Patrick Tay Teck Guan ( zh, s=郑德源, p=Zhèng Déyuán; born 1 December 1971) is a Singaporean politician and lawyer. 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

Pioneer SMC Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...

since 2020 and previously the Nee Soon East division of

Nee Soon GRC The Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the north region of Singapore. The GRC includes most of Yishun town, the private residential areas along Sembawang Road and Upper Thomso ...

between 2011 and 2015, and the

Boon Lay Boon Lay (, ta, பூன் லே) is a neighbourhood located in the town of Jurong West in the West Region of Singapore. Its borders very roughly correspond to the URA subzone of Boon Lay Place, situated within the Jurong West Planning Area ...

division of West Coast GRC between 2015 and 2020. A lawyer by profession, Tay has held positions in various trade unions in Singapore since 2002, and has been an assistant secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress since February 2014.

Education

Tay attended St. Patrick's School and

Temasek Junior College Temasek Junior College (TJC) is a government-run junior college located in Bedok South, Singapore. It offers a six-year Integrated Programme alongside a two-year Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level curriculum. History Temasek Junior Coll ...

. In 1990, he received a Public Service Commission Local Merit Scholarship to read law at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in th ...

, from which he graduated 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 Ch ...

with honours degree in 1995. He subsequently went on to complete a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mo ...

degree at the National University of Singapore in 1999 and an Advanced Management Program at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

in 2014.

Career

Tay started his career 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 ...

and served from 1995 to 2002, during which he was the commanding officer of the Special Tactics and Rescue (STAR) unit. From 2002 to 2014, he held positions in various trade unions, including assistant director of the National Trades Union Congress (2002–2004); executive secretary of the Union of Security Employees (2004–2011); Head IR of the Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Employees' Union (2004–2009); and executive secretary of the Healthcare Services Employees' Union (2006–2014). Tay is an assistant secretary-general and director of strategy and legal services at the National Trades Union Congress, as well as executive secretary of the Singapore Manual and Mercantile Workers' Union, and executive secretary of the Banking & Financial Services Union. He also holds the positions of board member, trustee, adviser, committee member, etc. at many organisations, including various trade unions, Economic Development Board, Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, Public Utilities Board and

Housing and Development Board The Housing & Development Board (HDB) (; ms, Lembaga Perumahan dan Pembangunan; ta, வீடமைப்பு வளர்ச்சிக் கழகம்) or often referred to as the Housing Board, is a statutory board under the M ...

. An advocate and solicitor of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, Tay is also an associate mediator of the Singapore Mediation Centre and a fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators.

Political career

Tay entered politics in the 2011 general election when he joined a five-member

(PAP) team contesting in

. After the PAP team won with 58.4% of the vote against the Workers' Party, Tay became an elected Member of Parliament representing the Nee Soon East ward of Nee Soon GRC. In 2014, Tay raised the concerns of PMEs and how the Budget could support them in terms of protection, progression, placement and privileges. In the 2016 debate on the President's address, Tay called for a PME dependency ratio (akin to those for S Passes and Work Permits) to be implemented for companies which have a weak Singaporean core and a weak commitment to creating a Singaporean core. During the 2015 general election, Tay switched to join the four-member PAP team contesting in West Coast GRC and they won with 78.57% of the vote against the Reform Party. Tay thus became a Member of Parliament for a second term, representing the

ward of West Coast GRC. In the 2020 general election, Tay contested as a solo PAP candidate in

and won with 61.98% of the vote against the Progress Singapore Party candidate Lim Cher Hong and independent candidate Cheang Peng Wah. Starting 11 July 2020, he became the Member of Parliament representing Pioneer SMC in the 14th Parliament. Throughout his first two terms in Parliament, Tay had been a member of the Government Parliamentary Committees (GPCs) for

Manpower Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms includ ...

and

Health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organ ...

(2011–2015), and

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 ...

and Law (2015–2020). He was also the chairman of the GPC for Manpower from 2015 to 2020.

Awards

Tay received the Good Service Medal from the

in 2000 and the Public Service Medal in 2005. He also received the PAP Youth Service Medal and the 15 Years Community Long Service Award from the People's Association in 2007, and the

Public Service Star The Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (English: Public Service Star) is a Singaporean decoration instituted in 1963, is awarded to any person who has rendered valuable public service to the people of Singapore, or who has distinguished themselves in the ...

in 2010.

References

External links

Patrick Tay
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 ...