The Old Parliament House, Singapore, which was used by the Legislative Assembly of the Colony of Singapore when it was formed in 1955. The first provision governing by-elections appeared in Singapore's 1955 Constitution.

In August 2008, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (seen here in June 2007) asserted during a parliamentary debate that the Constitution gave him discretion to decide whether or not a casual vacancy in Parliament should be filled

A public housing estate in Bukit Batok East in Jurong GRC, which was overseen by PAP MP Ong Chit Chung until his sudden death in July 2008. The following month, a debate took place in Parliament about whether by-elections should be made mandatory in some situations. Bukit Batok later became a single member constituency in the 2015 general election; another vacancy later occurred in March 2016, and precipitated a by-election in May that year.

Yaw Shin Leong giving a speech in Serangoon Stadium as a Workers' Party candidate during the 2011 general election. He was duly elected, but his subsequent expulsion from the party led to a casual vacancy arising in Parliament, and court rulings on whether the Prime Minister had a discretion not to call a by-election.

Sir Stamford Raffles, who is widely regarded as the founder of modern Singapore

Major-General Sir Harry St. George Ord served from 1867 to 1873 as the first governor of the Straits Settlements following its transformation into a Crown colony.

Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, photographed in 2002