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| '''George Yeo Yong-Boon''' (born 13 September 1954; {{zh|s=杨荣文|t=楊榮文|p=Yáng Róngwén}}) |
'''George Yeo Yong-Boon''' (born 13 September 1954; {{zh|s=杨荣文|t=楊榮文|p=Yáng Róngwén}}) was a ] from ]. A member of the governing ] (PAP), he served as the country's ] from 2004 until 2011 when he lost his seat in parliament to Worker's Party. He previously served as the ] (1991–99), ] (1994–97) and ] (1999–2004). He is the ] (MP) representing the ] (1988-2011). | ||
| Prior to entering politics, Yeo was a ] in the ]. He served as the Chief-of-Staff of the Air Staff from 1985 to 1986, and as the Director of Joint Operations and Planning at the ] from 1986 to 1988. | Prior to entering politics, Yeo was a ] in the ]. He served as the Chief-of-Staff of the Air Staff from 1985 to 1986, and as the Director of Joint Operations and Planning at the ] from 1986 to 1988. | ||
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George Yeo Yong-Boon (born 13 September 1954; simplified Chinese: 杨荣文; traditional Chinese: 楊榮文; pinyin: Yáng Róngwén) was a politician from Singapore. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he served as the country's Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2004 until 2011 when he lost his seat in parliament to Worker's Party. He previously served as the Minister for Information and the Arts (1991–99), Minister for Health (1994–97) and Minister for Trade and Industry (1999–2004). He is the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (1988-2011).
Prior to entering politics, Yeo was a Brigadier-General in the Republic of Singapore Air Force. He served as the Chief-of-Staff of the Air Staff from 1985 to 1986, and as the Director of Joint Operations and Planning at the Ministry of Defence from 1986 to 1988.
Military career
Prior to his political career, Yeo was an officer in the Singapore Armed Forces. He served as a Signals officer in the Army, before transferring to the Republic of Singapore Air Force, then the Joint Staff, where he rose to the rank of Brigadier-General.
Yeo served as the Chief-of-Staff of the Air Staff from 1985 to 1986, and as the Director of Joint Operations and Planning at the Ministry of Defence from 1986 to 1988.
He also led the team who conceptualised and built the award winning SAFTI Military Institute (MI).
Yeo resigned from the armed forces in 1988 in order to stand for Parliament.
Political career
Following his election into Parliament, Yeo served in various Ministries, including the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
As Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, he liberalised the use of dialects in the local movie industry, which paved the way for a generation of local movie directors and producers. He also oversaw the design and construction of the iconic Esplanade Theatres on the Bay and the new National Library.
As Minister for Trade and Industry, Yeo led his team to successfully negotiate the Free Trade Agreement with the United States, Japan, Australia and other countries, saving hundreds of millions of dollars for Singapore businesses and citizens.
Yeo proposed the idea of having gaming Integrated Resorts (IR's) in Singapore, which was intensely debated for a year. This paved the way for the 2 Integrated Resorts in Singapore, Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands at the Marina Promenade. (He later shared with a group of university students during a dialogue that his late father had a problem with gambling and the decision to push for the gaming resorts was personally a very difficult one. He said that policy making often involved a choice between 'evils'.)
His team also reinvented and redeveloped Sentosa Island including waterfront living at Sentosa Cove. Sentosa is now a bustling destination for both locals and visitors.
During his time as Minister for Foreign Affairs, he managed to convince the Myanmar government, during the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, to accept foreign aid which led to many lives being saved from the effects of the disaster.
He represented the Eurasian community in the Cabinet at their request.
The Aljunied GRC - General Elections 2006, 2011
Yeo has represented the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in Parliament since 1988. In the 2006 General Election (GE), Yeo's team won the constituency with 56.1% of the votes to the Workers' Party (WP) 43.9%. (This was the narrowest victory in any GRC at that GE, and came in the wake of the controversy surrounding one of the WP candidates in the constituency, James Gomez.)
At a grassroots event in the 2011 election campaign, Yeo stated that his team has delivered and fulfilled every election promise that was made in 2006, including the successful construction of a community gymnasium.
He lost his seat in the Parliament in the historic May 2011 Election. He also lost his ministerial appointment. (http://www.ge.sg/)
Yeo was the first Singaporean Minister to start blogging. He has been blogging since August 2006. He then moved on to Facebook and is one of the most active Singaporean politician on it, with over 20,000 friends and supporters. (http://www.facebook.com/georgeyeopage)
Other Activities
Yeo has taken an important role in reviving the ancient Buddhist university, Nalanda University, in Bihar, India. He is a member of the University Governing Board led by Prof Amartya Sen.
He also sits on the international advisory panels of the Harvard Business School, IESE Business School and Nicolas Berggruen's 21st Century Council.
He also takes the following advisory roles in Singapore:
- Advisor to the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall
- Advisor to the Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan
- Patron of Lasalle College of the Arts
Personal and family life
A Roman Catholic, Yeo married lawyer Jennifer Leong Lai Peng in 1984. The couple have three sons and one daughter.
Jennifer is a founding partner at a law firm. In 2004, their youngest son had a long struggle with childhood leukemia from the age of 3 and is well now after a bone marrow transplant at St Jude Children's Research Hospital. Recognising the difficulties faced by families in such situations, Jennifer founded Viva Foundation to help children with cancer, actively championing their cause.
Yeo is an avid jogger and participated in the Singapore Stanchart Marathon 10 km run in the last 2 years. He has been learning Taiji for the last 2 years and calls himself a Taoist by philosophy. He has a Labrador Retriever named Brownie who is getting on in years.
Young Generation / Youth Agenda
He devotes a considerable amount of time interacting with young people, often speaking and listening to them in informal groups and organised dialogues. He professes to be 'energised' by the younger generation and 'constantly learns from them'. He attends and supports many youth driven community projects and events. He attended the mega dance festival ZoukOut for the last 2 years with his wife.
External links
| Preceded by? | Minister of State for Finance 13 September 1988-28 November 1990 |
Succeeded by? |
| Preceded by? | Minister of State for Foreign Affairs 13 September 1988-28 November 1990 |
Succeeded by? |
| Preceded by? | Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs 28 November 1990-1 July 1991 |
Succeeded by? |
| Preceded by? | Second Minister for Foreign Affairs 1 July 1991-2 January 1994 |
Succeeded by? |
| Preceded by? | Minister for Information and the Arts 28 November 1990 - 1 July 1991 (acting) 1991 - 1999 |
Succeeded byLee Yock Suan |
| Preceded byYeo Cheow Tong | Minister for Health 2 January 1994-25 January 1997 |
Succeeded byYeo Cheow Tong |
| Preceded by? | Minister for Trade and Industry 3 June 1999 - 12 August 2004 |
Succeeded byLim Hng Kiang |
| Preceded byShanmugam Jayakumar | Minister for Foreign Affairs 12 August 2004-7 May 2011 |
Succeeded byTBD |
 Current members of the Cabinet of Singapore | |
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| Prime Minister | |
| Deputy Prime Minister(s) | |
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| Effective from 15 May 2024 | |
- Members of the Cabinet of Singapore
- Members of the Parliament of Singapore
- People's Action Party politicians
- Singaporean military leaders
- Honorary Fellows of Christ's College, Cambridge
- Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge
- Harvard Business School alumni
- Saint Joseph's Institution alumni
- President's Scholars
- Singaporean people of Teochew descent
- Singaporean Christians
- 1954 births
- Living people