Lee Li Lian
| Lee Li Lian | |
|---|---|
| 李丽连 | |
| Member of Parliament for Punggol East SMC | |
|
In office 26 January 2013 – 11 September 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Michael Palmer |
| Succeeded by | Charles Chong |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
19 July 1978 Singapore |
| Nationality |
 Singapore |
| Political party | Workers' Party |
| Education | Curtin University |
| Alma mater | Curtin University |
| Occupation | Financial trainer |
Lee Li Lian (simplified Chinese: 李丽连; traditional Chinese: 李麗連; pinyin: Li Lì Lián, born 19 July 1978) is a Singaporean politician. A member of the opposition Workers' Party, she has been a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the single-member constituency of Punggol East from January 2013 until August 2015. She was defeated by PAP candidate Mr Charles Chong in the 2015 General Election and lost her seat for Punggol East SMC.
Career
Outside politics, Lee has worked as a Business Development Executive at Clapper (S) Pte Ltd (2000–2003), a Financial Consultant for American International Assurance (2003–2005), a Broker with CIMB-GK Securities (2005–2006), a Recruitment Manager for Prudential Assurance (2006–2008) and a Senior Trainer at Great Eastern Life Assurance (2008–2013). Lee confirmed that she resigned from her job as a financial trainer to serve as a full-time MP for Punggol East.[1]
Political career
Lee first contested the Punggol East seat at the 2011 general election, where she was defeated by the candidate of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), Michael Palmer. Lee won 12,777 votes (41.01%) to Palmer's 16,994 (54.54%), with Desmond Lim of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) coming in third with 1,387 votes (4.45%). After the election, Palmer was made the Speaker of Parliament.
Palmer resigned as Speaker and as MP for Punggol East in December 2012 after it emerged that he had been having an extra-marital affair.[2] A by-election was called to fill the seat in January 2013.[3]
The Workers' Party selected Lee to contest the seat again at the by-election. Her PAP opponent was colorectal surgeon Koh Poh Koon (who had never contested a parliamentary election before). Desmond Lim of the SDA also contested the seat again at the by-election, along with a fourth candidate, Kenneth Jeyaretnam of the Reform Party.
Lee won the by-election with 16,045 votes (54.50%), with Koh taking 12,875 votes (43.73%), Jeyaretnam 353 votes (1.20%) and Lim 168 votes (0.57%).
Following the election, Lee told the media that her immediate priority as Member of Parliament would be to ensure the smooth handover of the Town Council from the ruling PAP.[4] She was sworn in as a Member of Parliament on 4 February 2013.[5]
Lee was the Workers' Party's Deputy Treasurer from 2008 to 2011, the party's Youth Wing President from 2011 to 2012 and the Deputy Webmaster from 2012 to 2014. Since 2014, she has been the Organising Secretary on the party's Executive Council. Prior to her election to parliament, she also served as a legislative assistant to Pritam Singh, one of the Workers' Party's MPs in the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency.
In the 2015 General Election, Lee lost her seat to PAP's veteran six-term MP Charles Chong by the closest margin in this election, with Lee having 48% of the votes. However, she declined to take up the Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) position. Subsequently, Associate Professor Daniel Goh replaced her as NCMP.
Education
Lee was educated at Holy Innocents' High School and Ngee Ann Polytechnic, before earning a Bachelor's degree from Curtin University in 2001.[6]
Personal life
Lee is married to Koh Chee Koon, a telecommunications consultant.[7] On 15 January 2014, it was announced that she is pregnant with her first child and is due to deliver in July 2014. On 1 July 2014, she gave birth to a baby girl.
Electoral history
| General Election 2015: Punggol East | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| PAP | Charles Chong | 16,957 | 51.76 | +8.03 | |
| WP | Lee Li Lian | 15,801 | 48.24 | -6.26 | |
| Majority | 1,156 | 3.52 | +7.25 | ||
| Rejected ballots | 379 | 1.14 | -0.26 | ||
| Turnout | 33,137 | 96.14 | +1.83 | ||
| Registered electors | 34,466 | ||||
| PAP gain from WP | Swing | ||||
| By-Election 2013: Punggol East | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| WP | Lee Li Lian | 16,045 | 54.50 | +13.49 | |
| PAP | Koh Poh Koon | 12,875 | 43.73 | -10.81 | |
| Reform | Kenneth Jeyaretnam | 353 | 1.20 | N/A | |
| SDA | Desmond Lim Bak Chuan | 168 | 0.57 | -3.88 | |
| Margin of victory | 3,170 | 10.77 | -2.76 | ||
| Rejected ballots | 418 | 1.40 | -0.3 | ||
| Turnout | 29,859 | 94.31 | -0.99 | ||
| Registered electors | 31,659 | ||||
| WP gain from PAP | Swing | +12.15 | |||
| General Election 2011: Punggol East | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| PAP | Michael Palmer | 16,994 | 54.54 | N/A | |
| WP | Lee Li Lian | 12,777 | 41.01 | N/A | |
| SDA | Desmond Lim Bak Chuan | 1,387 | 4.45 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 31,709 | 95.3 | N/A | ||
| PAP win (new seat) | |||||
References
- ↑ "Lee Li Lian quits her job to be a full-time MP". AsiaOne. 2013-04-28.
- ↑ "Speaker of Parliament Michael Palmer resigns over "grave mistake"". Channel NewsAsia. 2012-12-12.
- ↑ "Punggol East by-election announced, Polling Day is Jan 26". The Straits Times. January 9, 2013.
- ↑ "WP's Lee sets out immediate priorities for Punggol East". Channel NewsAsia. 2013-01-27.
- ↑ "WP's Lee Li Lian sworn in as MP for Punggol East". Channel NewsAsia. February 4, 2013. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
- ↑ "Member's CV". Parliament of Singapore. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
- ↑ "'People's person' Lee believes in the value of personal touch". My Paper. January 17, 2013. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
External links
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