Singapore Opposition Wins By-Election Vote With Narrower Margin

A member of a Singapore opposition party won a by-election today that tested Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s ability to draw back support after the ruling party’s poorest performance at polls last year.

Png Eng Huat, a 50-year-old businessman representing the Workers’ Party, won 62.1 percent of valid votes in the seat for the northeastern Hougang district that has been held by his group since 1991. The seat was left vacant after Yaw Shin Leong, who won 64.8 percent of votes in 2011, was expelled from the party in February for what it called “indiscretions in his private life.”