Desmond Tan (politician)

In this Chinese name, the family name is Tan.
The Honourable
Desmond Tan
陈国明
Deputy Secretary-General of the
National Trades Union Congress
Incumbent
Assumed office
30 June 2022
Serving with Heng Chee How
Secretary-GeneralNg Chee Meng
Preceded byChee Hong Tat
Member of Parliament
for Pasir Ris–Changi GRC
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 May 2025
Preceded byConstituency established
Majority31,955 (35.36%)
Member of Parliament
for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC
In office
10 July 2020 – 15 April 2025
Preceded byPAP held
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Majority44,466 (28.30%)
Personal details
Born (1970-09-13) 13 September 1970
Singapore
Political partyPeople's Action Party
Children3
Alma materUniversity of Manchester (BEng)
King's College London (MA)
Nanyang Technological University (MBA)
AwardsSAF Overseas Medal (Enhanced)
NATO (ISAF) Medal[1]
Military service
Branch/serviceSingapore Army
Years of service1988–2016
RankBrigadier-General
CommandsChief of Staff – General Staff
Director of Joint Operations
National Contingent Commander
Chief Guards Officer
Director of Public Affairs
Battles/wars

Desmond Tan Kok Ming (Chinese: 陈国明; pinyin: Chén Guómíng; born 13 September 1970)[2] is a Singaporean politician, union leader and former brigadier-general. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Pasir Ris–Punggol Group Representation Constituency (GRC) between 2020 and 2025 and the MP representing the Pasir Ris–Changi GRC since 2025. Tan was the Minister of State for Home Affairs and Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment concurrently between 2020 and 2022. and now the Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office since 2024. He is also the Deputy Secretary-General of the National Trade Union Congress since 2022.[3]

Prior to entering politics, Tan had served 28 years in the Singapore Army under the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and attained the rank Brigadier-General. He left the SAF in 2017. He had also served as chief executive director of the People's Association between 2017 and 2020.[4] Tan made his political debut in the 2020 general election when he joined a five-member PAP team contesting in Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC, which they won with 64.15% of the vote.

Early life and education

Tan grew up with his three siblings living in a three-room HDB flat in Bukit Ho Swee where his father worked as a taxi driver while his mother takes up odd jobs.[5]

Tan attended Queenstown Secondary Technical School and Raffles Junior College before graduating from the University of Manchester with a Bachelor of Engineering degree with honours in aeronautical engineering in 1994 under the Singapore Armed Forces Merit Scholarship. He also completed a master's degree in defence strategic studies at King's College London in 2000 and a Master of Business Administration at Nanyang Technological University.[1]

Career

Military career

Tan started his career in the Singapore Armed Forces and spent 28 years in the military before rising to the rank of Brigadier-General. During his service, he held various appointments, including Chief of Staff – General Staff, Director of Joint Operations, Chief Guards Officer, and Director of Public Affairs. He was also Chairman of the NDP 2012 Executive Committee, and had participated in the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan as Singapore's contingent commander. He received the SAF Overseas Medal (Enhanced) and NATO (ISAF) Medal.[1]

Civil career

After retiring from the Singapore Armed Forces in 2017, Tan joined the People's Association as its chief executive director before stepping down in June 2020 to run for election in the 2020 general election.[6]

Political career

Tan made his political debut in the 2020 general election when he joined a five-member People's Action Party (PAP) team contesting in Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC. The PAP team won with 64.15% of the vote against the Singapore Democratic Alliance and Peoples Voice, and Tan was elected as the Member of Parliament representing the Pasir Ris Central ward of Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC.

On 27 July 2020, he was appointed Minister of State for Home Affairs and Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment.[2]

In June 2022, a cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong led to Tan relinquishing his positions of Minister of State for Home Affairs and Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment while assuming the position of Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office and joining the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) as Deputy Secretary-General. This would replace the existing NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Chee Hong Tat, who would leave NTUC to return to the government on a full-time basis. This move was described as allowing Tan to focus his time on his duties for the NTUC.[7][8][9] In May 2024, Tan was promoted to Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office while continuing his stint in NTUC.

Tan, as Assistant Secretary-General of the NTUC, is often called a labour MP by the Singapore media.[10] In October 2024, ChannelNewsAsia noted that none of the labour MPs filed any questions or spoke during the parliamentary debate concerning the controversial deal to sell a controlling 51% stake in NTUC Enterprise subsidiary Income Insurance to Allianz.[11]

In the 2025 general election, Tan joined the newly-created four-member Pasir Ris–Changi GRC. The PAP team won with 67.68% of the vote against the Singapore Democratic Alliance and Tan was elected as the Member of Parliament representing the Pasir Ris Central ward of Pasir Ris–Changi GRC.[12][13]

Controversies

In January 2025, Tan faced backlash over his listening ear in a ST podcast in which his remarks about often being a ‘listening ear’ rather than solving problems during Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS) have drawn public criticism..[14]

Personal life

Tan is married with three children.[1][15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Mr Desmond Tan Kok Ming" (PDF). www.parliament.gov.sg.
  2. ^ a b "MP | Parliament of Singapore".
  3. ^ "Changes to Cabinet and Other Appointments (June 2022)". Prime Minister's Office Singapore. 6 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Desmond Tan Kok Ming". LinkedIn. Accessed on 26 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Singapore GE2020: Profiles of PAP's new candidates Archived 2020-07-20 at the Wayback Machine". The Straits Times. 25 June 2020. Accessed on 26 June 2020.
  6. ^ "PA chief executive director to step down, leave public service". The Straits Times. 6 June 2020. Accessed on 26 June 2020.
  7. ^ Yeoh, Grace (6 June 2022). "NTUC deputy secretary-general Chee Hong Tat to return to Government full-time, Desmond Tan to join labour movement". CNA. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  8. ^ Lim, Min Zhang (6 June 2022). "Tan Kiat How, Eric Chua and Rahayu Mahzam to be promoted in latest Cabinet changes". The Straits Times. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  9. ^ Baharudin, Haiz (6 June 2022). "Minister of State Desmond Tan to join NTUC following changes to S'pore Cabinet". The Straits Times. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  10. ^ Chew, Hui Min. "GE2025: Labour MPs raise diverse issues, work hard behind the scenes, says Chan Chun Sing". CNA. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  11. ^ Koh, Fabian. "Income-Allianz saga: Union leaders concerned about impact on NTUC's standing, ties with government". CNA. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  12. ^ "GE2025: Indranee Rajah leads PAP team against SDA's Desmond Lim in new Pasir Ris-Changi GRC". CNA. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  13. ^ "GE2025: PAP wins Pasir Ris-Changi GRC". The Straits Times. 4 May 2025. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  14. ^ "We can't solve all problems, but we lend a listening ear: Desmond Tan talks about being a first-term MP". The Straits Times. 17 January 2025. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  15. ^ "Mr Desmond Tan Kok Ming Archived 2020-09-21 at the Wayback Machine". People's Action Party. Accessed on 9 July 2020.
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