Gan Siow Huang ( zh, s=颜晓芳, p=Yán Xiǎofāng; born 1974) is a Singaporean politician and former

brigadier-general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

who has been serving as Minister of State for Education and Minister of State for Manpower concurrently since 2020. A member of the governing

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...

(PAP), she 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 bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) representing Marymount SMC since 2020. Before entering politics, Gan served in the

Republic of Singapore Air Force The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) is the aerial service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for controlling and defending the airspace of the country, and providing air support to the Army and Navy. It was establish ...

(RSAF) and attained the rank

Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

, becoming the first woman to hold a general rank in the

Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military services of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A military component of the Ministry of Defence (MINDE ...

(SAF). She served as Chief of Staff – Air Staff between 2019 and 2020. Gan made her political debut in the 2020 general election when she contested as a PAP candidate in Marymount SMC and won with 55.04% of the vote against

Progress Singapore Party The Progress Singapore Party (abbreviation: PSP) is a centre-left political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the governing People's Action Party (PAP) and opposition ...

Ang Yong Guan Ang Yong Guan (; born 24 January 1955) is a Singaporean politician, psychiatrist and former colonel. He is the Progress Singapore Party Head of Training and Development since 2020. Early life Ang graduated from the National University of Sing ...

. After being elected, she was appointed Minister of State for Education and Manpower.

Education

Gan was educated at

Victoria Junior College , motto_translation = Nothing Without Labour , streetaddress = 20 Marine Vista, 449035 , country = Singapore , coordinates = , type = Government , gender ...

before she was awarded the Singapore Armed Forces Merit Scholarship (Women) in 1993 to study at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

, from which she graduated in 1996 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

. She had also attended the command and staff course at the

New Zealand Defence College The New Zealand Command and Staff College (NZCSC) is the premier educational institute for the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) and is located at Trentham Military Camp, Upper Hutt (near Wellington). The New Zealand Command and Staff College provi ...

in 2003. Gan subsequently went on to complete a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

degree in 2010 under the

Sloan Fellows The Sloan Fellows program is the world's first mid-career and senior career master's degree in general management and leadership. It was initially supported by a grant from Alfred P. Sloan, the late CEO of General Motors, to his alma mater, MIT ...

programme at the

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan or Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs, ...

Military career

Gan started her career as a

weapon systems officer A Weapon Systems Officer (WSO), nicknamed "Wizzo", is an air flight officer directly involved in all air operations and weapon systems of a military aircraft. Historically, aircrew duties in military aircraft were highly specialised and rigi ...

in the

. Throughout her military career, she held various command and staff appointments in the Air Force, including Commanding Officer of the 203 Squadron, Commander of Air Surveillance and Control Group, and Head of the Joint Manpower Department in the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. She also received the Public Administration Medal (Silver) (Military) in 2013. On 1 July 2015, Gan was promoted to the rank of

, becoming the first woman to hold a general rank and the highest ranking female officer in the

. In a speech at a Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women forum held on 3 October 2015,

Low Yen Ling Low Yen Ling ( zh, s=刘燕玲, p=Liú Yànlíng; born 1974) is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Mayor of South West District since 2014, Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth and Minister of State for Trade and Indu ...

cited Gan as "one notable example who smashed the 'brass ceiling' to become the first female general in the Singapore Armed Forces". Gan succeeded Brigadier-General Neo Hong Keat as Commander of the Air Power Generation Command on 5 October 2016. In July 2019, she was appointed Chief of Staff – Air Staff, succeeding Brigadier-General Tommy Tan Ah Han. On 1 March 2020, she resigned as Chief of Staff – Air Staff to stand for election in the 2020 general election.

Political career

On 26 June 2020, Gan was officially introduced as a

(PAP) candidate contesting in the 2020 general election. She contested in Marymount SMC against

of the

(PSP) and won with 55.04% of the vote, thus becoming the

representing Marymount SMC. On 25 July 2020, Gan was appointed as Minister of State for Education and Minister of State for Manpower.

Personal life

Gan is married to Lee Jek Suen, a former

Republic of Singapore Navy The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) is the naval service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for defending the country against any sea-borne threats, and the protection of its sea lines of communications, that would comprom ...

officer who now works at

Jurong Port Jurong Port Pte Ltd is a port operator headquartered in Singapore. Jurong Port, which operates the only multi-purpose port in Singapore, handles bulk, break-bulk and containerised cargo. It handled over 40,000 vessel-calls annually in 2019. Th ...

. They have three children. Gan is also a volunteer with the

Girl Guides Singapore Girl Guides Singapore (GGS; Malay: ''Pandu Puteri Singapura'') is the national Guiding organisation of Singapore. It was first established in 1917 as The Singapore Girl Guides Association, before being renamed to its current iteration on 24 July ...

and a member of its executive committee in 2016 and 2017.

References

External links

Gan Siow Huang
on

Parliament of Singapore The Parliament of Singapore is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Singapore, which governs the country alongside the president of Singapore. Largely based upon the Westminster system, the Parliament is made up of Members of Parliam ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gan, Siow Huang Living people 1974 births Alumni of the London School of Economics Victoria Junior College alumni MIT Sloan Fellows Republic of Singapore Air Force generals Female air force generals and air marshals Singaporean women in politics Members of the Parliament of Singapore