Tan Chuan-Jin (; born 1969) 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 t ...

who has been serving as

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 ...

since 2017. 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 Kembangan–Chai Chee division of Marine Parade GRC since 2011. Before entering politics, Tan served in the

Singapore Army The Singapore Army is the land service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). The largest of the four branches of the SAF, the Singapore Army traces its origins to the 1st Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment (1 SIR), which was formed ...

between 1987 and 2011 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 t ...

. He made his political debut in the 2011 general election as part of a five-member PAP team contesting in Marine Parade GRC and they won with 56.65% of the vote. Since then, Tan had served as Senior Minister of State for National Development between 2012 and 2013, Minister for Manpower between 2012 and 2015, and Minister for Social and Family Development between 2015 and 2017 before relinquishing his ministerial portfolio in 2017 to serve as Speaker of the Parliament.

Education

Tan attended

Anglo-Chinese School Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) is a family of Methodist schools in Singapore and Indonesia. It was founded in 1886 by Bishop William Fitzjames Oldham as an extension of the Methodist Church. Anglo-Chinese School is usually abbreviated as "ACS", wi ...

and Raffles Junior College before graduating from 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 milli ...

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 o ...

degree 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 Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship. He also completed a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in defence studies at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, and a

Master of Public Administration The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...

degree 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 ...

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) is an autonomous postgraduate school of the National University of Singapore (NUS), named after the late former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. History The Lee Kuan Yew School o ...

in 2008.

Career

Military career

Tan enlisted 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 ...

in 1987 and was commissioned as an officer in the

before attaining the rank

. During his time in the military, he held various command and staff positions, including Commanding Officer of the 3rd Guards Battalion, Army Attaché at the Singapore embassy in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital city, capital and list of Indonesian cities by population, largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coa ...

, Commander of the 7th Singapore Infantry Brigade, Assistant Chief of the General Staff (Plans), Commander of the 3rd Division, and Commander of the Army Training and Doctrine Command. In the aftermath of the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern ...

, Tan was the commander of the Singapore Armed Forces Humanitarian Assistance Task Force deployed to

Meulaboh Meulaboh ( Jawoë: ملابوه; or ''Moulabouh'') is the capital of West Aceh Regency, Indonesia. Geography Meulaboh is about 245 km southeast of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province. Meulaboh is located in the western part of Sumatr ...

. He was also the chairman of the executive committee of the

Singapore National Day Parade The National Day Parade (NDP) is an annual parade held in Singapore to commemorate its independence. Held annually on 9 August, it is the main public celebration of National Day, consists of a parade incorporating contingents of the Singapore ...

in 2009. On 25 March 2011, Tan retired from the Singapore Armed Forces to enter politics.

Political career

Tan was announced as a

(PAP) candidate joining the five-member PAP team contesting in Marine Parade GRC during the 2011 general election. After the PAP team won with 56.65% of the vote against the National Solidarity Party, Tan became a

representing the Kembangan–

Chai Chee Chai Chee (), also known as Kampong Chai Chee, is a housing estate located in the town of Bedok in Singapore. The estate was named after a village known as Kampong Chai Chee which formerly occupied the vicinity. It is served by two major namesake ...

ward of Marine Parade GRC. On 1 August 2012, he was appointed Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of National Development and Acting Minister for Manpower. During his tenure at the Ministry of National Development, Tan worked with heritage, nature, environmental and animal welfare groups on issues related to the Rail Corridor and

Bukit Brown Cemetery Bukit, the Indonesian or Malay word for hill, may refer to: * Bukit Peninsula The Bukit Peninsula (Indonesian: ''Semenanjung Bukit'') is at the southern end of the island of Bali, Indonesia. It is traditionally considered to be the entire area so ...

. He also worked on issues which led to

Sisters' Islands Sisters' Islands are two of the Southern Islands in Singapore and are located to the south of the main island of Singapore, off the Straits of Singapore. It can be reached via a boat ride from Marina South Pier or West Coast Pier. Big Sister's I ...

being designated as Singapore's first marine park, as well as amendments being made to the Animal and Birds Act. On 1 September 2013, Tan relinquished his appointment at the Ministry of National Development and became Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of Manpower while continuing to serve as Acting Minister for Manpower. On 1 May 2014, he was promoted to full Minister. On 9 April 2015, Tan relinquished his portfolio as Minister for Manpower and became Minister for Social and Family Development as part of a

Cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in par ...

. During the 2015 general election, Tan joined a five-member PAP team contesting in Marine Parade GRC again and they won with 64.07% of the vote against the Workers' Party. After the election, Tan continued serving as Minister for Social and Family Development. On 11 September 2017, he resigned his Cabinet portfolio and became the 10th Speaker of Parliament after the post was vacated by

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 ...

when she resigned to contest in the

2017 Singaporean presidential election The 2017 Singaporean presidential election was held to elect the next President of Singapore. Halimah Yacob was elected in an uncontested election due to lack of eligible candidates and she was the only candidate that was granted an eligibili ...

. Tan retained his parliamentary seat in Kembangan–Chai Chee after his five-member PAP team contesting in Marine Parade GRC during the 2020 general election won again with 57.74% of the vote against the Workers' Party. After the election, he continued serving as Speaker of Parliament.

Personal life

Tan is married with two children. He has been serving as the president of the

Singapore National Olympic Council The Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) is the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the Republic of Singapore. It was founded in 1947 as the Singapore Olympic and Sports Council (SOSC) before renaming to its curr ...

since 2014.

References

External links

Tan Chuan-Jin
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 ...

Ministry of National Development
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tan, Chuan-Jin Members of the Cabinet of Singapore Speakers of the Parliament of Singapore Members of the Parliament of Singapore People's Action Party politicians Singaporean Christians National University of Singapore alumni Alumni of King's College London Alumni of the London School of Economics Raffles Junior College alumni Anglo-Chinese School alumni Singaporean people of Chinese descent 1969 births Living people Ministers for Manpower of Singapore Singaporean military leaders