Chiam See Tong

Chiam See Tong (born 12 March 1935) is a Singaporean politician and lawyer. He is the country's longest-serving opposition Member of Parliament (MP), having represented the constituency of Potong Pasir in Parliament from 1984 to 2011.

Chiam was a member of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) up to 1996, when he left the party to join the Singapore People's Party (SPP). He subsequently spearheaded the formation of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), and was its Chairman and de facto leader from 2001 to 2011. However in March 2011 he announced that he was withdrawing the SPP from the SDA grouping, and would contest the next general election under the SPP banner. At the 2011 general election, Chiam decided not to seek re-election in his Potong Pasir constituency and instead stood as a member of the SPP's team in the Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency. However the SPP was defeated by the PAP's team in Bishan-Toa Payoh. His wife Lina Chiam narrowly lost the election in Potong Pasir and accepted a seat as a Non Constituency Member of Parliament.

Political career
Chiam first entered politics in 1976 when he contested as an independent candidate in Cairnhill constituency, where he lost to Minister for Communications and National Development Lim Kim San. In the 1979 by-election, Chiam contested the Potong Pasir seat for the first time, again as an independent, and got 33% of the votes against the People Action Party (PAP)'s candidate Howe Yoon Chong.

Chiam founded the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) in 1980, and was the party's Secretary-General (leader) until 1993. He contested the Potong Pasir seat again in 1980 and lost to Howe again, but his vote share increased to 41%. In 1984, Chiam contested the seat against Mah Bow Tan, and won with 60.3% of the votes, on a swing of 19 percent against the PAP.

In his subsequent five elections, Chiam continued to fend off challengers from the PAP. His winning margin reached a peak of 69.6% in the 1991 polls but has since fallen below 60% in most recent elections.

When Chiam was first elected to Parliament in 1984, he was only the second opposition politician ever to be elected to Singapore's Parliament after J. B. Jeyaretnam of the Workers' Party (WP), in 1981. After Jeyaretnam was expelled from Parliament in 1986, Chiam was Singapore's sole elected opposition MP until 1991.

At the 1991 general elections, two other SDP members, Ling How Doong and Cheo Chai Chen, were also elected to Parliament. Low Thia Khiang of the WP was also elected, making a total of four opposition MPs, with Chiam effectively the leader of the opposition.

In 1992, Chiam recruited Chee Soon Juan, a psychology lecturer at the National University of Singapore, to be an SDP candidate for a by-election in the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency. Although the SDP was unsuccessful in the by-election, the recruitment of Chee as a candidate generated considerable public interest. However differences between Chiam and Chee soon emerged. Chee was sacked from his job as a university lecturer in 1993, and publicly claimed that he had been the victim of a political vendetta by the governing People's Action Party (PAP). Chiam wanted to censure Chee for these comments, but the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC) backed Chee. Chiam then resigned as Secretary-General of the party, and was replaced by Chee. The CEC attempted to expel Chiam from the party after he publicly criticised them, but he won a court case to prevent them from doing so on procedural grounds. However the CEC appointed Ling How Doong to replace Chiam as the party's parliamentary leader.

Chiam left the SDP at the end of 1996 and accepted an invitation to join the Singapore People's Party (which was formed by a breakaway faction of the SDP in 1994) and became its Chairman. Standing for his new party, he was re-elected as MP for Potong Pasir at the 1997 General Election. The negative publicity generated by the disputes with Chiam affected the SDP's electoral prospects, and both Ling and Cheo lost their seats, leaving Chiam and Low Thia Khiang as the only two elected opposition MPs. Chiam and Low remained the only two opposition MPs elected at all the subsequent general elections until 2011. At the 2001 general election, Chiam won Potong Pasir for the fifth time. at the 2006 general election, he won 55.82% of the votes to claim his sixth term, defeating the PAP's Sitoh Yih Pin. He had secured 8,245 votes against 6,527 for Sitoh. For many, this was a surprise victory for Chiam, as the PAP had offered an S$80 million upgrading package for the residents of Potong Pasir and had brought in Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong to help the PAP's campaign in the constituency.

In early 2008, Chiam suffered a mild stroke which led to the suspension of his 'Meet-the-People' sessions. In 2011, Chiam said "there's still remnants of the stroke which I suffered".

In 2009, Chiam celebrated his 25th year as MP for Potong Pasir. That year, he also announced that he did not plan to stand as a candidate for Potong Pasir at the next general election (due to be held on May 2011), and would instead be a candidate in a Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

In 2010, Chiam tried to bring the Reform Party into the SDA. He reportedly accepted the conditions the Reform Party set out for joining the alliance, however the terms of entry were opposed by other members of the SDA's Council who blocked the move. In 2010 and early-2011, it was also reported that some members of the SDA's Council felt that Chiam was unable to properly fulfil his role of Chairman of the alliance, after he had cut back his political activities following his stroke in 2008. On 28 February 2011, the SDA's Council voted to relieve Chiam of his role as Chairman, however the Council stressed that they still hoped to field Chiam as a candidate at the next general election. But two days later, on 2 March 2011, Chiam announced that the Singapore People's Party was withdrawing from the SDA, and that he would stand under the banner of the SPP instead of the SDA at the next general election.

2011 Singapore general elections
For the 2011 general election, Chiam's wife, Lina Loh Woon Lee (sometimes referred to as Lina Chiam), the SPP candidate in Potong Pasir. Chiam became a candidate in the Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency.

Chiam's team in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC finished with 43% of the votes, and was defeated by the PAP team led by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng. His wife Lina failed to retain his old Potong Pasir seat and was defeated by his opponent in the last two elections, the PAP's Sitoh Yih Pin, by a margin of 114 votes (0.72%).

A week later, the SPP announced that Lina Chiam would accept an offer to become an Non-Constituency Member of Parliament as one of the best-performing losing opposition candidates.

Life outside politics
Chiam Wee Hung was educated at Anglo-Chinese School, before going on to study at the University of Canterbury and Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. After completing a Bachelor of Science, he worked as a teacher at Mahmud Secondary School in Malaysia from 1962 to 1963, and at Cedar Girls' Secondary School in Singapore from 1964 to 1972.

Chiam qualified as a barrister at the Inner Temple in London in 1974. He then joined Philip Wong and Company as a lawyer, before starting his own law firm, Chiam and Company, in 1976.

Chiam retired from his law practice in 2002 to become a full-time politician.

He is married to Lina Loh Woon Lee. The couple have one daughter.

A Presbyterian, Chiam is a member of Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church, one of the oldest churches in Singapore.

Parliamentary Committee membership
Chiam has been a member of Parliament since 22 December 1984.


 * Committee of Privileges
 * 6th Parliament, 2nd Session
 * 7th Parliament, 1st Session
 * 7th Parliament, 2nd Session
 * 7th Parliament, 3rd Session
 * 9th Parliament, 1st Session
 * 9th Parliament, 2nd Session
 * 10th Parliament, 1st Session


 * Estimates Committee
 * 8th Parliament, 1st Session


 * Select Committee on the Bankruptcy Bill
 * 8th Parliament, 2nd Session


 * Select Committee on the Companies (Amendment) Bill
 * 8th Parliament, 1st Session


 * Select Committee on the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment No. 21) Bill
 * 7th Parliament, 1st Session


 * Select Committee on the Drug Trafficking (Confiscation of Benefits) Bill
 * 8th Parliament, 1st Session


 * Select Committee on the Goods and Services Tax Bill
 * 8th Parliament, 1st Session


 * Select Committee on the Interpretation (Amendment) Bill
 * 9th Parliament, 1st Session


 * Select Committee on the Land Transportation Policy
 * 7th Parliament, 1st Session


 * Select Committee on the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Bill
 * 7th Parliament, 1st Session


 * Select Committee on the Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Bill and Constitution of the Republic
 * 6th Parliament, 2nd Session


 * Select Committee to Verify the Healthcare Subsidy of Government Polyclinics and Public Hospitals
 * 8th Parliament, 2nd Session


 * Special Select Committee on Nominations for Appointment as nominated Members of Parliament
 * 7th Parliament, 2nd Session
 * 8th Parliament, 1st Session


 * Standing Orders Committee
 * 6th Parliament, 1st Session
 * 8th Parliament, 2nd Session