Charles Chong You Fook ( zh, s=张有福, p=Zhāng Yǒufú; born 24 June 1953) is a Singaporean former politician who served as

Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore The speaker of the Parliament of Singapore is the presiding officer of the Parliament of Singapore. The speaker is nominated by the prime minister before being appointed by the Parliament. The speaker is also second in the presidential line ...

between 2011 and 2020. He served as Acting

Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore The speaker of the Parliament of Singapore is the presiding officer of the Parliament of Singapore. The speaker is nominated by the prime minister before being appointed by the Parliament. The speaker is also second in the presidential li ...

from 7 August to 11 September 2017, following the resignation of

Halimah Yacob Halimah Yacob (Jawi script: ; born 23 August 1954) is a Singaporean politician and former lawyer who has been serving as the eighth president of Singapore since 2017. Prior to her presidency, she was the country's Speaker of the Parliament of S ...

on 7 August 2017.

Education

Chong was educated at St. Michael's School and Saint Joseph's Institution before enrolling into

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is ...

where he studied

orthopedic surgery Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

Political career

Chong represented Sembawang Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in

Yishun Yishun, formerly known as Nee Soon, is a residential town located in the northeastern corner of the North Region of Singapore, bordering Simpang and Sembawang to the north, Mandai to the west, the Central Water Catchment to its southwest, ...

East from 1988 to 1991,

Eunos GRC Eunos Group Representation Constituency ( Simplified Chinese: 友诺士集选区;Traditional Chinese: 友諾士集選區) is a defunct Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the north-eastern region of Singapore. This GRC existed for the 1988 ...

between 1991 and 1996 in Pasir Ris,

Pasir Ris GRC Pasir Ris Group Representation Constituency was a four member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) that locates in the eastern part of Singapore at Pasir Ris. It had only existed once in 1997 general election. This GRC was created from the ward ...

in Elias from 1997 to 2001,

Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC Pasil ( fa, پسيل, also Romanized as Pasīl; also known as Pasīr) is a village in Sepiddasht Rural District, Papi District, Khorramabad County, Lorestan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also c ...

in Punggol Central from 2001 to 2011, Joo Chiat Single Member Constituency (SMC) from 2011 to 2015, and

Punggol East SMC Punggol East Single Member Constituency was a single member constituency (SMC) located in the north-eastern area of Singapore. Following the release of the Electoral Boundaries Review committee report for the 2020 general elections, Punggol Eas ...

from 2015 to 2020. In the 2006 general elections, the PAP contested Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC against the

Singapore Democratic Alliance The Singapore Democratic Alliance (abbreviation: SDA) is a political coalition between the National Solidarity Party (NSP) and Singapore Justice Party (SJP) in Singapore. History Prior to the founding in 2001, then-opposition Member of Par ...

. The PAP won with 68.70% of the votes in this GRC. In the 2001 general elections, the GRC was not contested and resulted in a walkover for Chong and his party in this GRC. Chong contested the Joo Chiat SMC in the 2011 general elections after its incumbent MP,

Chan Soo Sen Chan Soo Sen ( zh, s=曾士生, p=Zēng Shìshēng; born 1 October 1956) is a Singaporean former politician from the People's Action Party. He was the Member of Parliament representing the Joo Chiat ward in the East Coast Group Representation Con ...

, retired from politics. He won 9,666 or 51.02% of the votes against

Yee Jenn Jong Yee Jenn Jong (; born 24 March 1965) is a Singaporean politician and a member of the Workers' Party. He is a Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) of the 12th Parliament of Singapore from 2011 to 2015. Personal life Yee is also a self-sty ...

from the Workers' Party. Chong was elected Deputy Speaker in the 12th Parliament. In the 2015 general elections, the PAP fielded Chong in the opposition-held Punggol East SMC and unseated the incumbent

Lee Li Lian Lee Li Lian (; born 19 July 1978) is a Singaporean politician. A member of the opposition Workers' Party (WP), she was the Member of Parliament for Punggol East SMC between 2013 and 2015. Lee made her political debut in the 2011 general election ...

of the Workers' Party with 51.76% of the vote. His victory was brought into question by Workers' Party Png Eng Huat because Chong had made a wild accusation against the Punggol East Town Council of missing funds worth $22.5 million just two days before polling day, it left the Workers' Party unable to respond in time due to the Cooling-off day restrictions of the Election Department. In Dec 2016, Chong announced he was diagnosed with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis three years ago and had a liver transplant on 1 Dec 2016, which his younger son Glenn, donated part of his liver. He was given 8 weeks Medical Leave and his duty was covered by

Teo Chee Hean Teo Chee Hean ( zh, s=张志贤, poj=Tiuⁿ Chì-hiân, p=Zhāng Zhìxián; born 27 December 1954) is a Singaporean politician and former two-star rear-admiral who has been serving as Senior Minister of Singapore since 2019 and Coordinating Mini ...

during his absence. On 11 January 2018, Chong was appointed chairman of the Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods. His appointment attracted controversy as he is accused of spreading falsehood during the 2015 general election by insinuating that Punggol East SMC ran into financial troubles after the Workers' Party took over from PAP in 2013. He is the longest serving PAP back-bencher in Parliament and served as Deputy Speaker of Parliament of Singapore, as well as Acting Speaker when

quit Parliament to stand for elected presidency. Chong announced his retirement from politics on 27 June 2020.

Personal life

Chong is married and has two children. He is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

References

External links

CVs of MPs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chong, Charles 1953 births Saint Joseph's Institution, Singapore alumni Members of the Parliament of Singapore Peranakan people in Singapore People's Action Party politicians Living people Singaporean Roman Catholics