Teo Chee Hean


Teo Chee Hean is a Singaporean politician. A member of the governing People's Action Party, he has served as the Senior Minister since May 2019 after he stepped down as the Deputy Prime Minister. He has also served as the Coordinating Minister for National Security since May 2011. He also oversees the Prime Minister’s Office Strategy Group, including the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group, the National Security Coordination Secretariat, the National Population and Talent Division and the National Climate Change Secretariat.
In the first phase of his career, he served in the Singapore Armed Forces where he held various command and staff appointments in the Republic of Singapore Navy and the Joint Staff. In 1991, he was appointed Chief of Navy, and was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral.
In December 1992, he left the SAF to seek elected public office and was elected as a Member of Parliament in a by-election in the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency. He was re-elected to Parliament five times in the Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC.
He served as the Deputy Prime Minister from April 2009 to April 2019 for a decade when former officeholders, S. Jayakumar and Wong Kan Seng both stepped down from the position. He had served as the Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Defence, Minister for Education, and Minister for the Environment. He has also served as Minister of State in the Ministries of Communications and Information, Finance and Defence.

Career

Naval career

Teo enlisted in the Singapore Armed Forces in 1972 and received his commission as a naval officer at the Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute in 1973. He went on to hold various command and staff appointments in the Republic of Singapore Navy and the Joint Staff.
Teo assumed command of the RSN as Chief of Navy in 1991 and was promoted to the rank of Commodore in July 1991.
On 7 December 1992, Teo left the RSN to seek election into Parliament.

Political career

Teo was elected as a Member of Parliament for the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency in the Marine Parade by-election on 19 December 1992.
Following his election, Teo served as a Minister of State in the Ministries of Finance, Communications and Defence.
In April 1995, Teo was appointed the Acting Minister for the Environment and Senior Minister of State for Defence. In January 1996, he was appointed Minister for the Environment and Second Minister for Defence.
At the 1997 general election, Teo was elected as an MP for Pasir Ris GRC. In the subsequent Cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed the Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence.
At the 2001 general election, Teo was elected as an MP for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC and re-appointed as Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence. On 1 August 2003, he was appointed the Minister for Defence and Minister-in-charge of the Civil Service.
At the 2006 general election, Teo was re-elected as an MP for Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC. He led the team six-member PAP team to victory in the constituency with 68.7% of the votes.
On 26 March 2009, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong appointed Teo as one of two Deputy Prime Ministers with effect from 1 April 2009. He held this appointment alongside his roles of Minister for Defence and Minister-in-charge of the Civil Service.
At the 2011 general election, Teo led the PAP team in Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC to victory with 64.79% of the votes.
On 18 May 2011, Teo was appointed the Minister for Home Affairs and Co-ordinating Minister for National Security. He remains as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister-in-charge of the Civil Service.
Within the PAP, Teo is the First Assistant Secretary General on the party's Central Executive Committee, a post he held until 2018.
On 23 April 2019, the Prime Minister Office's latest cabinet reshuffle announced that he, alongside Tharman Shanmugaratnam, would both be relinquishing their respective Deputy Prime Minister portfolio to Heng Swee Keat, and they would be conferred the Senior Minister post effective from 1 May onwards, while retaining his Co-ordinating Minister for National Defense portfolio.

Involvement in the Singapore sports scene

Teo serves in leadership and advisory roles in several sports organisations in Singapore. He served as the President of the Singapore National Olympic Council from 1984-2014. He is also the advisor to the Singapore Dragon Boat Association.

Education

Teo Chee Hean went to Saint Michael's School and Saint Joseph's Institution.
He was awarded the President's Scholarship and the Singapore Armed Forces Scholarship in 1973. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Management Science from the University of Manchester in 1976. He subsequently attained a Masters of Science degree in Computing Science in 1977 at the Imperial College in London, and a Masters in Public Administration at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University in 1986, where he was named a Littauer Fellow.

Family

Teo is married to Chew Poh Yim. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in 1977. She is a director of a business consultancy and teaches marketing management in the School of Business Management at Nanyang Polytechnic on a part-time basis. The couple has one son and one daughter.