Teo Chee Hean

Teo Chee Hean (zh-sp|s=张志贤|p=Zhāng Zhìxián; born 27 December 1954) is the current Minister for Defence of Singapore and a Member of Parliament for Pasir Ris-Punggol Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

Early life

Teo was educated at Saint Michael's School and Saint Joseph's Institution. He enlisted in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in 1972 and received his commission at the Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute in 1973.

He was awarded the President's Scholarship and the SAF Scholarship in 1973 to study Electrical Engineering and Management Science at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours) degree in 1976. He continued with his studies at Imperial College London, obtaining a Masters of Science degree (with distinction) in Computing Science in 1977.

He is married to Chew Poh Yim. She was born in Perak, West Malaysia and went to England for her higher studies. She graduated with a BSc (Hons) degree in Biochemistry from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (1977).

She is a marketing consultant to a major supermarket chain in Singapore and she also teaches Marketing Management at the Nanyang School of Business, Nanyang Polytechnic, on a part-time basis.

They have a son and a daughter.

Naval career

RAdm Teo held various command and staff appointments in the Republic of Singapore Navy and the Joint Staff. He pursued his postgraduate studies at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University in 1986, where he graduated with a Masters in Public Administration and was named a Littauer Fellow. He assumed command of the Republic of Singapore Navy as Chief of Navy in 1991 and was promoted to the rank of Commodore (later re-designated to Rear Admiral) in July 1991. On 7 December 1992, he left the SAF to seek elected public office.

Teo Chee Hean was also the president of the [http://www.sdba.org.sg Singapore Dragon Boat Association (SDBA)] .

Political career

In a by-election in December 1992, Teo was elected as an MP for the Marine Parade GRC. Thereafter, he served as Minister of State in the finance, communications and defence ministries.

In April 1995, he was concurrently appointed as 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. In the January 1997 general election, he was elected as an MP for Pasir Ris GRC and thereafter was appointed Minister for Education while continuing as Second Minister for Defence.

In the November 2001 general election, he was elected as MP for the Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC and re-appointed as Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence. On 1 August 2003, he was appointed as Minister for Defence.

Teo was once again re-elected as the MP for Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC in the General Elections held in May 2006.

External links

* [http://www.cabinet.gov.sg/CabinetAppointments/Mr+Teo+Chee+Hean.htm Singaporean Cabinet Bio]