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Tan Chuan-Jin

Tan Chuan-Jin (Chinese: 陈川仁; pinyin: Chén Chuānrén; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tân Chhoan-jîn; born 10 January 1969) is a Singaporean former politician and brigadier-general. A former member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), Tan served as Speaker of the Parliament between 2017 and 2023, and as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Marine Parade GRC from 2011 to 2023.

Tan resigned as Speaker of the Parliament and as a Member of Parliament on 17 July 2023 due to an extramarital affair with party member Cheng Li Hui and the Kembangan–Chai Chee ward has been managed by the rest of the team.

He also served as Minister for Manpower between 2014 and 2015, and Minister for Social and Family Development between 2015 and 2017.

Prior to his appointment to the Cabinet, he served as a Senior Minister of State and Acting Minister between 2012 and 2014. Tan also served as President of the Singapore National Olympic Council between 2014 and 2023.

Education

Tan attended Anglo-Chinese School and Raffles Junior College before graduating from the London School of Economics with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics under the Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship.

He also completed a Master of Arts degree in defence studies at King's College London, and a Master of Public Administration degree at the National University of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in 2008.

Career

Military career

Tan enlisted in the Singapore Armed Forces in 1987 and was commissioned as an officer in the Singapore Army before attaining the rank Brigadier-General. During his time in the military, he held various command and staff positions, including Commanding Officer of the 3 Guards Battalion, Army Attaché at the Singapore embassy in Jakarta, Commander of the 7th Singapore Infantry Brigade, Assistant Chief of the General Staff (Plans), Commander of the 3rd Division, and Commander of the Army Training and Doctrine Command. In the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Tan was the commander of the Singapore Armed Forces Humanitarian Assistance Task Force deployed to Meulaboh. He received the Public Administration Medal (Silver) (Military) for services rendered in the Tsunami Relief Operation in 2005. He was also the chairman of the executive committee of the Singapore National Day Parade in 2009.

On 25 March 2011, Tan retired from the Singapore Armed Forces to enter politics.

Political career

Tan was announced as a People's Action Party (PAP) candidate joining the five-member PAP team contesting in Marine Parade GRC during the 2011 general election. After the PAP team won with 56.65% of the vote against the National Solidarity Party, Tan became a Member of Parliament representing the Kembangan–Chai Chee ward of Marine Parade GRC.

On 1 August 2012, he was appointed Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of National Development and Acting Minister for Manpower. During his tenure at the Ministry of National Development, Tan worked with heritage, nature, environmental and animal welfare groups on issues related to the Rail Corridor and Bukit Brown Cemetery. He also worked on issues which led to Sisters' Islands being designated as Singapore's first marine park, as well as amendments being made to the Animal and Birds Act.

On 1 September 2013, Tan relinquished his appointment at the Ministry of National Development and became Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of Manpower while continuing to serve as Acting Minister for Manpower. On 1 May 2014, he was promoted to full Minister. On 9 April 2015, Tan relinquished his portfolio as Minister for Manpower and became Minister for Social and Family Development as part of a Cabinet reshuffle.

In January 2014, Tan began serving as the president of the Singapore National Olympic Council. He resigned in 2023.

During the 2015 general election, Tan joined a five-member PAP team contesting in Marine Parade GRC again and they won with 64.07% of the vote against the Workers' Party. After the election, Tan continued serving as Minister for Social and Family Development.

Speaker of Parliament (2017–2023)

On 11 September 2017, he resigned his Cabinet portfolio and became the 10th Speaker of Parliament after the post was vacated by Halimah Yacob when she resigned to contest in the 2017 Singaporean presidential election.

Tan retained his parliamentary seat in Kembangan–Chai Chee after his five-member PAP team contesting in Marine Parade GRC during the 2020 general election won again with 57.74% of the vote against the Workers' Party (WP). After the election, he continued serving as Speaker of Parliament.

On 11 July 2023, Tan made a public apology to WP MP Jamus Lim after a clip of him using unparliamentary language during a 17 April parliamentary sitting was shared on Reddit. As Speaker of Parliament, Tan was heard saying "fucking populist" under his breath at the end of a 20-minute speech by Lim urging the PAP government to further help lower-income groups and to establish an official poverty line, when the microphone picked up Tan's comment. Lim accepted his apology.

Resignation

On 17 July 2023, both Tan and Cheng Li Hui simultaneously resigned from Parliament and as members of the PAP due to "propriety and personal conduct". Prime Minister and PAP's Secretary-General Lee Hsien Loong confirmed that Tan, who is married, and Cheng were having an extramarital affair, since at least 2020. Though Lee found out that the extramarital affair continued through to February 2023, and Tan had offered his resignation then, Lee asked for Tan to first sort out the succession arrangements in his ward.

In a statement, Lee responded to their resignation letters that their resignations were "necessary" for "maintain[ing] the high standards of propriety and personal conduct which the PAP has upheld all these years." Their respective parliamentary seats at Marine Parade GRC and Tampines GRC were subsequently left vacant, and the workload for Tan's Kembangan–Chai Chee division of Marine Parade GRC and Cheng's Tampines East division of Tampines GRC were distributed among the other MPs in their respective GRCs. Tan also resigned his position as Speaker of the Parliament.