Dennis Tan Lip Fong ( zh, s=陈立峰, p=Chén Lìfēng; born 31 August 1970)
is a Singaporean politician and lawyer. A member of the opposition
Workers' Party (WP), he has been the
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...
(MP) representing
Hougang SMC since 2020.
Education
Tan was educated at Nanyang Primary School,
Raffles Institution and
Raffles Junior College before he went on to read law at the
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...
. After graduating with a
Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of ...
(Honours) in 1994, Tan attended the
Bar Professional Training Course in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and became a
barrister-at-law at the
Middle Temple. Later, he completed a
Master of Laws in maritime law at the
University of Southampton in 2005.
Political career
Tan started as a volunteer with the Workers' Party during the
2011 general election, becoming a member in early 2012. He contested in the
2015 general election in
Fengshan SMC and obtained 42.5% of the polled votes. Following the election, Tan was appointed a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) in the 13th Parliament, serving on the Public Petitions Committee of Parliament. He was previously a
Non-constituency Member of Parliament
A Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) is a member of an opposition political party in Singapore who, according to the Constitution and Parliamentary Elections Act, is declared to have been elected a Member of Parliament (MP) without c ...
(NCMP) of the
13th Parliament of Singapore from 16 September 2015 to 22 June 2020.

At the
2020 general election
The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...
, Tan stood as a candidate in
Hougang SMC. During the campaign he complained that some of his campaign posters had been "pulled down" by the ruling
PAP from their original height. However, in response, the Elections Department said that this was because the candidates posters had been posted at an incorrect height and could obstruct the sight of motorists.
He defeated PAP's Lee Hong Chuang with 61.21% of the vote, retaining the seat for WP.
Tan is a member of the Workers’ Party Central Executive Committee where he serves as the Organising Secretary. He has also previously served as Treasurer and Vice-Chair of the party's media team. He was elected to the Workers’ Party Central Executive Committee member as Organising Secretary.
Tan was a member of the Estate and Liaison Committee and the Chairman of the Aljuined Hougang Town Council.
Personal life
Tan has practised as a shipping lawyer since 1997. Prior to becoming an advocate and solicitor at the
Supreme Court of Singapore in 1997, Tan was a
barrister-at-law at the
Middle Temple in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. He re-qualified as a solicitor at the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1999 while working in the English law firm
Stephenson Harwood. He was previously a partner in Ang & Partners, a shipping law firm. In 2005, he started the shipping law firm, DennisMathiew, with a partner. He is also a fellow of the
Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in United Kingdom.
Tan participates in triathlons, and is fluent in
Hokkien
The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...
and
Teochew. He is married to Tan Hui Tsing, also a lawyer and a Workers' Party member. Together they have a daughter.
References
External links
Dennis Tanon
Parliament of Singapore
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tan, Dennis
Workers' Party (Singapore) politicians
Singaporean politicians of Chinese descent
Alumni of the University of Nottingham
Alumni of the University of Southampton
Raffles Institution alumni
Raffles Junior College alumni
21st-century Singaporean lawyers
Singaporean Non-constituency Members of Parliament
Members of the Parliament of Singapore
1970 births
Living people