Benjamin Pwee
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Benjamin Pwee Yek Kwan ( zh, s=方月光, p=Fāng Yuèguāng; born 1968) is a Singaporean politician, business development strategist and consultant. Formerly a government scholarship recipient and
civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...
, Pwee is a member of the opposition
Singapore Democratic Party The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) is a social liberal political party in Singapore. Founded in 1980 by Chiam See Tong, the party gained its first seat in 6th Parliament of Singapore, Parliament in 1984 Singaporean general election, 1984 when ...
(SDP).


Education

Pwee studied at
Raffles Institution Raffles Institution (RI) is an independent educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1823, it is the oldest school in the country. It provides secondary education for boys only from Year 1 to Year 4, and pre-university education for both b ...
and
Raffles Junior College The Raffles Junior College (RJC) was a junior college in Singapore offering pre-university education. The college was founded in 1982, following a separation from the pre-university section of Raffles Institution (RI). Raffles Junior College ...
. A recipient of the Singaporean government's Overseas Merit Scholarship, he completed a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
and
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
in music and literature at the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
. He also holds a
Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...
from the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
and a
Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...
from the
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) is an autonomous postgraduate school of the National University of Singapore (NUS), named after the late former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. History The Lee Kuan Yew School of ...
at the
National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...
and a Master of Science in Southeast Asian Studies from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at
Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1981, it is also the second oldest autonomous university in the country. The university is organised across numerous colleges and schools, includi ...
. He also studied strategic management at the
Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...
and completed a Masters in Christian Studies at the China Graduate School of Theology in Hong Kong.


Civil service career

Pwee worked in the
civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...
between 1990 and 1998 in the
Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...
,
Home Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a Ministry (government department), government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law e ...
and
Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...
ministries. From 1995 to 1998, he was first secretary for political and economic affairs at the Singaporean embassy in Beijing, where he served as an interpreter and note-taker to former Prime Minister
Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...
's many official visits to China. He was involved in high profile China-Singapore governmental projects including the Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park project, the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) - Dalian Port Development Project,etc. He was also Senior Assistant Director for Joint Planning and Organizational Development at the Ministry of Home Affairs, handling strategic organizational and technology development for the Police Force, Fire Service, Immigration and Customs Department, etc.


Business career

Pwee left the civil service in 1998 and became the executive director of Medical Services International. Five years later, he left for Hong Kong, where he started E-deo Asia, a consulting firm, and has been its managing director and principal consultant since then. During his time in Hong Kong, he worked part-time for two years in the Central Policy Unit, advising Chief Executive
Donald Tsang Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (; born 7 October 1944) is a former Hong Kong civil servant who served as the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012. Tsang joined the colonial civil service as an Executive Officer in 1967, occupyi ...
. He also held Hong Kong permanent residency, having worked there for eight years as a consultant for multinational corporations. In July 2020, Pwee joined law firm CNP Law LLP as its chief business development officer, and as Managing Director of CNP Business Advisory.


Political career


Singapore People's Party

Pwee was a former chairman of the youth wing of the governing
People's Action Party The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...
(PAP) in the
Thomson Thomson may refer to: Names * Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin * Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson Businesses and organizations * SGS-Thomson M ...
area. In 2006, he was asked by his friend Wilfred Leung, a member of the opposition
Singapore People's Party The Singapore People's Party (abbreviation: SPP) is a political party in Singapore. SPP was founded in 1994 by Sin Kek Tong who left the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) with various SDP members after internal conflicts in SDP. The leadership ...
(SPP), to join the SPP. He initially turned down the offer, but accepted in 2011 after meeting SPP secretary-general
Chiam See Tong Chiam See Tong (; born 12 March 1935) is a Singaporean retired politician who served as the secretary-general of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) from 1980 to 1993 and as the secretary-general of the opposition Singapore People' ...
and his wife Lina Loh. During the 2011 general election, Pwee joined a five-member SPP team along with
Chiam See Tong Chiam See Tong (; born 12 March 1935) is a Singaporean retired politician who served as the secretary-general of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) from 1980 to 1993 and as the secretary-general of the opposition Singapore People' ...
, Wilfred Leung, Jimmy Lee and Mohamad Hamim Bin Aliyas to contest in Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC against the PAP team. The SPP team lost after garnering 43.07% of the vote against the PAP team's 56.93%. Shortly after the election, on 13 May 2011, Pwee was named second assistant secretary-general of the SPP.


Democratic Progressive Party

Pwee and five other SPP members left the party in January 2012, citing differences in opinion about party leadership styles and the party's future direction as reasons behind their leaving. In the second half of 2012, Pwee was approached by Seow Khee Leng, former leader of the opposition
Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...
(DPP), who asked him to join the DPP. He was co-opted into the DPP as its acting secretary-general on 13 January 2013 and confirmed on 31 March 2013. On 29 August 2015, ahead of the 2015 general election, the DPP and SPP signed an agreement to field a joint DPP–SPP team to contest in Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC. Under the agreement, Pwee had to resign from the DPP and join the SPP because electoral rules dictate that all candidates in a GRC team have to be from the same party, and Pwee had agreed to contest under the SPP banner. Pwee along with Law Kim Hwee, Bryan Long, Mohamad Abdillah Bin Zamzuri and Mohamad Hamim Bin Aliyas lost to the PAP team after garnering 26.41% of the vote against the PAP team's 73.59%.


Singapore Democratic Party

In 2019, Pwee left the DPP and joined the
Singapore Democratic Party The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) is a social liberal political party in Singapore. Founded in 1980 by Chiam See Tong, the party gained its first seat in 6th Parliament of Singapore, Parliament in 1984 Singaporean general election, 1984 when ...
(SDP). During the 2020 general election, he was part of a four-member SDP team along with Bryan Lim, Damanhuri Abas and Khung Wai Yeen contesting in Marsiling–Yew Tee GRC against the PAP team. The SDP team lost after garnering 36.82% of the vote against the PAP team's 63.18%.


Personal life

Pwee's father, Robert Pwee, was a
People's Action Party The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...
(PAP) grassroots leader. Pwee is married and has three children. Pwee is a
Protestant Christian Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes justification of sinners through faith alone, the teaching that salvation comes by unmerited divine grace, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole infallible sourc ...
and has held positions at the
Asia Theological Association Asia Theological Association (ATA) is an association of Christian theological seminaries in Asia. It is a member of the International Council for Evangelical Theological Education. The headquarters is in Quezon City, Philippines. History ATA was f ...
and Graduates Christian Fellowship (Singapore). Pwee started the Pwee Foundation in 2012 to sponsor social causes and connect beneficiaries with entities that can assist them, including voluntary welfare organisations, social enterprises and government agencies. He has also done voluntary work with the Singapore Anglican Community Services,
Singapore Scout Association The Singapore Scout Association (SSA) is a Scout Movement, Scout organisation in Singapore. It was formed in 1965 but had origins in 1910. As an organization within a multilingual country, the Association is called in , . History Scouting was ...
, two mental health rehabilitation institutions, a shelter for battered women and children, and a centre for autistic children.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pwee, Benjamin Living people 1968 births Singaporean civil servants Raffles Institution alumni Raffles Junior College alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge National University of Singapore alumni Singapore People's Party politicians Singaporean politicians of Chinese descent Singapore Democratic Party politicians 21st-century Singaporean businesspeople