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The Honourable
Tan See Leng
陈诗龙
Minister for Manpower
Assumed office
15 May 2021
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byJosephine Teo
Second Minister for Trade and Industry
Assumed office
27 July 2020
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterChan Chun Sing
(2020–2021)
Gan Kim Yong
(2021–present)
Preceded byS. Iswaran (2015)
Minister in the Prime Minister's Office
In office
27 July 2020 – 14 May 2021
Serving with Indranee Rajah and Maliki Osman
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byNg Chee Meng
Second Minister for Manpower
In office
27 July 2020 – 14 May 2021
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterJosephine Teo
Preceded byJosephine Teo (2018)
Member of Parliament
for Marine Parade GRC
(Marine Parade)
Assumed office
10 July 2020
Preceded byGoh Chok Tong (PAP)
Majority20,143 (15.52%)
Personal details
Born
Tan See Leng

1964 (age 59–60)[1]
Singapore
Alma materNational University of Singapore (MBBS, MMed)
University of Chicago Booth School of Business (MBA)
ProfessionMedical practitioner

Tan See Leng (Chinese: 陈诗龙; pinyin: Chén Shīlóng; born 1964)[1] is a Singaporean politician and former medical practitioner who has been serving as Minister for Manpower since 2021 and Second Minister for Trade and Industry since 2020. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Marine Parade division of Marine Parade GRC since 2020.[2]

Before entering politics, Tan was a medical practitioner by profession. He founded Healthway Medical Group and had served in top positions in Parkway Holdings, Parkway Pantai and IHH Healthcare.

He made his political debut in the 2020 general election as part of a five-member PAP team and won about 57% of the vote in Marine Parade GRC.

Early life

Tan was born in Singapore in 1964.[3]

Education

Tan attended Monk's Hill Primary School and Monk's Hill Secondary School.[4] He received a Promsho scholarship to study the humanities at Hwa Chong Junior College. But in his first year at JC, his mother fell seriously ill and went into a coma. This led to his decision to switch from the humanities programme.[5] He studied at the National Junior College[4] before graduating from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore in 1988 with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS).[6]

While in National Junior College, he joined the choir as part of his Co-Curricular Activity (CCA).[4]

Tan funded his university education all by himself, with an annual school fee of S$3,000,[4] by tutoring junior college students in subjects like mathematics, biology, physics and chemistry.[4] With up to eight students at a time, he earned about S$800 to S$1,000 per month.[4]

He subsequently went on to complete a Master of Medicine degree in family medicine at the National University of Singapore in 1998.[6] In 2003, he was awarded the Fellow of College of Family Physicians by the College of Family Physicians Singapore.[7][6]

In 2004, he obtained a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.[6]

In 2014, he became a Fellow of the Academy of Medicine Singapore.[7]

Career

In 1992, at the age of 27, Tan founded Healthway Medical Group with a group of friends, through a bank loan of S$90,000 and an initial capital investment of S$5,000 from each of the initial stakeholders.[8][9] As co-founder and chairman of the company, he grew the group to become the second largest private primary care group in Singapore.[9] In 2004, he successfully divested the group to British United Provident Association Healthcare.[8]

In 2004, Tan joined Parkway Holdings as the chief operating officer of Mount Elizabeth Hospital[9] and was eventually promoted to as the executive director of Pantai Holdings, chief executive officer of Pantai Hospitals Division and the head of Malaysia operating division of Parkway until 2008.[6]

From 2010 to 2019, Tan was the group chief executive officer and managing director of Parkway Holdings and Parkway Pantai Limited.[10][11] From 2014 to 2019, he was also the chief executive officer and managing director of IHH Healthcare BHD.[11][12] During his tenures, some of his contributions included delisting Parkway Holdings in 2010 and relisting IHH Healthcare in 2012[11] into one of the largest initial public offerings in the world in 2012, expanding and growing the group from 15 hospitals in 2009 to 84 hospitals as of the end of 2019,[13] leading the mergers and acquisitions of Acibadem Healthcare (Turkey), Fortis Healthcare (India),[13] and multiple hospitals across Asia. Under his leadership, IHH Healthcare Berhad has won multiple awards, including the Best Managed and Best Overall Corporate Governance Poll awards by Asiamoney in 2016.[14]

In 2019, he retired from the position of group chief executive officer and managing director of Parkway Holdings and Parkway Pantai Limited.[13]

Over the years, Tan has held numerous ministerial advisory and medical committee appointments. For instance, since 2009, he has been a member of the board of trustees of the College of Family Physicians Singapore (CFPS).[15] He also served in various capacities with CFPS Holdings Pte Ltd, including as its chairman from 2008 to 2010 and vice president from 2011 to 2013.[15] In November 2013, he was appointed by the Ministry of Health as a member of the MediShield Life review committee.[16]

Moreover, he has maintained active involvement in academia through board memberships and appointments. From 2011 to 2019, he was adjunct assistant professor of Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore, Office of Education.[17] He has also sat on the Advisory Board of Lee Kong Chian School of Business at Singapore Management University.[18]

Apart from the medical field, he has also contributed to the business scene. In 2012, Tan was appointed a council member of the Singapore-Guangdong Collaboration Council.[6][15] The council aims to deepen Singapore's engagement with China's Guangdong province and benefit Singapore businesses through joint exploration of new opportunities in the region.[19]

Political career

During the 2020 general election, Goh Chok Tong stepped down as Member of Parliament of Marine Parade GRC and Tan made his political debut in the 2020 general election as part of a five-member PAP team contesting in Marine Parade GRC and won. Since 10 July 2020, he has been serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Marine Parade ward of Marine Parade GRC. He was subsequently appointed Second Minister for Trade and Industry and Minister for Manpower on 27 July 2020 and 15 May 2021 respectively.

On 3rd Oct 2022, Tan See Leng, responding in Parliament to questions by 6 MPs on how the foreign workforce was complementing the local talent pipeline and how locals were getting fair consideration for jobs, replied that it is not a zero-sum game and that bringing in global talents create jobs for locals. [20]

Accolades

2004: Tan was awarded the Long Service Award from the People’s Association Singapore.[citation needed]

2007: Tan was awarded the prestigious College of Family Physicians Singapore Albert and Mary Lim Award,[21] the highest accolade awarded for contribution and services rendered to the college and to the discipline of Family Medicine. This was in appreciation of his contribution to CFPS, where he successfully organised the 18th Wonca World Conference in Singapore, which netted CFPS a net profit of more than US$1.3 million.[22]

2015: Named Asia Innovator of the Year at the 14th CNBC Asia Business Leaders Awards (ABLA) 2015[23]

2016: Asiamoney Best Executive in Malaysia,[24] Asiamoney best CEO in Investor Relations[24]

2017: Won the ABLA Corporate Social Responsibility Award[25]

2019: Singapore Medical Association Merit Award 2019[26]

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b "MP | Parliament of Singapore". Archived from the original on 2021-11-02. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  2. ^ "Playing to win". Business Times (Singapore). Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  3. ^ "IHH Annual Report 2017". irplc.com. Archived from the original on 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "The Peak Interview: The Good Doctor". The Peak Singapore - Your Guide to The Finer Things in Life. 2013-07-01. Archived from the original on 2019-10-23. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  5. ^ "Lunch with Sumiko: I'm a perpetual optimist, says Manpower Minister Tan See Leng". Straits Times. 7 November 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Tan See Leng". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2020-07-25. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  7. ^ a b "IHH Annual Report 2018". irplc.com. Archived from the original on 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  8. ^ a b "PressReader - Bangkok Post: 2017-02-27 - THE DOCTOR IS IN". Archived from the original on 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15 – via PressReader.
  9. ^ a b c "Dr Tan See Leng | Honour International Symposium 2018". www.honourinternational.sg. Archived from the original on 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  10. ^ "MOH | News Highlights". www.moh.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  11. ^ a b c Heng, Janice (2019-05-28). "IHH Healthcare chief executive to retire at year-end". The Business Times. Archived from the original on 2019-05-28. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  12. ^ "Dr Tan See Leng". www.raise.sg. Archived from the original on 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  13. ^ a b c [IHH Healthcare Berhad]. "DR TAN SEE LENG TO RETIRE AS MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CEO AT IHH HEALTHCARE, TO BE SUCCEEDED BY DR KELVIN LOH" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-06-15.
  14. ^ "Asiamoney Names IHH Healthcare Malaysia's Top Company Over Past Decade". CodeBlue. 2019-06-28. Archived from the original on 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  15. ^ a b c "Parkway Life REIT - Annual Report 2014 - page 23". 2014. Archived from the original on 2020-06-15.
  16. ^ "MediShield Life review committee to focus on benefits, affordability". TODAYonline. Archived from the original on 2019-10-25. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  17. ^ "IHH - Change in Boardroom - DR TAN SEE LENG". KLSE Screener. Archived from the original on 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  18. ^ "ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER". business.smu.edu.sg. Archived from the original on 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  19. ^ "Parkway Life REIT - Annual Report FY2012 page 16". 2012. Archived from the original on 2020-06-15.
  20. ^ "Bringing in global talent creates jobs for locals". The Straits Times. 4 October 2022.
  21. ^ "The Albert & Mary Lim Award » College of Family Physicians Singapore". cfps.org.sg. Archived from the original on 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  22. ^ "Parkway Life REIT - Investor Relations page 15" (PDF). 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-08-02.
  23. ^ Chaturvedi, Neelabh (2015-10-29). "Winners of 14th Asia Business Leaders Awards". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  24. ^ a b "IHH Healthcare Berhad". www.ihhhealthcare.com. Archived from the original on 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  25. ^ "Asia Business Leaders Awards". abla.cnbc.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-18. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  26. ^ "Singapore Medical Association - For Doctors, For Patients". www.sma.org.sg. Archived from the original on 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
Political offices Preceded byNg Chee Meng Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office 2020 – 2021 Served alongside: Indranee Rajah, Maliki Osman Incumbent Preceded byJosephine Teo Minister for Manpower 2021 – present Incumbent Parliament of Singapore Preceded byGoh Chok Tong Member of Parliament for Marine Parade GRC (Marine Parade) 2020 – present Incumbent
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