Chiam See Tong

Chiam See Tong (born 12 March 1935) is a Singaporean former politician and lawyer who was serving as secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), between 1980 to 1993, and later served as secretary-general of the Singapore People's Party (SPP) between 2011 to 2019 and as chairman of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) from 2001 to 2011. Chiam was the de facto Leader of the Opposition from 1986 to 1993 and again from 1997 to 2006. Throughout his parliamentary career, he had represented Potong Pasir from 1984 to 2011.

Born when Singapore was part of the Straits Settlements, Chiam was educated at the Victoria University of Wellington and initially worked as a teacher. He later studied law at the Inner Temple in London, qualifying as a barrister in 1974. Around the same time, he began his political career as an independent candidate, unsuccessfully contesting at Cairnhill in the 1976 general election and at Potong Pasir in the 1979 by-elections. He established the SDP in 1980 and again unsuccessfully contested the general election at Potong Pasir that same year. He was elected to Parliament on his fourth attempt in the 1984 general election, defeating the People's Action Party (PAP) candidate Mah Bow Tan in Potong Pasir. At the time, he was one of only two opposition Members of Parliament (MPs), alongside J. B. Jeyaretnam of the Workers' Party (WP). Following Jeyaretnam's removal from Parliament in 1986, Chiam became the sole opposition MP and assumed the role of de facto Leader of the Opposition. He continued to lead the opposition through the 1991 general election, in which the SDP won three SMCs, marking the party's best electoral performance to date.

In 1993, Chiam resigned as secretary-general of the SDP following a dispute with assistant secretary-general Chee Soon Juan, during which the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC) sided with Chee, leading to Chiam's loss of leadership in the party he had founded. He later joined the SPP and retained his seat in Parliament at the 1997 general election. In 2001, he formed the SDA by bringing together the SPP, the National Solidarity Party (NSP), the Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura (PKMS) and the Singapore Justice Party (SJP), serving as its chairman until 2011. Prior to the 2011 general election, Chiam withdrew the SPP from the SDA and led a team to contest in Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC, but was defeated by the PAP team. Chiam decided not to contest in the 2015 general election, citing health reasons stemming from a stroke that he suffered in 2008. His parliamentary tenure of 27 years made him the longest-serving opposition MP in Singapore until he was surpassed by WP's Low Thia Kiang in 2018. He remains Singapore's longest-serving de facto Leader of the Opposition, having held the position for a total of over 15 years.