Sole registered voter in Tampines Changkat SMC polling district gets verbal advisory for old address

A man who previously registered his residential address at an industrial park in Tampines in 2020 was given a verbal advisory following investigations by the ICA. ST PHOTO: AQIL HAMZAH

David Sun

UPDATED Jun 03, 2025, 12:31 PM

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SINGAPORE – A man who was the sole registered voter in a polling district within Tampines Changkat SMC received a verbal advisory for failing to update his address as required by law .

He had previously listed his business premises in an industrial park in Tampines as his residential address but has since updated the information.

In a joint statement on June 3, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and Elections Department (ELD) said the man registered his business address as his residence in 2020 because he had resided there temporarily during that period.

But after moving to a new residence in 2022, he did not update his address within 28 days, as required by law.

ICA investigated and found no evidence to suggest any malicious or criminal intent.

Taking into account that this was the man’s first offence under the National Registration Act, it decided to issue the verbal advisory.

The Registers of Electors will reflect his updated address when they are next revised.

The case came to light after the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) released its report on March 11, ahead of General Election 2025, which was held on May 3.

The report, based on the provisional Registers of Electors as at Feb 1, indicated that there was a single registered voter listed under the East Coast 42 polling district within the new Tampines Changkat SMC.

But checks by The Straits Times found that there was no known valid residence in the polling district at that time, as it comprised only four upcoming Housing Board Build-To-Order (BTO) projects and an industrial estate.

Three of the BTO projects remain under construction, and the Tampines GreenEmerald project was recently completed, with the first batch of residents getting their keys only on Feb 23.

The anomaly raised questions about who the person was and how he was able to register an address in the area.

News website AsiaOne later reported that the man is a 53-year-old business owner, who wanted to be known only by his surname Yeo.

Mr Yeo said he had changed his residential address from somewhere in central Singapore to that of a unit in Tampines Industrial Park A, where he runs a family business. He added that he does not live in the unit.

ST has contacted JTC Corporation, which manages Tampines Industrial Park A, for comment.

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Under the National Registration Act, all identity card holders are required to report a change of address within 28 days of moving into a new residence, whether local or overseas.

The change can be done online via ICA’s change-of-address e-service.

Those who fail to report a change of address or falsely declare their residential address may be fined up to $5,000 and jailed for up to five years.

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