Lee Yock Suan

Lee Yock Suan (Chinese: 李玉全; pinyin: Lǐ Yù Quán; born 30 September 1946) is a former politician from Singapore. A member of the country's governing People's Action Party, he served in the Cabinet from 1987 to 2004, and was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1980 to 2006.

Career

Lee worked at Singapore's Economic Development Board from 1969 to 1980, initially as a projects officer before becoming Divisional Director (Industry). From 1980 to 1981, he served as Deputy Managing Director of the Petroleum Corporation of Singapore.^[1]

Political career

Lee was first elected to Parliament at the 1980 general election. He served as an MP representing the Cheng San Single Member Constituency (1980–88), the Cheng San Group Representation Constituency (1988-2001) and the East Coast Group Representation Constituency (2001–06).

After serving as a Minister of State at the Ministry of National Development and the Ministry of Finance from 1983 to 1984, Lee was made the Acting Minister for Labour in 1985.

He became a full member of the Cabinet in 1987, and served as the Minister for Labour (1987–91), Minister for Education (1992–97), Second Minister for Finance (1997–98), Minister for Trade and Industry (1997–99), Minister for Information and the Arts (1999–2001), Minister for the Environment (1999–2001), Second Minister for Foreign Affairs (2001–04) and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office (2001–04).

Lee also served as the Deputy Chairman of the People's Association from 1984 to 1991, and as Chairman of the Singapore Labour Foundation from 1997 to 2002.

Lee stepped down from the Cabinet in 2004. He remained an MP until 2006, before retiring from politics at the 2006 general election.^[2]

Education

Lee was educated at Queenstown Secondary Technical School and Raffles Institution, before being awarded a President's Scholarship to study at Imperial College London where he completed a BSc (Hons) degree in Chemical Engineering. He subsequently completed a Diploma in Business Administration at the University of Singapore.^[3]

Personal life

Lee is married to Adeline Oh Choon Neo and has one son and one daughter. His son, Desmond Lee Ti-Seng,^[4] was elected to Parliament in 2011 as a PAP MP for the Jurong Group Representation Constituency and was made a Minister of State in 2013.

References

1. Board of Directors: Lee Yock Suan, ara-asia.com, retrieved 22 March 2012.
2. Ex-minister happy to step down, The Straits Times, April 2006.
3. Lee Yock Suan, infopedia.nl.sg, retrieved 21 March 2012.
4. Yes to evolution, no to revolution, My Paper, 24 March 2011.