Tan Soo Khoon
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Tan Soo Khoon (Chinese: 陈树群; Pinyin: Chén Shù Qún; born September 1, 1949), is a former Member of the Parliament of Singapore, and a member of the current ruling party, the People's Action Party. He was elected into Parliament in 1976, and stepped down in April 2006, as the PAP began fielding new candidates for the nation's 12th General Elections. Then 27, he holds the record of being the youngest person to be elected into the Parliament of Singapore. He and Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong were both elected at the same time.
Tan has served 7 terms as MP. He held the office of Deputy Speaker from 1985 to 1989, and was the Speaker of Parliament from 1989 to 2002. He is married to his wife of 24 years, Jennifer Lee. They own and run a watch distributing company, Crystal Time Pte Ltd, and have two daughters, aged 23 and 19.
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[edit] Early life and education
The former-Speaker was born and raised in a middle-class family, where he attended the prestigious Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) from Primary 1 through pre-University. He graduated in 1971 from the former University of Singapore (currently the National University of Singapore) with an honors undergraduate degree in Business Administration. His maternal grandfather is Lee Wee Nam, born 1880, who is one of the most prominent Chinese-Teochew figures in Singapore history, and founder of Lee Hiok Kee Pte Ltd.
[edit] Political career
In 1969, Tan served as the general secretary of the university students' union. In 1972, he began assisting in Kuo Chuan constituency, where he learned about the needs of the working-class of Singapore society. It is his strong desire for social equality and improving the lives of the less fortunate that has made his Parliamentary speeches well-known amongst his fellow MPs. Tan took a 13-year break from speech-making when he became Speaker. He is remembered for his fairness to both sides of the House, allowing members of the ruling party and the opposition to speak their minds. He is also remembered for his sense of humor, for his notes to fellow MPs would be signed off "The Watchman", a take on his private business, and his role as Speaker.
During his stint as the Speaker, he was President of AIPO (ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization) for the sessions in 1989/1990, 1994/1995, and 1999/2000. He has also served as acting President of Singapore twice during periods of time when the President and Deputy Prime Minister were out of the country on official business.
Tan also supervised the building of the new Parliament House, heading the Committee on the Parliament Complex Development Project. The new building was completed in 1999, and a ceremony was conducted to officiate the "move" from the old Parliament House near the Supreme Court to the new one along the Singapore River.
[edit] Backbenching
In April 2002, when he stepped down as Speaker after 13 years, Tan immediately made it known that as a backbencher, with his brutal honesty and openness, he could still "shake the House". Many of his speeches provided witty, pointed, even scathing, remarks about certain government policies and expenditures, such as the extravagence of certain official buildings and rising public transport costs.
In a tribute by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on April 15th 2006, he said of Tan, "He makes very good speeches in Parliament. Sometimes, he draws blood... Sometimes he has offended ministers, but he has spoken his mind."
Having retired from politics, he aims to devote more of his time to his business, his family and friends. Most of all, he will be spending more time with his band, a group of schoolmates from ACS and university, known as The Young Once, which has been a regular appearance on charity events, since they formed in the late 1990s, while Tan was still Speaker of Parliament.
