Tan Soo Khoon

Honourable Minister Tan Soo Khoon
陈树群
6th Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore
In office 9 January 1989 – 18 October 2001
Preceded by	Dr Yeoh Ghim Seng
Succeeded by	Abdullah Tarmugi
Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore
In office 1985–1989
Preceded by	Hwang Soo Jin
Succeeded by	Lim Boon Heng
Member of Parliament for East Coast GRC (Kampong Chai Chee ward)
In office 3 January 1997 – 6 May 2006
Preceded by	himself (Bedok GRC: Kampong Chai Chee ward)
Succeeded by	Lee Yi Shyan
Member of Parliament for Bedok GRC (Kampong Chai Chee ward)
In office 1 September 1991 – 2 January 1997
Preceded by	Hong Hai
Succeeded by	himself (East Coast GRC: Kampong Chai Chee ward)
Member of Parliament for Brickworks GRC (Alexandra ward)
In office 4 September 1988 – 31 August 1991
Preceded by	himself (Alexandra SMC)
Succeeded by	Seat abolished
Member of Parliament for Alexandra SMC
In office 24 December 1976 – 3 September 1988
Preceded by	Wong Lin Ken
Succeeded by	himself (Brickworks GRC: Alexandra ward)
Personal details
Born	(1949-09-01) 1 September 1949
Nationality	Singaporean
Political party	People's Action Party

Tan Soo Khoon (Chinese: 陈树群; pinyin: Chén Shùqún; born 1 September 1949) is a former Singaporean politician and Member of Parliament.

He was a member of the ruling party, the People's Action Party. He was first elected in 1976, and stepped down in April 2006. Then 27, he is the youngest person ever to be elected to the Parliament of Singapore. He and former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong were elected to public office at the same time. He held the Office of Deputy Speaker from 1985 to 1989, and was the Speaker of Parliament from 1989 to 2002. He is married and has two daughters.

Since October 2007 Tan Soo Khoon has been exercising the function of "non-resident ambassador" to the Czech Republic, resident in Singapore.

Early life and education

Tan was born and raised in a middle-class family, where he attended Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) from Primary 1 through pre-University. He graduated in 1971 from the former University of Singapore (now the National University of Singapore) with an honors degree in Business Administration. His maternal grandfather is Lee Wee Nam, born 1880, who is one of the most prominent Teochew Chinese figures in Singapore history. Lee was the founder of Lee Hiok Kee Pte Ltd and also Chairman of the Four Seas Communications Bank.

Political career

In 1969, Tan served as the general secretary of the university students' union. In 1972, he began assisting in Kuo Chuan constituency, where he learned about the needs of the working-class of Singapore society. It is his strong desire for social equality and improving the lives of the less fortunate that has made his parliamentary speeches well known amongst his fellow MPs. Tan took a 13-year break from speech-making when he became Speaker. He is remembered for his fairness to both sides of the floor of the house, allowing members of both the ruling party and the opposition to speak their minds. He is also remembered for his sense of humor, for his notes to fellow MPs would be signed off "The Watchman", a take on his private business, and his role as Speaker.

During his stint as the Speaker, he was also president of the AIPO (ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization) for the 1989–1990, 1994–1995 and 1999–2000 sessions. He also served as Acting President of Singapore on a number of occasions when the President of the Republic and deputy prime minister were both out of the country on official business.

Tan also supervised the building of the new Parliament House, heading the Committee on the Parliament Complex Development Project. The new building was completed in 1999, and a ceremony was conducted to officiate the "move" from the old Parliament House near the Supreme Court to the new one along the Singapore River.

Backbenching

In April 2002, when he stepped down as Speaker after 13 years, Tan immediately made it known that as a backbencher, with his brutal honesty and openness, he could still "shake the House". Many of his speeches provided witty, pointed, even scathing, remarks about certain government policies and expenditures, such as the extravagance of certain public buildings and the rising cost of public transportation.

In a tribute by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on April 15, 2006, he said of Tan, "He makes very good speeches in Parliament. Sometimes, he draws blood... Sometimes he has offended ministers, but he has spoken his mind."

Having retired from politics, he aims to devote more of his time to his business, his family and friends. Most of all, he will be spending more time with his band, a group of schoolmates from ACS and university, known as The Young Once, which has been a regular appearance on charity events, since they formed in the late 1990s, while Tan was still Speaker of Parliament.