Deepest condolences to the family of the late Dr Ong Chit Chung, Member of Parliament for Jurong GRC.



Now that the funeral is over, I may, with due consideration of respect, touch on this issue.



A seat among the five in Jurong GRC, namely the Bukit Batok division, which Dr Ong was overseeing, has been vacated as a result.



The next question that comes to the minds of some people is if a by-election will be held.



In fact, calls have started coming from various quarters - in the internet, among coffee shop dialogues and most prominently from J B Jeyaretnam, secretary-general of the Reform Party in a press statement (summarily relayed in the Straits Times on 22 July 2008).



And these aren't the first occurrences in the event of a vacated seat in a GRC.



The last time the same happened was on 2 June 1999 when People's Action Party MP for Jalan Besar GRC, Choo Wee Khiang, resig[...]