SINGAPOREANS working or living abroad will be able to able to vote in the next general elections after amendments to the election law, a senior official said.

Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs Ho Peng Kee said in a television interview late Feb 18 the government expects the amendments to be completed in the next few months.

The new law will define who among the estimated 200,000 Singaporeans overseas can cast their votes.

Elections in Singapore are not due until August 2002, but there is widespread speculation that balloting will be called well before that.

Overseas Singaporeans who still have strong links to the affluent island-republic are likely to be allowed to vote, but those whose ties were "less tenuous" would be excluded, Ho said.

Voting would take place in Singapore missions overseas.

"They have been away for a long time but there are people who have kept in touch with Singapore. We should consider giving them the vote where they are," Ho said on Channel NewsAsia.

He stressed that "the main thing is their links (to) and stakes in Singapore ... If a person is working or studying for a short while overseas, and that he had stayed in Singapore until then, he is entitled to vote."

Government employees living abroad to work or study should also be able to vote.

Singaporeans who have been away for a long time but retain their citizenship "for one reason or another" are likely be excluded, he said.

The move to allow overseas Singaporeans to vote was partly in response to public feedback, Ho said.