Teo Chee Hean

Teo Chee Hean
Teo Chee Hean at the Shangri-La Hotel Singapore on 3 June 2006
Native name	张志贤
Born	27 December 1954(1954-12-27) (age 67) Singapore, Colony of Singapore
Alma mater	University of Manchester Imperial College London Harvard University
Political party	People's Action Party (1992)
Spouse(s)	Chew Poh Yim
Children	2

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Teo.

Teo Chee Hean (simplified Chinese: 张志贤; traditional Chinese: 張志賢; pinyin: Zhāng Zhìxián; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tioⁿ Chì-hiân; Tamil: தியோ சீ ஹியென்; born 27 December 1954) is a Singaporean politician. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was appointed Senior Minister on 1 May 2019. He also serves, since 21 May 2011, as Coordinating Minister for National Security. He also oversees the Prime Minister's Office Strategy Group, including the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group, the National Security Coordination Secretariat, the National Population and Talent Division and the National Climate Change Secretariat.

In the first phase of his career, he served in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) where he held various command and staff appointments in the Republic of Singapore Navy and the Joint Staff. In 1991, he was appointed Chief of Navy, and was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral.

In December 1992, he left the SAF to seek elected public office and was elected as a Member of Parliament in a by-election in the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency (GRC). He was re-elected to Parliament five times in the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.

He was appointed Deputy Prime Minister from 1 April 2009 to 30 April 2019 when former deputy prime ministers, S. Jayakumar & Wong Kan Seng both stepped down from position. He is serving as deputy prime minister alongside Tharman Shanmugaratnam. He has served as the Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Defence , Minister for Education, and Minister for the Environment. He has also served as Minister of State in the Ministries of Finance, Communications and Defence.

Career

Naval career

Teo enlisted in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in 1972 and received his commission as a naval officer at the Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute (SAFTI) in 1973. He went on to hold various command and staff appointments in the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and the Joint Staff.

Teo assumed command of the RSN as Chief of Navy in 1991 and was promoted to the rank of Commodore (later re-designated as Rear-Admiral) in July 1991.

On 7 December 1992, Teo left the RSN to seek election into Parliament.

Political career

Teo was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency (Marine Parade GRC) in the Marine Parade by-election on 19 December 1992.

Following his election, Teo served as a Minister of State in the Ministries of Finance, Communications and Defence.

In April 1995, Teo was appointed the Acting Minister for the Environment and Senior Minister of State for Defence. In January 1996, he was appointed Minister for the Environment and Second Minister for Defence.

At the 1997 general election, Teo was elected as an MP for Pasir Ris GRC. In the subsequent Cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed the Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence.

At the 2001 general election, Teo was elected as an MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC and re-appointed as Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence. On 1 August 2003, he was appointed the Minister for Defence and Minister-in-charge of the Civil Service.

At the 2006 general election, Teo was re-elected as an MP for Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC. He led the team six-member PAP team to victory in the constituency with 68.7% of the votes.

On 26 March 2009, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong appointed Teo as one of two Deputy Prime Ministers with effect from 1 April 2009. He held this appointment alongside his roles of Minister for Defence and Minister-in-charge of the Civil Service.

At the 2011 general election, Teo led the PAP team in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC to victory with 64.79% of the votes.

On 18 May 2011, Teo was appointed the Minister for Home Affairs and Co-ordinating Minister for National Security. He remains as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister-in-charge of the Civil Service.

Within the PAP, Teo is the First Assistant Secretary General on the party's Central Executive Committee, a post he held until 2018.

On 23 April 2019, the Prime Minister Office's latest cabinet reshuffle announced that he, alongside Tharman Shanmugaratnam, would both be relinquishing their respective Deputy Prime Minister portfolio to Heng Swee Keat, and they would be conferred the Senior Minister post effective from 1 May onwards, while retaining his Co-ordinating Minister for National Defense portfolio.

Involvement in the Singapore sports scene

Teo serves in leadership and advisory roles in several sports organisations in Singapore. He served as the President of the Singapore National Olympic Council from 1984–2014. He is also the advisor to the Singapore Dragon Boat Association.

Education

Teo Chee Hean went to Saint Michael's School and Saint Joseph's Institution.

He was awarded the President's Scholarship and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Scholarship in 1973. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours) in Electrical Engineering and Management Science from the University of Manchester in 1976. He subsequently attained a Masters of Science degree (with distinction) in Computing Science in 1977 at the Imperial College in London, and a Masters in Public Administration at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University in 1986, where he was named a Littauer Fellow.

Family

Teo is married to Chew Poh Yim. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Biochemistry from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in 1977. She is a director of a business consultancy and teaches marketing management in the School of Business Management at Nanyang Polytechnic on a part-time basis. The couple has one son and one daughter.

Bibliography

• (in Chinese) Liu, Changping & Zhang, He, 风雨晚晴园(不应忘却的辛亥革命勋臣张永福), 中国文史 (2011), ISBN 9787503431098

External links

• Teo Chee Hean at cabinet.gov.sg
• Teo Chee Hean at parliament.gov.sg
• Teo Chee Hean's Twitter Profile
• Teo Chee Hean's Facebook Page

Political offices
Preceded by Mah Bow Tan	Minister for the Environment 15 Jan 1996 – 24 Jan 1997 Acting: 17 Apr 1995 – 14 Jan 1996	Succeeded by Lim Swee Say
Recreated Title last held by Lee Boon Yang	Second Minister for Defence 15 Jan 1996 – 31 Jul 2003	Succeeded by Ng Eng Hen
Preceded by Lee Yock Suan	Minister for Education 25 Jan 1997 – 31 Jul 2003	Succeeded by Tharman Shanmugaratnam
Preceded by Tony Tan	Minister for Defence 1 Aug 2003 – 20 May 2011	Succeeded by Ng Eng Hen
Preceded by S. Jayakumar	Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore 1 Apr 2009 – 30 April 2019 Served alongside: Wong Kan Seng (2005 – 2011), Tharman Shanmugaratnam (2011 – present)	Succeeded by Heng Swee Keat
Preceded by K. Shanmugam	Minister for Home Affairs 21 May 2011 – 30 Sep 2015	Succeeded by K. Shanmugam
Preceded by Wong Kan Seng	Co-ordinating Minister for National Security 21 May 2011 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by Lim Chee Onn	Member of Parliament for Marine Parade GRC (Joo Chiat) 1992 – 1997	Succeeded by Chan Soo Sen as MP for East Coast GRC (Joo Chiat)
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Pasir Ris GRC (Pasir Ris Central) 1997 – 2001	Constituency abolished
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC (Pasir Ris West) 2001 – present	Incumbent
Military offices
Preceded by Rear-Admiral James Leo	Chief of the Republic of Singapore Navy 1991 – 1992	Succeeded by Rear-Admiral Kwek Siew Jin