31-538: Jalan Kayu Constituency was a single member constituency in Jalan Kayu, Singapore, between 1959 and 1988. After the 1951 election , the present Jalan Kayu Single Member Constituency constituted the majority of the Seletar ward; that ward was dissolved prior to the 1959 election , producing the Jalan Kayu ward, the then Thomson ward, and small parts of Nee Soon ward. Following its dissolution in 1988, Jalan Kayu
62-466: A nurse, her travels to the United Kingdom to meet royalty, her 22-year teaching career at St Andrew's School, and her vast contributions to the less fortunate. More than 100 artefacts of pictures and newspaper clippings of her past, including the sculpture Serene Jade , were on display at the exhibition. This was a nude sculpture of Choy, created in 1949 by Dora Gordine . It was also the first in
93-530: A series of four sculptures by Gordine, and only five other copies of the sculpture remain in existence. Choy's life and experiences during the Japanese occupation of Singapore had been depicted twice in television. The first time was in The Price of Peace , a Chinese-language drama series aired on TCS Eighth Frequency (now MediaCorp Channel 8 ) in 1997, in which she appeared as a semi-fictional character and
124-951: The Girl Guides ' highest honour for gallantry, the Bronze Cross , and the Rajah of Sarawak Charles Brooke presented her with the Order of the Star of Sarawak . The Choys were bestowed with the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in June 1946. They were honoured for their work in assisting British prisoners of war in Malaya during the Japanese occupation. In addition, Choy received
155-692: The Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II . Choy was born in a Hakka family in Kudat , North Borneo (now Sabah ). Her great-grandparents first came to Kudat from Hong Kong to assist German missionaries in their work. The eldest of 11 children, Choy's father worked as a civil servant after completing his early education in China with some English education in North Borneo, where he married
186-737: The Legislative Council , up from six seats in the 1948 elections . A 32-day-long campaign period was scheduled, with nomination day on 8 March 1951. The result was a victory for the Progressive Party , which won six of the nine seats. The Legislative Council was increased from 22 to 25 members, with the number of elected seats increased from six to nine. Three seats were nominated by the three commercial organisations (the Singapore Chamber of Commerce, Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Indian Chamber of Commerce), whilst
217-702: The National University of Singapore ) in Singapore. As her family could not afford the tuition fees, she started to teach, first at St Margaret's School and then at St Andrew's School . In August 1941, she married Choy Khun Heng, employed by the Borneo Company. During the Japanese invasion of Malaya , Choy served as a second lieutenant in the women's auxiliary arm of the Singapore Volunteer Corps , where she acquired
248-559: The British colonial government appointed the remaining 13 seats, which were given to the Governor, Colonial Secretary, Financial Secretary, Attorney-General, Solicitor-General, two Directors, two ex officio Commissioners and four non-officio ones. One of the four non-officio members, only one woman was appointed, war heroine Elizabeth Choy , who ran unsuccessfully in the 1950 Municipal Commission elections . The British government approved
279-622: The Japanese crackdown following Operation Jaywick . During the subsequent Double Tenth Incident , an informant told the Kempeitai (Japanese military police) that the Choys were involved in smuggling money into Changi Prison, resulting in the arrest of Choy's husband. After several days, Choy went to the Kempeitai East District Branch to ask about her husband. The Japanese denied knowledge of him, but lured her back to
310-716: The Progressive Party became the first and only party to win a two-thirds majority prior to 1959 and the only party other than the People's Action Party to do so. Elizabeth Choy Elizabeth Choy Su-Moi OBE ( nÊe Yong ; 29 November 1910 â 14 September 2006) was a Singaporean educator and councillor who is regarded as a war heroine in Singapore. Along with her husband, Choy Khun Heng, she supplied medicine, money and messages to Far East prisoners of war and civilian internees held in Changi Prison during
341-556: The branch three weeks later and confined her with other prisoners. She was imprisoned and subjected to torture. R. H. Scott, a former director of the British Ministry of Information (Far Eastern Branch) and principal witness at the War Crimes Court in Singapore, later testified that he saw Choy being stripped and severely beaten "on at least one occasion". Throughout her imprisonment, her strong Christian faith and
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#1732798064741372-574: The classic texts that she learnt in school about moral values kept her strong. At the Japanese surrender in Singapore in September 1945, Choy was invited by Lady Mountbatten to witness the official ceremony, where she was escorted by the governor, Sir Shenton Thomas , and his wife, to whom she had sent medicine in Changi Prison. After the war, the Choys were invited to England to recuperate. During their stay, Lady Baden-Powell awarded her
403-590: The daughter of a priest. He transferred to work in Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu ) and was later promoted to District Officer and he moved to Kalimantan . Choy was raised by a Kadazan nanny and acquired Kadazan as her first language. She became an Anglican at St Monica's Boarding School in Sandakan , where she adopted the name "Elizabeth", and went on to pursue higher education in Raffles College (now
434-545: The election, despite his votes' share was slashed by nearly half. Notes: Madai Puthan Damodaran Nair has contested here in every GE since the inception of this ward, with the exceptions in 1967 by-elections and 1968 elections where he stood as an independent candidate in Thomson and Farrer Park wards respectively. He had previously elected in Seletar ward, which has since evolved into this ward and also went through up and downs, from an end of almost being elected MP since
465-645: The first and only Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seat, only to reject it. The seat was subsequently offered to Tan Chee Kien, the second best performing but lost the election opposition candidate who ran in Kaki Bukit SMC under the Singapore United Front 's banner as auxiliary NCMP who had also promptly declined the offer. This is the only general election that oversees the Opposition candidates had declined NCMP offers since
496-534: The first principal, as well as a teacher, at the Singapore School for the Blind from 1956. After her retirement she improved her languages and travelled. She continued with social work and school visits into her 90s, impressing young Singaporeans with the need to maintain strong national defence. Choy was also noted for wearing traditional Chinese and Indian clothing, qipaos and bangles , which earned her
527-632: The first woman elected to the Legislative Council, winning the Seletar constituency as an independent. Progressive Party leader Tan Chye Cheng was the best performing candidate, receiving 80% of the vote in Tanglin while independent candidate Mizra Abdul Majid was the worst performing candidate by polling just 4% in City and being the only candidate to lose their $ 500 deposit. In absolute numbers, Labour Party leader Lim Yew Hock received
558-533: The highest number of votes (2,369) in Keppel while Labour Party candidate Thomas Davies Richards of Tanglin was the worst performing candidate with just 351 votes. In terms of vote margin, the Labour Party 's candidate Caralapati Raghaviah Dasaratha Raj won with the narrowest margin of 6.56% while PP leader Tan Chye Cheng won with the biggest margin of 60.27%. By winning six of the nine constituency seats,
589-649: The honour of having a half-hour private audience with Queen Elizabeth at St James's Palace on 25 July 1946. During her four-year stay in England, Choy studied domestic science at the Northern Polytechnic (now the University of North London ) and taught at a London council school. Intent on studying art but without the finances for this venture, Choy began a stint as an artist's model, posing for two sculptures, "Serene Jade" and "Flawless Crystal", by
620-706: The independence of Singapore in 1984 elections when he represented the Workers' Party of Singapore and subsequently offered but declined the Non-constituency Member of Parliament seat to lost his election deposit in 1963 elections when he was one of the candidate that entered into the multi-cornered fight's fray under the banner of Singapore Alliance . 1951 Singapore general election [REDACTED] General elections were held in Singapore on 10 April 1951 to elect members to nine seats in
651-557: The introduction of NCMP scheme prior to 1984 general elections. The only other election after the introduction of NCMP scheme that sees no NCMP legislator was after the 1991 general election where 4 opposition legislators were elected, which had exceeded the maximum of 3 NCMP seats (Each NCMP seat is reduced when each opposition candidate has been elected for a particular ward). Notes: The then incumbent Tan Cheng Tong from People's Action Party had attempted to seek another term, but this time round he joined Barisan Sosialis instead and win
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#1732798064741682-626: The municipal level, the Labour Party, entered the legislative fray. Well-known Malay politician Mansoor bin Adabi, husband of Maria Bertha Hertogh (also known as Natra binte Maarof), the young Dutch woman whose parentage controversy sparked a racial riot in Singapore the previous year, planned to contest Bukit Timah under the PP banner but withdrew his nomination at the final minute for unknown reasons. The campaign manager for PP vice-chairman John Laycock
713-501: The nickname "Dayak Woman of Singapore". Choy died from pancreatic cancer in 2006 at the age of 95. In October 1986, Choy's life story was adapted into a stage play Not Afraid To Live, Not Afraid To Remember by Kim Ramakrishnan. The play was directed by Lim Siauw Chong and was staged by Theatreworks at the Drama Centre in Singapore. On 11 September 1995, a column on Choy, titled "She paid 40 cents for me to have this picture",
744-843: The nickname "Gunner Choy". She was also a volunteer nurse with the Medical Auxiliary Service. After the fall of Singapore in 1942, the Choys set up a canteen at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital , after all the patients and doctors had been moved from the Miyako Hospital (former Woodbridge Hospital ), where they soon started a regular ambulance run for British civilian internees. The couple helped prisoners interned in Changi Prison by passing to them cash and parcels containing fresh clothing, medicine and letters during their deliveries. They incurred further risk by sending in radio parts for hidden receivers until
775-519: The poor and needy, and campaigned for the development of social services and family planning. As a member of the Legislative Council, she represented Singapore at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. She later stood for elections in Queenstown but retired from politics thereafter. Choy's teaching career at St Andrew's School continued until 1974, except for a four-year spell as
806-616: The sculptor Dora Gordine . On returning to Singapore in 1949, Choy resumed teaching and became involved in the political developments preceding Singapore's independence. She stood in the election in December 1950 for the West Ward. However, she lost to the Progressive Party candidate Soh Ghee Soon. From 1951 to 1955, Choy was nominated by the Governor to the Legislative Council of Singapore , where she spoke frequently on behalf of
837-405: The suggestion by political parties to create six constituencies within the city according to municipal districts, including Balestier (North), Keppel (South), Katong (East) and Tanglin (West), while the rural area was divided into three instead of two. The joint districts were scrapped. Voting was again not compulsory and the franchise restricted. The Progressive Party's main political opponent at
868-561: Was Lee Kuan Yew , a legal assistant in the former's law firm who would form the People's Action Party in 1954. Out of 48,155 registered voters, only 52% voted. There had been boycott calls and the city was still suffering from the after-effects of the Maria Hertogh riots four months before the elections. The elections saw the first electoral contest for the reserved seat for the Indian Chamber of Commerce. Voter turnout
899-409: Was incorporated into the new Cheng San Group Representation Constituency . The People's Action Party had held the ward by a narrow margin of 571 votes in the 1984 election . Note : Elections Department Singapore do not include rejected votes for calculation of candidate's vote share. Hence, the total of all candidates' vote share will be 100%. Note: Madai Puthan Damodaran Nair was offered
930-510: Was published in the Singapore newspaper The Straits Times . It was written by columnist Koh Buck Song , one of Choy's former students. On 29 October 1997, an exhibition titled Elizabeth Choy : A Woman Ahead of Her Time was officially opened at the Singapore History Museum in honour of Choy's contributions to Singapore. The exhibition was considered unique for a living woman in Singapore history, tracing her life as
961-415: Was significantly lower than in the previous elections of 1948, falling to 52.05%, 11 percentage points lower than the 1948 elections. Voter turnout was highest in Seletar at 69% while City saw the lowest voter turnout at just 44%, while three other constituencies also had turnouts lower than 50%, the first time in Singapore's electoral history that voter turnout had been below 50%. Vilasini Menon became