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The Honourable
Desmond Tan
The Honourable Desmond Tan
陈国明
Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 15 May 2024
Prime Minister	Lawrence Wong
Deputy Secretary-General of the ; National Trades Union Congress
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 30 June 2022 Serving with Heng Chee How
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong; Lawrence Wong
Secretary-General	Ng Chee Meng
Preceded by	Chee Hong Tat
Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office
	In office; 13 June 2022 – 14 May 2024
Minister of State for Home Affairs
	In office; 27 July 2020 – 12 June 2022 Serving with Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	K. Shanmugam
Succeeded by	Sun Xueling
Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment
	In office; 27 July 2020 – 12 June 2022
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Grace Fu
Member of Parliament; for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC ; (Pasir Ris Central)
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 10 July 2020
Preceded by	Constituency established
Majority	44,466 (28.30%)
Personal details
Born	13 September 1970 (age 54); Singapore
Political party	People's Action Party
Children	3
Alma mater	University of Manchester (BEng); King's College London (MA); Nanyang Technological University (MBA)
Awards	SAF Overseas Medal (Enhanced); NATO (ISAF) Medal
Military service
Branch/service	Singapore Army
Years of service	1988–2016
Rank	Brigadier-General
Commands	Chief of Staff – General Staff; Director of Joint Operations; National Contingent Commander; Chief Guards Officer; Director of Public Affairs
Battles/wars	War in Afghanistan International Security Assistance Force; ;

Desmond Tan Kok Ming (Chinese: 陈国明; pinyin: Chén Guómíng; born 13 September 1970)^[1] is a Singaporean politician, union leader and former brigadier-general who has been serving as Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office since 2024 and Deputy Secretary-General of the National Trade Union Congress since 2022.^[3]

He previously served as Minister of State for Home Affairs and Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment concurrently between 2020 and 2022.

A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Pasir Ris Central division of Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC since 2020.

Prior to entering politics, Tan had served 28 years in the Singapore Army under the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and attained the rank Brigadier-General. He left the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in 2017.

He served as chief executive director of the People's Association between 2017 and 2020.^[4]

He made his political debut in the 2020 general election when he joined a five-member PAP team contesting in Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC and they won with 64.15% of the vote.

Early life and education

Tan grew up with his three siblings living in a three-room HDB flat in Bukit Ho Swee where his father worked as a taxi driver while his mother takes up odd jobs.^[5]

He attended Queenstown Secondary Technical School and Raffles Junior College before graduating from the University of Manchester with a Bachelor of Engineering degree with honours in aeronautical engineering in 1994 under the Singapore Armed Forces Merit Scholarship. He also completed a master's degree in defence strategic studies at King's College London in 2000 and a Master of Business Administration at Nanyang Technological University.^[2]

Career

Military career

Tan started his career in the Singapore Armed Forces and spent 28 years in the military before rising to the rank of Brigadier-General. During his service, he held various appointments, including Chief of Staff – General Staff, Director of Joint Operations, Chief Guards Officer, and Director of Public Affairs. He was also Chairman of the NDP 2012 Executive Committee, and had participated in the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan as Singapore's contingent commander. He received the SAF Overseas Medal (Enhanced) and NATO (ISAF) Medal.^[2]

Public service

After retiring from the Singapore Armed Forces in 2017, Tan joined the People's Association as its chief executive director before stepping down in June 2020 to run for election in the 2020 general election.^[6]

Political career

Tan made his political debut in the 2020 general election when he joined a five-member People's Action Party (PAP) team contesting in Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC. The PAP team won with 64.15% of the vote against the Singapore Democratic Alliance and Peoples Voice, and Tan was elected as the Member of Parliament representing the Pasir Ris Central ward of Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC.

On 27 July 2020, he was appointed Minister of State for Home Affairs and Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment.^[1]

On 6 June 2022, a Cabinet reshuffle was announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Tan would relinquish his positions of Minister of State for Home Affairs and Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment and assume the position of Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office.

The move was to allow Tan to take less responsibilities and devote less attention in the government which he would be in part-time basis after joining the labour movement National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) after the departure of its Deputy Secretary-General Chee Hong Tat from NTUC to return to the government on full-time basis. These changes took effect a week later on 13 June 2022.^[7]^[8]^[9]