Seah Kian Peng

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The Honourable
Seah Kian Peng
謝健平
Seah in 2021
9th Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore
Assumed office
2 August 2023
DeputyChristopher de Souza
Jessica Tan
Preceded byTan Chuan-Jin
Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore
In office
17 October 2011 – 14 January 2016
Serving with Charles Chong (2011–2020)
SpeakerMichael Palmer
(2011–2012)
Halimah Yacob
(2013–2017)
Preceded byMatthias Yao
Succeeded byLim Biow Chuan
Member of Parliament
for Marine Parade GRC
(Braddell Heights)
Assumed office
27 April 2006
Preceded byR. Ravindran
Majority20,143 (15.52%)
Personal details
Born (1961-12-05) 5 December 1961 (age 62)[1]
State of Singapore[citation needed]
Political partyPeople's Action Party
SpouseJean Yap
Children2
Alma materUniversity of New South Wales
In this Chinese name, the family name is Seah.

Seah Kian Peng (Chinese: 謝健平; pinyin: Xiè Jiànpíng; born 5 December 1961)[1] is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore since 2023. He served as Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore between 2011 and 2016. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Braddell Heights division of Marine Parade GRC since 2006.

Early life[edit]

Seah was born into a family of six, consisting of his father, a line worker in a printing firm and his mother, a housewife who took on sewing gigs to supplement the family income, and himself, the third out of the four children.[2][3] Seah studied at Raffles Institution before he received a Colombo Plan scholarship to study at the University of New South Wales.[2]

Career[edit]

Early career[edit]

Upon graduation with a first class honours degree in building,[4] Seah returned to Singapore to complete his National Service, then worked in a government-linked company, Indeco Engineers,[5] before joining the Singapore Civil Service.[3] Seah was seconded to the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) to do corporate planning and start NTUC Healthcare's chain of pharmacies.[3] Seah then left NTUC for piling and engineering firm Sum Cheong Corporation between 1994 and 1996.[3][5] He returned to the public sector in 1996 to head NTUC Healthcare and NTUC Media successively, before being appointed as the chief operating officer of NTUC FairPrice in 2001, then as the chief executive officer of NTUC FairPrice in 2010.[3][5]

Political career[edit]

Seah was fielded as a People's Action Party (PAP) candidate for Marine Parade GRC in the 2006 general election,[6] and was elected as Member of Parliament for Marine Parade GRC (Braddell Heights ward) in a walkover for the 11th Parliament.[7] Seah was re-elected in Marine Parade Group GRC in the 2011 and 2015 general elections when the PAP team was challenged by the National Solidarity Party and Workers' Party respectively.[8][9]

In Parliament, Seah served as Deputy Speaker from October 2011 to January 2016.[10] On 10 March 2010, Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, suggested that Seah to work out a private member's bill to propose amendments to the Maintenance of Parents Act.[11] After establishing a 10-person workgroup to look at the proposal,[12] the bill was introduced on 18 October 2010 and was passed on 23 November 2010.[13][14]

Seah was appointed as CEO of NTUC Fairprice from 2010 to 2022 and as chairperson of Social and Family Development Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) in the 14th Parliament.

In April 2020, Seah attracted controversy during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he "played the role of a safe distancing ambassador" during the government-imposed "circuit breaker" lockdown.[15][16][17]

On 21 July 2023, it was announced that Seah will be nominated to be the next Speaker of Parliament by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong after the previous speaker Tan Chuan-Jin resigned.[18] Seah was elected as Speaker on 2 August 2023.[19] In his first speech after his election as Speaker, he urged that all members of the parliament must be vigilant in personal conduct and serve the people.[20]

Personal life[edit]

Seah is married to Jean Yap and they have two children.[4]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "MP | Parliament Of Singapore". www.parliament.gov.sg. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Higher taxes on the rich and being more open to using our national reserves: MP Seah Kian Peng goes On the Record". CNA. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e migration (28 April 2013). "Save, give, value all". The Straits Times. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  4. ^ a b "People's Action Party Constituency Portal - People's Action Party". Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Heng, Janice (25 November 2020). "Achieving a delicate balance". The Business Times. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  6. ^ "AsiaOne". www.asiaone.com. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  7. ^ "AsiaOne - General Election 2006". www.asiaone.com. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  8. ^ hermesauto (7 December 2017). "Former NSP star Nicole Seah now with WP in East Coast GRC". The Straits Times. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  9. ^ Tan, Mindy (12 September 2015). "PAP takes Marine Parade with 64% of votes". The Business Times. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  10. ^ hermes (8 August 2017). "'Either deputy could take over as Speaker'". The Straits Times. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  11. ^ "SPEECH Report". www.nas.gov.sg. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  12. ^ "Feedback on changes to Maintenance of Parents Act". www.asiaone.com. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  13. ^ "Maintenance of Parents (Amendment) Bill" (PDF).
  14. ^ "Maintenance of Parents (Amendment) Act 2010 - Singapore Statutes Online". sso.agc.gov.sg. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  15. ^ "MP Seah Kian Peng explains visit to market after Facebook post on 'playing role of safe distancing ambassador'". TODAY. 29 April 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  16. ^ "PAP MP plays role of safe distancing ambassador to do walkabout and observes most recognize him even with mask". The Online Citizen Asia. 27 April 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  17. ^ "Furious response to MP's market walkabout under guise of 'safe distancing ambassador' | Coconuts". Coconuts Singapore. 27 April 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  18. ^ Correspondent, Goh Yan HanPolitical (21 July 2023). "PM Lee to nominate Seah Kian Peng as next Speaker of Parliament". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  19. ^ "Election of Seah Kian Peng as Speaker of Parliament". CNA. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  20. ^ Correspondent, Chin Soo FangSenior (2 August 2023). "Be vigilant in personal conduct, serve people of S'pore: Newly elected Speaker Seah Kian Peng". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 2 August 2023.

External links[edit]

Parliament of Singapore
Preceded by
R Ravindran
 Member of Parliament for
Marine Parade GRC (Braddell Heights)
2006 – present 		Incumbent
Preceded by Deputy Speaker of Parliament
2011 – 2016 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore
2023 – present 		Incumbent
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