Desmond Choo Pey Ching (; born 1978) is a Singaporean politician and former police officer who has been serving as Mayor of North East District since 2017 and Assistant Secretary-General of the

National Trades Union Congress The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), also known as the Singapore National Trades Union Congress (SNTUC) internationally, is the sole national trade union centre in Singapore. NTUC is at the heart of the Labour Movement which comprises 5 ...

since 2015. 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), 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 bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) representing the Tampines Changkat division of Tampines GRC since 2015.

Education

Choo attended

Ai Tong School Ai Tong School () is a primary school located in Bishan, Singapore. It is one of the five affiliated primary schools under the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan. As a Chinese-medium school, Ai Tong emphasises strongly on the learning of Chinese cultur ...

, Catholic High School and

National Junior College National Junior College (NJC) is a government junior college located in Bukit Timah, Singapore. Established in 1969, it was the first government junior college in Singapore. NJC offers a two-year course for pre-university students and a six-year ...

, before graduating from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, majoring in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

under the Singapore Police Force Overseas Merit Scholarship.

Career

Choo was awarded a government university scholarship and upon graduation, he served his scholarship bond in the

Singapore Police Force The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is the national and principal Police, law enforcement agency responsible for the prevention of crime and law enforcement in the Republic of Singapore. It is the country's lead agency against organised crime; huma ...

, where he served 12 years in senior officer ranks including commanding officer of the Woodlands Neighbourhood Police Centre, head of the Special Investigation Section and deputy commander of the Clementi Police Division. He also served a stint on secondment to the Ministry of Manpower, where he was the deputy director of the Foreign Workforce Policy Department and was also a bodyguard assistant for the swearing-in of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (; born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former brigadier-general who has been serving as Prime Minister of Singapore and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party since 2004. He has been the Member of Par ...

and other new cabinet ministers at the

Istana ''Istana'' is an Indonesian and Malay word meaning " palace". Notable Istanas *Istana Alam Shah, the official palace of the Sultan of Selangor *Istana Besar, 19th- and early 20th-century residence of the Sultan of Johor *Istana Bogor, one of the p ...

on 12 August 2004. Choo resigned from the Singapore Police Force with the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police to join the NTUC in 2010. After serving on probation as the deputy director of the NTUC's Youth Development Unit, he later became deputy director of the Industrial Relations Unit. He also concurrently served as the executive secretary of the Union of Security Employees and the Singapore Shell Employees Union. After a stint in 2013 in the private sector with Kestrel Capital Pte Ltd, an investment firm, Desmond returned to the public sector to rejoin NTUC in April 2014 and is now the assistant secretary-general of

(NTUC). Choo is also the Director of Policy Division at NTUC that oversees the economic and social policies, strategic communications and international affairs. He advocates for young workers and young families, helps workers cope with restructuring and make the most of new job opportunities highlighted in the Industry Transformation Maps. He is also the Executive Secretary of the Union of Telecoms Employees of Singapore and Advisor to the Young NTUC Committee.

Political career

A member of the country's governing People's Action Party (PAP), he is currently a mayor of the North East District of Singapore. He has been a

(MP) representing the

Tampines Group Representation Constituency The Tampines Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the eastern region of Singapore. The GRC encompasses Tampines with five divisions: Tampines East, Tampines West, Tampines Central, Tampi ...

for Tampines Changkat since 2015. Choo stood as a candidate for Singapore's governing

(PAP) at the 2011 general election in the single-member constituency of Hougang, where he was defeated by Yaw Shin Leong of the Workers' Party by 14,850 votes (64.8%) to 8,065 (35.2%). (The constituency had previously been represented in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

by the Workers' Party's leader, Low Thia Khiang, from 1991 to 2011.) After Yaw was expelled from the Workers' Party and lost his seat in Parliament in 2012, the PAP announced that Choo would be the party's candidate in the

2012 Hougang by-election A by-election for the Hougang Single Member Constituency in Singapore was held on 26 May 2012 with Png Eng Huat from the Worker's Party as the winning candidate. This followed due to the expulsion of Yaw Shin Leong from the Worker's Party on ...

. He was defeated in the by-election by Png Eng Huat of the Workers' Party by 13,460 votes (62.1%) to 8,223 (37.9%). He was then appointed Chairperson of Manpower Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) in the

14th Parliament of Singapore The 14th Parliament of Singapore is the current Parliament of Singapore. It opened on 24 August 2020. The membership was set by the 2020 Singaporean general election, 2020 Singapore General Election on 10 July 2020. The 14th Parliament is contr ...

Personal life

Choo married in July 2011. Choo's uncle, Choo Wee Khiang, was a PAP Member of Parliament from 1988 to 1999 who had been convicted of cheating in 1999 after resigning from his position in Parliament. Choo had described his uncle as a source of inspiration and counsel.

References

External links

Desmond Choo
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 Parlia ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choo, Desmond People's Action Party politicians University of Chicago alumni Living people 1977 births Singaporean people of Teochew descent Singaporean trade unionists Members of the Parliament of Singapore