Chan Chun Sing

Chan Chun Sing
At the We Welcome Families Awards Ceremony, April 2013
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 May 2011
Minister, Ministry of Social and Family Development
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 November 2012
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	none
Second Minister, Ministry of Defence
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 September 2013
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	none
Acting Minister, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
In office 21 May 2011 – 31 October 2012
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Vivian Balakrishnan
Succeeded by	Lawrence Wong
Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Defence
In office 1 August 2012 – 31 August 2013
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Ng Eng Hen
Preceded by	Lawrence Wong
Succeeded by	Maliki Osman
Minister of State, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts
In office 21 May 2011 – 31 July 2012
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Yaacob Ibrahim
Succeeded by	Lawrence Wong
Personal details
Born	1969 (1969) (age 45) Singapore
Nationality	Singaporean
Political party	People's Action Party
Alma mater	Cambridge University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Military service
Service/branch	Singapore Army
Years of service	1987–2011
Rank	Major-General [1]
Commands	2nd Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment, 10th Singapore Infantry Brigade, 9th Division, Chief Infantry Officer, Chief of Staff - Joint Staff, Chief of Army

Chan Chun Sing (simplified Chinese: 陈振声; traditional Chinese: 陳振聲; Mandarin Pinyin: Chén Zhènshēng; Jyutping: Can4 Zan3-sing1, born 1969) is a Singaporean politician. A members of the country's governing People's Action Party (PAP), he is currently the Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for Defence. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency since the 2011 general election. Prior to entering politics, he served in the Singapore Armed Forces, where he rose to the rank of Major-General and served as Singapore's Chief of Army from 2010 to 2011.

Career

Military career

Chan served in the Singapore Army from 1987 to 2011. His appointments included Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment (1998-2000), Army Attaché in Jakarta (2001–03), Commander of the 10th Singapore Infantry Brigade (2003–04), Head of the Joint Plans and Transformation Department (2005–07), Commander of the 9th Division / Chief Infantry Officer (2007–09),^[2][3] and Chief of Staff - Joint Staff (2009–10).

Chan was appointed the Chief of Army on 26 March 2010 (replacing Major-General Neo Kian Hong). He left the Singapore Armed Forces on 25 March 2011 in order to stand for Parliament (and was replaced as Chief of Army by Brigadier-General Ravinder Singh).^[4]

Political career

Chan was a PAP candidate in the Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency at the 2011 general election.^[5] The PAP's team in the constituency was led by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, and was declared elected on Nomination Day (27 April 2011) in a walkover.^[6] Chan became the representative of the Buona Vista ward in the constituency (replacing Lim Swee Say).^[7]

Following the general election, Chan was appointed the Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, and a Minister of State at the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts. At the age of 42 then, Chan was one of the youngest ministers to be appointed to the Singapore Cabinet.

On 31 July 2012, Chan relinquished his appointment in MICA and was appointed as Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF). Following a restructuring of government ministries in November 2012, he began heading the newly created Ministry of Social and Family Development as Acting Minister.^[8] He was promoted to full Minister in September 2013, and concurrently serves as Second Minister for Defence.

Education

Chan was educated at Raffles Institution (1982–85) and Raffles Junior College (1986–87).

In 1988, Chan was awarded a President's Scholarship and Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship to study in the University of Cambridge, where he completed a degree in economics at Christ's College.

In 2005, Chan completed the Sloan Fellows programme at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) under a Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship.^[9][10]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chan Chun Sing.

• Chan Chun Sing at cabinet.gov.sg
• Chan Chun Sing at parliament.gov.sg

v t e Current members of the Cabinet of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Deputy Prime Ministers Teo Chee Hean National Security/Home Affairs/Civil Service Tharman Shanmugaratnam Finance Cabinet Ministers Ng Eng Hen Defence Heng Swee Keat Education Vivian Balakrishnan Environment and Water Resources K. Shanmugam Foreign Affairs/Law Gan Kim Yong Health Yaacob Ibrahim Communications and Information/Muslim Affairs Khaw Boon Wan National Development Lim Hng Kiang Trade and Industry Lui Tuck Yew Transport Lim Swee Say Prime Minister's Office S. Iswaran Prime Minister's Office Grace Fu Hai Yien Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing Social and Family Development Acting Cabinet Ministers Tan Chuan-Jin Manpower Lawrence Wong Culture, Community and Youth As of 1 September 2013