Tony Tan Keng Yam, Dr, (b. 7 February 1940, Singapore - ) became the seventh President of Singapore on 1 September 2011. After a career in banking, he entered politics in 1979 and served as a minister in the Cabinet, holding at various times the portfolios of Education, Defence, Finance, Health, and Trade and Industry. Tan was Deputy Prime Minister when he retired from government in 2005. He then became executive director and deputy chairman of the Government Investment Corporation (GIC), before resigning to contest the 2011 presidential election.
Education and early years
Tan was educated at St Patrick’s School and St Joseph’s Institution. At St Patrick’s, he was the head prefect and a scout, and participated in table tennis, football, cricket and athletics. In 1957, The Straits Times dubbed Tan the “brightest schoolboy in Singapore”, after he received grades of six A1s and two A2s in the Cambridge school certificate examinations. In 1959, Tan was one of the first three students to be awarded the Singapore State Scholarship, which replaced the colonial-era Queen’s Scholarship. The scholarship provided $2,500 per annum for a degree course at the University of Singapore, and Tan was admitted to the second year course in the science faculty at the university.
Tan graduated from the University of Singapore with a first class honours degree in physics in 1962. With a scholarship from the Asia Foundation, he then obtained a Master of Science (with a specialisation in operations research) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964. That year, Tan married Mary Chee Bee Kiang, whom he had met at the University of Singapore.
After a year as a lecturer in the physics department at the University of Singapore, Tan received a research scholarship from the University of Adelaide and studied for his PhD in applied mathematics there. He obtained his doctorate in 1967 and worked as a lecturer in the mathematics department at the University of Singapore.
Corporate career
In 1969, Tan joined the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) founded by his uncle Tan Chin Tuan as a sub-manager. He became manager in charge of investments at OCBC, before being promoted to assistant general manager and secretary of the bank in 1973. Tan also sat on the boards of a number of OCBC’s subsidiary companies, including OCBC Finance (Singapore) Limited and First Oversea Credit Limited.
Tan then headed an executive committee overseeing the daily operations of the International Bank of Singapore (a joint venture by OCBC and three other major local banks) when it opened in 1975. He also became president of the Institute of Bankers (Singapore Centre), chairman of the Association of Banks in Singapore and chairman of the ASEAN Banking Council. In 1977, Tan was appointed general manager of OCBC’s investment division.
Entry into politics
In April 1978, Tan was appointed chairman of the Singapore Bus Service (SBS) by the government. At SBS, Tan dealt with service, labour and infrastructure issues and the appointment was seen to be a measure of his suitability for a political career. He also joined the People’s Action Party (PAP) around this time, and was later named as one of its candidates for by-elections in January 1979. He stood in the constituency of Sembawang, after Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had asked its incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) Teong Eng Siong to step down.
In February, Tan defeated Harbans Singh of the United People’s Party with 78.42% of the vote to become the MP for Sembawang. Before the election, Lee had offered Tan a Minister of State position in either the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Finance if he was elected. Tan chose to work with the Minister for Education, Goh Keng Swee, and was appointed as Senior Minister of State for Education.
Time at the Ministry of Education
Tan oversaw the merger between the University of Singapore and Nanyang University to form the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1980, and became vice-chancellor of NUS. He continued to steer government policy on higher education over the next two decades, including the establishment of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and other tertiary institutions.
Tan became the Minister for Education in June 1980, and went on to serve in the post over two periods: from June 1980 to May 1981, and from January 1985 to December 1991. Over his two terms, Tan sought to align the education system to Singapore’s economic requirements, saying in 1989: “Particularly in the modern world, education and economic performance are indivisible.”
During his time at the Ministry of Education, Tan initiated a number of reviews of Singapore’s education system. One of these reviews resulted in a revamp of the primary and secondary school structures in 1991, to ensure that all students had at least ten years of school before moving on to tertiary or vocational education. Tan later considered this to be the most fundamental change made to the education system during his time in charge.
He also modified policies related to streaming of students, including making the system more flexible for students to move between streams and giving parents the right to choose their child’s stream in primary school. In 1985, Tan scrapped the policy which gave graduate mothers priority for their children’s school admissions.
Other significant policies made during Tan’s terms included increased autonomy for schools, the growth of independent schools, an increased intake of foreign students in higher education and the emphasis on English and mathematics in the syllabus.
Economic and other portfolios
In June 1981, Tan became the Minister for Trade and Industry. He held this portfolio for two separate periods, between June 1981 and January 1985, and from May 1985 to February 1986. Tan was also Minister for Finance between October 1983 and December 1985.
In 1985, Singapore entered its first recession in two decades and Tan convened the ministerial-level Economic Review Committee in April. He was a member of the Committee, which recommended a number of economic stimulus measures subsequently adopted by the government, including corporate and personal tax cuts, interest rate cuts and wage freezes. In December 1985, Tan called for a temporary reduction in the rate of Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions by employers in order to reduce costs for businesses. The government eventually cut the rate of employers’ CPF contributions from 25% to 10% among other stimulus measures. The economy returned to growth in 1986.
Departure and return to Cabinet
In 1988, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew revealed that Tan ranked first in his personal assessments of his potential successors. Lee added however that he had realised after the 1984 general elections that Tan did not want the job of prime minister.
Tan stepped down from the Cabinet in December 1991 and became chairman and chief executive officer of OCBC. Tan remained as MP for Sembawang and promised Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong that he would return to the government if needed. In August 1995, he returned to the Cabinet and was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence.
Overseeing tertiary education policies, Tan said in parliament in 1997 that Singapore required more university graduates for its workforce. That year, he moved to adjust university curriculums, admission policies and course fees, encouraged post-graduate research and education, and introduced policies to attract more foreign students. The Singapore Management University was then set up in 2000 to provide more university places.
In August 2003, Tan relinquished the Defence portfolio and became Coordinating Minister for Security and Defence, while remaining as Deputy Prime Minister. In the early 2000s, Tan headed the Life Sciences Ministerial Committee and played a major role in Singapore’s push into the biomedical sciences sector. He also coordinated government policies on innovation and research and development across various industries.
Retirement from Cabinet
In August 2005, Tan retired from his ministerial posts and was appointed executive director and deputy chairman of GIC, and joined the board of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), where he later became chairman. He also chaired the National Research Foundation and was deputy chairman of the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council. In these two roles, Tan initiated strategic research programmes in environmental and water technologies, interactive digital media and biomedical sciences.
Election to Presidency
In June 2011, Tan announced his intention to run in the presidential election and resigned from his posts in GIC and SPH, and his membership in the PAP. Standing against fellow candidates Tan Cheng Bock, Tan Jee Say and Tan Kin Lian, Tan won the election with 35.2% of the total vote. He was sworn in as President at the Istana on 1 September 2011.
Career timeline
1964 – 1965 : Lecturer, physics department, University of Singapore.
1967 – 1969 : Lecturer, mathematics department, University of Singapore.
1969 – 1979 : Managerial posts in Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC).
Feb 1979 – Mar 2006 : Member of Parliament for Sembawang.
Feb 1979 – May 1980 : Senior Minister of State for Education.
Jun 1980 – May 1981 : Minister for Education.
1980 – 1981 : Vice-chancellor, National University of Singapore (NUS).
Jun 1981 – Jan 1985 : Minister for Trade and Industry.
1981 – 1983 : Minister-in-charge for NUS and Nanyang Technological Institute.
Oct 1983 – Dec 1985 : Minister for Finance.
Jan 1985 – May 1985 : Minister for Health.
May 1985 – Feb 1986 : Minister for Trade and Industry.
Jan 1985 – Dec 1991 : Minister for Education.
Jan 1992 – Jul 1995 : Chairman and chief executive officer, OCBC.
Aug 1995 – Aug 2005 : Deputy Prime Minister.
Aug 1995 – Aug 2003 : Minister for Defence.
Aug 2003 – Aug 2005 : Coordinating Minister for Security an
Tony Tan Keng Yam, Dr, (b. 7 February 1940, Singapore - ) became the seventh President of Singapore on 1 September 2011. After a career in banking, he entered politics in 1979 and served as a minister in the Cabinet, holding at various times the portfolios of Education, Defence, Finance, Health, and Trade and Industry. Tan was Deputy Prime Minister when he retired from government in 2005. He then became executive director and deputy chairman of the Government Investment Corporation (GIC), before resigning to contest the 2011 presidential election.
Education and early years
Tan was educated at St Patrick’s School and St Joseph’s Institution. At St Patrick’s, he was the head prefect and a scout, and participated in table tennis, football, cricket and athletics. In 1957, The Straits Times dubbed Tan the “brightest schoolboy in Singapore”, after he received grades of six A1s and two A2s in the Cambridge school certificate examinations. In 1959, Tan was one of the first three students to be awarded the Singapore State Scholarship, which replaced the colonial-era Queen’s Scholarship. The scholarship provided $2,500 per annum for a degree course at the University of Singapore, and Tan was admitted to the second year course in the science faculty at the university.
Tan graduated from the University of Singapore with a first class honours degree in physics in 1962. With a scholarship from the Asia Foundation, he then obtained a Master of Science (with a specialisation in operations research) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964. That year, Tan married Mary Chee Bee Kiang, whom he had met at the University of Singapore.
After a year as a lecturer in the physics department at the University of Singapore, Tan received a research scholarship from the University of Adelaide and studied for his PhD in applied mathematics there. He obtained his doctorate in 1967 and worked as a lecturer in the mathematics department at the University of Singapore.
Corporate career
In 1969, Tan joined the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) founded by his uncle Tan Chin Tuan as a sub-manager. He became manager in charge of investments at OCBC, before being promoted to assistant general manager and secretary of the bank in 1973. Tan also sat on the boards of a number of OCBC’s subsidiary companies, including OCBC Finance (Singapore) Limited and First Oversea Credit Limited.
Tan then headed an executive committee overseeing the daily operations of the International Bank of Singapore (a joint venture by OCBC and three other major local banks) when it opened in 1975. He also became president of the Institute of Bankers (Singapore Centre), chairman of the Association of Banks in Singapore and chairman of the ASEAN Banking Council. In 1977, Tan was appointed general manager of OCBC’s investment division.
Entry into politics
In April 1978, Tan was appointed chairman of the Singapore Bus Service (SBS) by the government. At SBS, Tan dealt with service, labour and infrastructure issues and the appointment was seen to be a measure of his suitability for a political career. He also joined the People’s Action Party (PAP) around this time, and was later named as one of its candidates for by-elections in January 1979. He stood in the constituency of Sembawang, after Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had asked its incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) Teong Eng Siong to step down.
In February, Tan defeated Harbans Singh of the United People’s Party with 78.42% of the vote to become the MP for Sembawang. Before the election, Lee had offered Tan a Minister of State position in either the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Finance if he was elected. Tan chose to work with the Minister for Education, Goh Keng Swee, and was appointed as Senior Minister of State for Education.
Time at the Ministry of Education
Tan oversaw the merger between the University of Singapore and Nanyang University to form the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1980, and became vice-chancellor of NUS. He continued to steer government policy on higher education over the next two decades, including the establishment of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and other tertiary institutions.
Tan became the Minister for Education in June 1980, and went on to serve in the post over two periods: from June 1980 to May 1981, and from January 1985 to December 1991. Over his two terms, Tan sought to align the education system to Singapore’s economic requirements, saying in 1989: “Particularly in the modern world, education and economic performance are indivisible.”
During his time at the Ministry of Education, Tan initiated a number of reviews of Singapore’s education system. One of these reviews resulted in a revamp of the primary and secondary school structures in 1991, to ensure that all students had at least ten years of school before moving on to tertiary or vocational education. Tan later considered this to be the most fundamental change made to the education system during his time in charge.
He also modified policies related to streaming of students, including making the system more flexible for students to move between streams and giving parents the right to choose their child’s stream in primary school. In 1985, Tan scrapped the policy which gave graduate mothers priority for their children’s school admissions.
Other significant policies made during Tan’s terms included increased autonomy for schools, the growth of independent schools, an increased intake of foreign students in higher education and the emphasis on English and mathematics in the syllabus.
Economic and other portfolios
In June 1981, Tan became the Minister for Trade and Industry. He held this portfolio for two separate periods, between June 1981 and January 1985, and from May 1985 to February 1986. Tan was also Minister for Finance between October 1983 and December 1985.
In 1985, Singapore entered its first recession in two decades and Tan convened the ministerial-level Economic Review Committee in April. He was a member of the Committee, which recommended a number of economic stimulus measures subsequently adopted by the government, including corporate and personal tax cuts, interest rate cuts and wage freezes. In December 1985, Tan called for a temporary reduction in the rate of Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions by employers in order to reduce costs for businesses. The government eventually cut the rate of employers’ CPF contributions from 25% to 10% among other stimulus measures. The economy returned to growth in 1986.
Departure and return to Cabinet
In 1988, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew revealed that Tan ranked first in his personal assessments of his potential successors. Lee added however that he had realised after the 1984 general elections that Tan did not want the job of prime minister.
Tan stepped down from the Cabinet in December 1991 and became chairman and chief executive officer of OCBC. Tan remained as MP for Sembawang and promised Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong that he would return to the government if needed. In August 1995, he returned to the Cabinet and was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence.
Overseeing tertiary education policies, Tan said in parliament in 1997 that Singapore required more university graduates for its workforce. That year, he moved to adjust university curriculums, admission policies and course fees, encouraged post-graduate research and education, and introduced policies to attract more foreign students. The Singapore Management University was then set up in 2000 to provide more university places.
In August 2003, Tan relinquished the Defence portfolio and became Coordinating Minister for Security and Defence, while remaining as Deputy Prime Minister. In the early 2000s, Tan headed the Life Sciences Ministerial Committee and played a major role in Singapore’s push into the biomedical sciences sector. He also coordinated government policies on innovation and research and development across various industries.
Retirement from Cabinet
In August 2005, Tan retired from his ministerial posts and was appointed executive director and deputy chairman of GIC, and joined the board of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), where he later became chairman. He also chaired the National Research Foundation and was deputy chairman of the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council. In these two roles, Tan initiated strategic research programmes in environmental and water technologies, interactive digital media and biomedical sciences.
Election to Presidency
In June 2011, Tan announced his intention to run in the presidential election and resigned from his posts in GIC and SPH, and his membership in the PAP. Standing against fellow candidates Tan Cheng Bock, Tan Jee Say and Tan Kin Lian, Tan won the election with 35.2% of the total vote. He was sworn in as President at the Istana on 1 September 2011.
Career timeline
1964 – 1965 : Lecturer, physics department, University of Singapore.
1967 – 1969 : Lecturer, mathematics department, University of Singapore.
1969 – 1979 : Managerial posts in Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC).
Feb 1979 – Mar 2006 : Member of Parliament for Sembawang.
Feb 1979 – May 1980 : Senior Minister of State for Education.
Jun 1980 – May 1981 : Minister for Education.
1980 – 1981 : Vice-chancellor, National University of Singapore (NUS).
Jun 1981 – Jan 1985 : Minister for Trade and Industry.
1981 – 1983 : Minister-in-charge for NUS and Nanyang Technological Institute.
Oct 1983 – Dec 1985 : Minister for Finance.
Jan 1985 – May 1985 : Minister for Health.
May 1985 – Feb 1986 : Minister for Trade and Industry.
Jan 1985 – Dec 1991 : Minister for Education.
Jan 1992 – Jul 1995 : Chairman and chief executive officer, OCBC.
Aug 1995 – Aug 2005 : Deputy Prime Minister.
Aug 1995 – Aug 2003 : Minister for Defence.
Aug 2003 – Aug 2005 : Coordinating Minister for Security an
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