Potong Pasir has been synonymous with Opposition figure Chiam See Tong, now of the Singapore Democratic Alliance, for the last 17 years.

With the People's Action Party's new face Sitoh Yih Pin hoping to upstage him, the question in this General Election is whether Mr Chiam will keep his seat.

Potong Pasir is the smallest constituency in Singapore, with 16,616 voters -- a mix of 3-room housing and middle-income private estates.

Seventeen years in opposition hands, the PAP would argue, has left Potong Pasir looking older, compared to neighboring PAP wards, such as neighbouring Bishan-Toa Payoh.

The area's incumbent MP Mr Chiam would refute that; he says he has spent S$4 million on sprucing up the constituency, including an upgraded wet market.

"They have already got almost a brand new looking flat. We painted up the whole place, and given them a new children's playground, upgraded all the drains around it so no water in the drains to breed mosquitoes," Mr Chiam said.

PAP candidate Mr Sitoh said, "Residents have been encouraging me that I must not fail them. They have been telling me they want a new home and new environment and to that extent, I must work very hard to fulfill their aspirations."

The ruling party is pushing its candidate's youth as an advantage; he is 37, compared to Mr Chiam's 66.

Both candidates have their ear to the ground and are clear on what residents want -- facilities like covered linkways, and lifts that stop on every floor, which both candidates are promising.

But what most residents want is Sennett MRT station, which, again, both men have said they will champion.

Whoever gets voted in, will have to convince the government that there is enough traffic to justify its opening.

Potong Pasir has been likened to a papaya tree, which the PAP candidate has to shake to see if the ripening fruit is ready to fall.

"We have to wake up early in the morning, to toil the fields, we have to add more fertilizer so hopefully with all this hard work … the papaya will drop down," Mr Sitoh says.

"I don't think the papaya will fall at this particular elections," Mr Chiam counters.

The contest in this ward is a closely-watched one.

Indeed, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong has upped the stakes by promising upgrading to precincts where more than half the voters support the PAP.