Jessica Tan Soon Neo (; born 28 May 1966) is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore since 2020. A member of the

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), she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Changi–Simei division of

East Coast GRC The East Coast Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the eastern area of Singapore. It consists of locations such as East Coast Park, Bedok, Changi (in part), Simei, Siglap, Joo Chia ...

since 2006.

Early life

Tan attended Convent of Our Lady of Good Counsel, St. Joseph's Convent and

Catholic Junior College Catholic Junior College (CJC) is a junior college in Singapore, offering a two-year course for pre-university students leading to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examination. Founded in 1975, Catholic Junior College was the third juni ...

before graduating from 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 ...

in 1989 with a

Bachelor of Social Science The Bachelor of Social Science (BSocSc or BSocSci) is an undergraduate degree. It typically requires three to four years of study in the social sciences at an institution of higher education, primarily found in the Commonwealth of Nations. It c ...

s degree with honours in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

Career

Tan joined IBM Singapore in 1989. In 2002, she was appointed the Director of Networking Services Asia Pacific at IBM Global Services. In July 2008, Tan became the Managing Director of Microsoft Singapore. Since June 2023, she has been an External Director at

Mitsui & Co is a Japanese general trading company (Sogo shosha, ''sogo shosha'') and a core member of the Mitsui, Mitsui Group. For much of the post-war period, Mitsui & Co. has been among the largest of the five great ''sogo shosha'' (Mitsui, Mitsubishi Co ...

Political career

Tan made her political debut in the 2006 general election when she joined a five-member

team contesting in

. After the PAP team won with 63.86% of the vote against the

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

, Tan became a Member of Parliament representing the

Changi Changi ( ) is a planning area located in the geographical region of Tanah Merah in the East Region of Singapore. Sharing borders with Pasir Ris and Tampines to the west, Changi Bay to the southeast, the South China Sea to the east and the ...

Simei Simei ( ) is an estate located in Tampines, Tampines Town in the East Region, Singapore, Eastern Region of Singapore. The name ''Simei'' is pinyin for "Four Beauties" in Chinese. Formerly known as Tampines South, it was officially renamed to Sime ...

ward of East Coast GRC. Since then, Tan has retained her parliamentary seat in the subsequent general elections in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

and

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

after the PAP team in East Coast GRC won with 54.83%, 60.73%, 53.41% and 58.73% of the vote in these four general elections against the

. On 31 August 2020, Tan and Christopher de Souza were elected as Deputy Speakers of Parliament. On 17 July 2023, Tan became Acting

Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore The speaker of the Parliament of Singapore is the presiding officer of the Parliament of Singapore. The speaker is nominated by the prime minister before being appointed by the Parliament. The speaker is also second in the presidential line o ...

after Speaker

Tan Chuan-Jin Tan Chuan-Jin (; born 10 January 1969) is a Singaporean former politician and brigadier-general. A former member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), Tan served as Speaker of the Parliament between 2017 and 2023, and as the Member ...

resigned as Speaker following revelations of an extramarital affair. She held the office for two weeks until Seah Kian Peng was elected as Speaker on 2 August. Tan is currently the Chairman of East Coast Town Council.

Personal life

Tan is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and a

Peranakan The Peranakan Chinese () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (region), Nanyang (), namely the British Empire, British, Portugu ...

. She has been married to Alphonsus Pang, a public servant, since 1990. They have three children.

References

External links

Jessica Tan
–

Parliament of Singapore The Parliament of Singapore is the unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Singapore, Republic of Singapore, which governs the country alongside the President of Singapore. Largely based upon the Westminster system, the Parliament is made ...

profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Tan, Jessica 1966 births Living people Singaporean people of Hokkien descent Members of the Parliament of Singapore People's Action Party politicians National University of Singapore alumni Catholic Junior College alumni Singaporean women in politics Singaporean Roman Catholics Women legislative deputy speakers Peranakan people in Singapore