Everybody was surprised, shocked," a party volunteer said.
Meanwhile, over at WP, the slate led by lawyer He Ting Ru, 37, and including economics associate professor Jamus Lim, 44, social enterprise founder Raeesah Khan, 26, and equity research analyst Louis Chua, 33, in the early hours of yesterday morning, maintained a subdued demeanour when they arrived at the WP headquarters shortly before the final count was in.
Thanking voters, Ms He said: "We will work hard, to make sure that this trust is not misplaced."
The WP team's unexpected victory has led to a blooming heart of blue in Singapore's north-east, with the WP expanding its reach beyond its traditional strongholds of Hougang SMC and Aljunied GRC.
A miscalculation
For the ruling party, it was not meant to be like this. Singapore's newest group representation constituency, created just ahead of this general election, was widely thought to be safe, albeit closely contested, for the men in white.
Ahead of the hustings, attention focused more on the eastern flank of Singapore such as East Coast GRC, where the WP had made some inroads during previous elections.
Sengkang GRC is made up of Sengkang Central - previously helmed by Mr Teo Ser Luck and which was part of Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC which clinched a high 72.89 per cent of the votes in 2015; part of Sengkang West, where Dr Lam won a respectable 62.13 per cent; and Punggol East which stalwart Charles Chong wrested from WP incumbent Lee Li Lian with 51.77 per cent.
The 120,100 voters were mainly young couples living in HDB estates - a constituent group traditionally thought to not want to rock the boat too much as they build up their first homes.
Of the three men, only Dr Lam - who has been at Sengkang West since he entered politics in 2006 - remained in the political fray this time round, with the retirement of Mr Chong and Mr Teo from politics.
Sengkang Central was partitioned into two, to be represented by Mr Ng and Mr Amrin, previously from Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC and Sembawang GRC respectively. Punggol East was to be represented by Mr Lye, a long-time grassroots leader.
