In the lazy rhetoric of Singapore politics, every general election is said to be a watershed. But GE2020, held amid the shattering repercussions of the global COVID-19 pandemic, made history in more ways than one.

And even while physical rallies were forbidden, the personalities and the candidates involved were as compelling as ever, with twists and turns worthy of a blockbuster movie

1. Workers' Party Sengkang team
Few could have predicted the fall of Sengkang, only the second Group Representation Constituency (GRC) won by the opposition since the scheme’s inception in 1988. After all, the odds were stacked against the four-man team of He Ting Ru, Dr Jamus Lim, Raeesah Khan and Chua Kheng Wee from the start.

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Competing in a brand new GRC, with a team including three first-time candidates, they were up against a People’s Action Party (PAP) team with three political office-holders. Singapore was in the midst of a global pandemic, with weary voters anxious about the future. Then came the bombshell: police reports were filed against Raeesah for alleged racially divisive comments she had made on social media.

But on Polling Night, a stunning upset unfolded with the WP team scoring 52.13 per cent of the votes. Pundits credited, among other factors, Lim’s popularity on social media following a TV debate, and voter distaste at what was perceived as bullying tactics by the PAP.

2. Lee Hsien Loong
GE2020 was meant to be Lee Hsien Loong’s final general election. The 68-year-old was to exit the political stage in a blaze of glory, having paved the way for the vaunted fourth-generation leaders. After all, the PAP had always done well at the polls in times of crisis.

Instead, the oft-predicted flight to safety failed to materialise, with the PAP claiming 61.24 per cent of the overall vote - a sharp drop from 2015. And the WP’s victory in Sengkang led to a record 10 opposition Members of Parliament (MP). The Prime Minister found himself with little choice but to acknowledge voters’ desire for more alternative voices in Parliament, creating the new role of Leader of the Opposition.

Lee also pledged to stay in office till the end of the pandemic, a less than ringing endorsement of the 4G leaders. Deputy PM Heng Swee Keat, the man officially designated to succeed him, has so far failed to set pulses racing. And while the eldest son of the late founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew remains a popular incumbent, the history books will nevertheless record that two GRCs were lost to the opposition on his watch.

3. Pritam Singh
Cometh the man, cometh the hour. Nine years after being elected as an MP for Aljunied, the WP chief came of age in GE2020, surpassing even his old mentor Low Thia Khiang. In the face of pandemic-imposed restrictions on campaigning, accusations of racially-charged comments by Raeesah, aggressive rhetoric from the PAP and the ever-present threat of POFMA, Pritam Singh retained the calm of a chess grandmaster who has planned the next three moves in his head.

While others might have hung Raeesah out to dry, Singh eschewed the queen’s gambit by backing his candidate and facing the media at a hastily-convened press conference. The 44-year-old also refused to be baited by the PAP’s demand for him to make his stand on Raeesah’s social media posts clear. Overall, he did not put a tactical foot wrong in the campaign, which ended in historic gains for the WP, and Singh becoming independent Singapore’s first Leader of the Opposition.

4. Lee Hsien Yang
For months, it was a case of will-he-won’t-he: would the younger brother of PM Lee really throw his hat into the electoral ring and run against the party their late father had led for decades? After all, he had joined the Progress Singapore Party, giving a ringing endorsement of its chief Tan Cheng Bock and openly denouncing the PAP as having lost its way. The ongoing saga on the family’s Oxley Road estate had already seen him and his sister Wei Ling accusing the PM of abusing his power.

After teasing voters with the tantalising prospect of another Lee in politics, Hsien Yang ultimately did not run. Instead, he became a figurehead for the PSP, accompanying Dr Tan on walkabouts and urging Singaporeans to vote ‘fearlessly’ for the opposition. On the flip side, he has had to deny using the party as a mouthpiece for his personal gain.

The combined star power of Lee and Tan almost worked - the PSP team in West Coast GRC led by Dr Tan lost by a whisker, garnering 48.31 per cent of the vote.