Teo Chee Hean
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- This is a Chinese name; the family name is Teo (Zhang).
Teo Chee Hean (simplified Chinese: 张志贤; pinyin: Zhāng Zhìxián; born 27 December 1954) is the current Minister for Defence of Singapore and a Member of Parliament for Pasir Ris-Punggol Group Representation Constituency (GRC).
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[edit] Early life
Teo was educated at Saint Michael's School and Saint Joseph's Institution. He enlisted in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in 1972 and received his commission at the Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute in 1973.
He was awarded the President's Scholarship and the SAF Scholarship in 1973 to study Electrical Engineering and Management Science at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours) degree in 1976. He continued with his studies at Imperial College London, obtaining a Masters of Science degree (with distinction) in Computing Science in 1977.
He is married to Chew Poh Yim. She was born in Perak, West Malaysia and went to England for her higher studies. She graduated with a BSc (Hons) degree in Biochemistry from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (1977).
She is a marketing consultant to a major supermarket chain in Singapore and she also teaches Marketing Management at the Nanyang School of Business, Nanyang Polytechnic, on a part-time basis.
They have a son and a daughter.
[edit] Naval career
Teo held various command and staff appointments in the Republic of Singapore Navy and the Joint Staff. He pursued his postgraduate studies at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University in 1986, where he graduated with a Masters in Public Administration and was named a Littauer Fellow. He assumed command of the Republic of Singapore Navy as Chief of Navy in 1991 and was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral in July 1991. On 7 December 1992, he left the SAF to seek elected public office.
Teo Chee Hean was also the president of the Singapore Dragon Boat Association (SDBA).
[edit] Political career
In a by-election in December 1992, Teo was elected as an MP for the Marine Parade GRC. Thereafter, he served as Minister of State in the finance, communications and defence ministries.
In April 1995, he was concurrently appointed as 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. In the January 1997 general election, he was elected as an MP for Pasir Ris GRC and thereafter was appointed Minister for Education while continuing as Second Minister for Defence.
In the November 2001 general election, he was elected as MP for the Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC and re-appointed as Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence. On 1 August 2003, he was appointed as Minister for Defence.
Teo was once again re-elected as the MP for Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC in the General Elections held in May 2006.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by ? |
Minister for Environment and Water Resources 1996-1997 |
Succeeded by ? |
| Preceded by None |
Second Minister for Defence 1996-2003 |
Succeeded by Ng Eng Hen |
| Preceded by Lee Yock Suan |
Minister for Education 1997-2003 |
Succeeded by Tharman Shanmugaratnam |
| Preceded by Tony Tan |
Minister for Defence 2003 – present |
Incumbent |
