voters.
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