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Seah Kian Peng
Singaporean politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Seah Kian Peng (Chinese: 謝健平; pinyin: Xiè Jiànpíng; born 5 December 1961)[1] is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore since 2023. He served as Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore between 2011 and 2016. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Braddell Heights division of Marine Parade GRC since 2006. Seah is currently the MP for the Braddell Heights division of the newly-redrawn Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC.
 | This biographical article is written like a résumé. (June 2021) |
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Early life
Seah was born into a family of six. His father was a line worker in a printing firm, and his mother was a homemaker who took on sewing gigs to supplement the family income. He is the third of four children.[2][3] Seah studied at Raffles Institution before he received a Colombo Plan scholarship to study at the University of New South Wales.[2]
Career
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Early career
Upon graduation with a first class honours degree in building,[4] Seah returned to Singapore to complete his National Service, then worked in a government-linked company, Indeco Engineers,[5] before joining the Singapore Civil Service.[3] Seah was seconded to the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) to do corporate planning and start NTUC Healthcare's chain of pharmacies.[3] Seah then left NTUC for piling and engineering firm Sum Cheong Corporation between 1994 and 1996.[3][5] He returned to the public sector in 1996 to head NTUC Healthcare and NTUC Media successively, before being appointed as the chief operating officer of NTUC FairPrice in 2001, then as the chief executive officer of NTUC FairPrice in 2010.[3][5]
Political career
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Early political career
Seah was fielded as a People's Action Party (PAP) candidate for Marine Parade GRC in the 2006 general election,[6] and was elected as Member of Parliament for Marine Parade GRC in a walkover for the 11th Parliament representing the Braddell Heights ward.[7] Seah was re-elected in Marine Parade Group GRC in the 2011, 2015 and 2020 general elections when the PAP team was challenged by the National Solidarity Party and Workers' Party respectively.[8][9][10]
In Parliament, Seah served as Deputy Speaker from October 2011 to January 2016.[11] On 10 March 2010, Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, suggested that Seah to work out a private member's bill to propose amendments to the Maintenance of Parents Act.[12] After establishing a 10-person workgroup to look at the proposal,[13] the bill was introduced on 18 October 2010 and was passed on 23 November 2010.[14][15]
Seah was appointed as CEO of NTUC Fairprice from 2010 to 2022 and as chairperson of Social and Family Development Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) in the 14th Parliament.
In October 2011, Seah was co-opted to the PAP's 31st Central Executive Committee as a member and held that position until December 2012.
Speaker of Parliament (2023-present)
On 21 July 2023, it was announced that Seah will be nominated to be the next Speaker of Parliament by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong after the resignation of Tan Chuan-Jin due to his extra-marital affair. [16] Seah was elected as Speaker on 2 August 2023.[17] In his first speech after his election as Speaker, he urged that all members of the parliament must be vigilant in personal conduct and serve the people.[18]
On 23 April 2025, Seah was fielded with Tin Pei Ling, Faishal Ibrahim, and new faces Diana Pang and Goh Pei Ming to contest at Marine Parade–Braddell Heights Group Representation Constituency and became the lead anchor for Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC in the 2025 Singaporean general election replacing former anchor lead Tan See Leng.[19][20] As there was no opposition to the team's candidacy, a walkover was declared on the Nomination Day on 23 April 2025.[21][22] However, the walkover drew criticism from several smaller opposition parties who stated that they were taken by surprise and disappointment, and that every constituency should be contested.[23] On 20 June 2025, Seah was renominated by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong as House Speaker.[24]
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Controversies
In April 2020, Seah attracted controversy during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he "played the role of a safe distancing ambassador" during the government-imposed "circuit breaker" lockdown.[25][26][27]
Personal life
Seah is married to Jean Yap and they have two children.[4]
References
External links
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