Teo Chee Hean

Teo enlisted in the Singapore Armed Forces in 1972 and was commissioned as a naval officer at the SAFTI Military Institute in 1973. He went on to hold various command and staff appointments in the Republic of Singapore Navy and the Joint Staff before he rose to the position of Chief of Navy in 1991 with the rank of two-star rear-admiral. He retired from the military on 7 December 1992 to participate in a 1992 by-election.

Teo made his political debut in the 1992 by-election in Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency (GRC) when he contested as part of a four-member People's Action Party team led by Goh Chok Tong. After the PAP team won with 72.9% of the vote against three opposition parties, Teo became a Member of Parliament representing the Joo Chiat ward of Marine Parade GRC. He was subsequently appointed Minister of State in the Ministries of Finance, Communications and Defence.

In April 1995, Teo was appointed Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence and Acting Minister for the Environment. In January 1996, he was promoted to full Minister and given the Cabinet portfolios of Minister for the Environment and Second Minister for Defence.

Teo switched to contesting in Pasir Ris GRC at the 1997 general election and the four-member PAP team led by him won with 70.9% of the vote against the Workers' Party. Teo thus became a Member of Parliament representing the Pasir Ris Loyang ward of Pasir Ris GRC. In subsequent Cabinet reshuffles, he became Minister for Education while continuing to serve as Second Minister for Defence.

In the 2001 general election, Teo led the five-member PAP team contesting in the newly formed Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC and won with an uncontested walkover. After winning the general election, he continued to hold his previous Cabinet portfolios while becoming the Member of Parliament representing the Pasir Ris West ward of Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC. On 1 August 2003, Teo was appointed Minister for Defence and Minister-in-charge of the Civil Service.

At the 2006 general election, Teo led a six-member PAP team to contest in Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC again and they won with 68.7% of the vote against the Singapore Democratic Alliance. He retained his parliamentary seat and continued holding his Cabinet portfolios. On 1 April 2009, Teo was appointed as one of two Deputy Prime Ministers, in addition to his portfolios as Minister for Defence and Minister-in-charge of the Civil Service.

Teo led a six-member PAP team to contest in Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC in the 2011 general election and they won with 64.79% of the vote against the Singapore Democratic Alliance. On 18 May 2011, Teo relinquished his Cabinet portfolio of Minister for Defence and took up the positions of Minister for Home Affairs and Coordinating Minister for National Security, while concurrently serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister-in-charge of the Civil Service.

On 1 May 2019, Teo relinquished his appointment as Deputy Prime Minister to become Senior Minister, while retaining his position as Coordinating Minister for National Security.[3] In his new role, he also oversaw four departments under the Prime Minister's Office: Smart Nation and Digital Government Group, the National Security Coordination Secretariat, the National Population and Talent Division, and the National Climate Change Secretariat.[4]