"The official justification for GRCs is to allow minority
representation. However, opposition parties have criticized GRCs as
making it even more difficult for independent and opposition
members to get elected, as a single strong candidate will find it
very difficult to win and a steep group deposit of at least
S$67,500 (S$13,500 per candidate) is required to stand for
election. The opposition has also charged the government with
gerrymandering GRC boundaries at very short notice, and "stuffing"
otherwise weak GRCs with cabinet ministers. Many PAP MPs have also
entered parliament by being placed in a Minister's GRC and so have
never faced a vote.
Critics have noted that Joshua Benjamin Jeyaratnam won the 1981
Anson by-election in a Chinese-majority constituency, and that
since the GRC system was implemented, minority representation in
Parliament has actually declined."
