hougang smc is currently the second-longest-held opposition ward in singapore (1991-). it had been one of just two opposition-held seats in parliament in the dawn of the 21st century (the other was potong pasir smc, held by the singapore people's party's chiam see tong) until the 2011 general elections (when the opposition's presence in parliament was increased to 6 elected seats in total). mr low had served in hougang for 20 years until he left it to fellow party member yaw shin leong in 2011. the former, as well as chiam, had decided to experiment with leading a team to contest a nearby grc (in low's case, the nearby aljunied grc). on election night, yaw managed to retain the hougang seat (defeating pap candidate desmond choo). that same night, mr low managed to keep his seat in parliament (this time as mp for bedok reservoir-punggol) when he and his team unseated the pap incumbents in the grc, the first time an opposition party has ever unseated the pap in a grc.