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, resigned his MP seat after facing court charges and was later convicted, vacating the division of Whampoa.No by-election was held.The PAP government turned down those calls back then, giving its reasons.If pressed upon, they would probably reiterate the same reasons again this time.Let us examine the laws that stipulate the conditions for having or not having to conduct a by-election, be it whether they are "PAP laws" or "Singapore laws", "fair laws" or "unfair laws".Under the Parliamentary Elections Act (Part 3, Chapter 24, Section 2A) it states:"In respect of any group representation constituency, no writ shall be issued under subsection (1) for an election to fill any vacancy unless all the Members for that constituency have vacated next their seats in Parliament. [10/88]"In the Singapore Constitution (Part 6, Chapter 49, Section 1):"Whenever the seat of a Member, not being a non-constituency Member, has become vacant for any reason other than a dissolution of Parliament, the vacancy shall be filled by election in the manner provided by or under any law relating to Parliamentary elections for the time being in force."Certainly, the Act denotes no need to conduct a by-election and while the Constitution seemingly spells otherwise, it leaves an empty plate to the Act.Therefore, establishing a precedent to hold a by-election in the event of one or more, but not all, vacancies within a GRC requires foremost an amendment to the Act and perhaps the Constitution as well.The PAP, which dominates Parliament with the power to amend laws, isn't known to be particularly diligent to enacting electoral changes that will create a more vibrant political atmosphere.However, it ought to be a very categorical assumption that opposition parties and people who believe in a more politically democratic Singapore would agree with the necessity of a by-election despite the law.Those who call for the dissolution of the remaining GRC slate to hold a by-election in Jurong GRC may have got their sums wrong if they are the same who believe a single seat is "easier” for the opposition to clinch a victory.The idea that came to my mind was to carve out Bukit Batok division within Jurong GRC into a single member constituency and holding a by-election for it.Doing so is also in line with most opposition parties' stances, notably the Workers' Party in its 2006 general election manifesto, of abolishing GRCs and keeping to SMCs.This was also expressed in the Reform Party statement and hence, is nothing new.What is a new call that I wish to supplement to the above, which does not require a change to any existing law and will similarly not be heeded but nevertheless, is that at the next general election due in 2011, all GRCs should cut its number of seats by one.Since the PAP has disclosed that its remaining MPs in Jurong GRC are able to cover for the late Dr Ong, it probably indicates that they have more capacity for load.Presently, there are 84 seats and 14 GRCs and this proposal will see a reduction of 14 seats, tallying a total of 70 seats.This is in tandem with my personal belief that there are too many MPs for a small country like Singapore.Finally, I disagree with the writer of the letter to the ST Forum published on 23 July 2008 (JBJ must be careful if he wishes to espouse Singapore's cause) Alvin Tan that Jeyaretnam's call came too early after the demise of Dr Ong and was hence, "somewhat inappropriate”.The wake of the late Dr Ong ended last Friday and I don't need anyone or any entity needs to wait for months or years down the road to articulate his, her or its position on the vacant seat poser.