Lee Boon Yang ( zh, s=李文献, p=Lǐ Wénxiàn; born 1 October 1947) is a Singaporean a former politician who served as Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts between 2003 and 2009, Minister for Manpower between 1992 and 2003, and

Minister for 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 ...

between 1994 and 1995. A former 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), he was 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 the Jalan Besar ward of

Jalan Besar GRC Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency is a four-member Group Representation Constituency composed of several city suburbs surrounding the Central Area of Singapore. There are four wards in the GRC: Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng, Kolam Ayer, Wham ...

between 1984 and 2011. Lee retired from politics in 2011, and served as Chairman of

Singapore Press Holdings Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SPHL) was an organisation with businesses in property and aged care in Singapore. Since its takeover by Cuscaden Peak in 2022, it has been renamed Cuscaden Peak Investments. Prior to 1 December 2021, SPHL was i ...

between 2011 and 2022.

Education

Lee was awarded a

Colombo Plan The Colombo Plan is a regional intergovernmental organization that began operations on 1 July 1951. The organization was conceived at an international conference, The Commonwealth Conference on Foreign Affairs held in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri L ...

scholarship to study

veterinary science Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

at the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

, where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Veterinary Science The Bachelor of Veterinary Science (BVSc or BVSC; Latin Baccalaureus Veterinariae Scientiae), "Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine" (BVetMed), or "Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery" ("BVM&S" or "BVMS") is a degree for studies in veterinary me ...

degree in 1971. In 2015, Lee was conferred an honorary doctorate by the University of Queensland.

Career

Lee began his career as a veterinary surgeon and worked as a research and development officer in the Singapore Government's Primary Production Department between 1972 and 1981. Lee subsequently worked at the US Feed Grains Council as Assistant Regional Director and later Senior Project Manager for Primary Industries Enterprise between 1981 and 1984.

Political career

Lee was first elected into Parliament in 1984. He was subsequently appointed Parliamentary Secretary in 1985, and went on to hold positions in the Ministry of the Environment,

Ministry of Communications and Information The Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI; ms, Kementerian Perhubungan dan Penerangan; zh, 通讯及新闻部; ta, தொடர்பு, தகவல் அமைச்சு) is a ministry of the Government of Singapore respons ...

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Eco ...

and the

Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

. Lee was appointed Minister in the Prime Minister's Office in 1991. He served as Minister for Labour between 1992 and 2003. He also served as Minister for Defence between 1994 and 1995 concurrently. He was subsequently appointed Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts in 2003, where he served until 2009. Lee resigned from the Cabinet in 2009 but remained as a Member of Parliament on the

backbenches In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

until his retirement from politics in 2011.

Post-political career

Lee was appointed Chairman of the Board of

Keppel Corporation Keppel Corporation (also known as Keppel Corp) is a Singaporean conglomerate headquartered in Keppel Bay Tower, HarbourFront. The company consists of several affiliated businesses that specialises in offshore & marine, property, infrastructure ...

in 2009, after resigning from the Cabinet, where he served until 2021. He also served as Chairman of Singapore Press Holdings between 2011 and 2022, before he was succeeded by Christopher Lim.

Personal life

Lee has an elder brother Lee Boon Wang, a landscape painter and a sister Lee Boon Ngan. Lee is married to Yap Mee Mee and they have a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Boon Yang Ministers for Defence of Singapore Members of the Parliament of Singapore People's Action Party politicians Singaporean people of Teochew descent University of Queensland alumni Living people 1947 births Communications ministers of Singapore Labour ministers of Singapore Singaporean chairpersons of corporations