| Dr. Seet Ai Mee | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Singapore Parliament for Bukit Gombak |
|
| In office 4 September 1988 - 31 August 1991 |
|
| Preceded by | Seat created |
| Succeeded by | Ling How Doong |
| Majority | 1,637 (7.0%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 March 1943 |
| Nationality | Singaporean |
| Political party | People's Action Party |
| Alma mater | University of Adelaide University of Singapore |
| Profession | Pharmacist |
Dr. Seet Ai Mee (Chinese: 薛爱美; pinyin: Xuē Aìměi; born 31 March 1943) is a former politician from Singapore. A member of the country's governing People's Action Party (PAP), she served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Bukit Gombak from 1988 to 1991. In 1991, she was made the Acting Minister for Community Development. However she lost her seat in Parliament at the 1991 general election when she was defeated by Ling How Doong of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), and has not been active in politics since then.
Dr Seet had her early education was at Methodist Girls' School and the High School at Malacca. She was then awarded a Colombo Plan Scholarship to study Biochemistry at the University of Adelaide, where she graduated with First Class Honours in 1964. In 1969, she completed a PhD in Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Singapore.[1] She then worked for the Ministry of Health and the Singapore Institute of Standards and Research, before establishing a medical laboratory practice.[2]
In 1988, Seet was elected to Parliament as the MP for Bukit Gombak. She defeated Ling How Doong of the SDP by 12,661 votes (53.5%) to 11,024 (46.5%).[3] Later that year, she was appointed a Minister of State at the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Community Development.
In 1991, Seet was appointed the Acting Minister for Community Development. It was widely predicted that she would become the first woman to become a full member of the Cabinet in Singapore after the general election.
But when the general election was held later that year, Seet faced a challenge from Ling again and was surprsingly defeated. Ling won 12,037 votes (51.4%) to 11,383 Seet's (48.6%).
One factor which is thought to have contributed to Seet's defeat was an incident in which she washed her hands after shaking hands with a fishmonger while campaigning in a market, which drew negative publicity. The incident ocurred during the 1988 general election campaign,[4] and was brought up again by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong at an election rally in 1991 when, in an attempt to defend Seet, he said that she had a habit of washing her hands regularly and had not done so out of disrespect. His comments were reported in the media and reignited the incident. In an interview with The Straits Times in 2011, Seet said that she had in fact washed her hands because she had also shaken hands with pork sellers and wanted to clean her hands before meeting Muslim residents. She added that she wished Prime Minister Goh had clarified this with her before making his comments at the election rally.[5]
After her election defeat, Seet became a Senior Visiting Fellow in the National University of Singapore Institute of South-East Asian Studies. She also went on to co-found the Dover Park Hospice, and served on the boards of several companies, charities and public organisations.