“BRING it up!” shouted the stallholder in Fajar Market in Hokkien as he pumped his fist in the air, while some of the other stallholders cheered.

He was referring to the number of Opposition Members of Par­liament in Singapore. Before Parlia­ment was dissolved, there were seven Opposition legislators, all from the Workers’ Party (WP).

Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) secretary-general Dr Chee Soon Juan had just visited the stall on the last day of election campaigning before a mandatory 24-hour “cooling-off”.

“It’s a toss up,” Dr Chee told The Star during his Wednesday morning walkabout in the Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representation Con­stituency. “We are down to the wire.”

… Bilveer Singh, adjunct senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, predicts the “Chiam factor” won’t play as big a role as in the past.

“PAP MP Sitoh Yin Pin has done a pretty good job,” he added. “Aside from the facilities which he brought such as parks and extra lifts, he is a very down-to-earth politician.”