Seah Kian Peng (; born 5 December 1961) is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as

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 ...

since 2023. He served as Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore between 2011 and 2016. A member 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), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Braddell Heights division of

Marine Parade GRC The Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency was a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) located in the Central Region, Singapore, central, East Region, Singapore, eastern and North-East Region, Singapore, north-eastern are ...

since 2006. Seah is currently the MP for the Braddell Heights division of the newly-redrawn Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC.

Early life

Seah was born into a family of six. His father was a line worker in a printing firm, and his mother was a homemaker who took on sewing gigs to supplement the family income. He is the third of four children. Seah 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 ...

before he received a

Colombo Plan The Colombo Plan is a regional intergovernmental organization that began operations on 1 July 1951. The organization was conceived at an international conference, The Commonwealth Conference on Foreign Affairs held in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri ...

scholarship to study at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

Career

Early career

Upon graduation with a first class honours degree in building, Seah returned to Singapore to complete his

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

, then worked in a government-linked company, Indeco Engineers, before joining the

Singapore Civil Service The Singapore Civil Service is the bureaucracy of civil servants that supports the Government of Singapore. Along with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), statutory boards, and other independent government bodies, the civil service makes up the ...

. Seah was seconded to the

National Trades Union Congress The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), also known as the Singapore National Trades Union Congress (SNTUC) internationally, is the sole national trade union centre in Singapore. NTUC leads the labour movement of Singapore, comprising 59 affilia ...

(NTUC) to do corporate planning and start NTUC Healthcare's chain of pharmacies. Seah then left NTUC for piling and engineering firm Sum Cheong Corporation between 1994 and 1996. He returned to the public sector in 1996 to head NTUC Healthcare and NTUC Media successively, before being appointed as the chief operating officer of

NTUC FairPrice NTUC FairPrice is the largest supermarket chain in Singapore. The company is a co-operative of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC). The group has more than 100 supermarkets across the island, with over 160 outlets of Cheers convenience s ...

in 2001, then as the chief executive officer of NTUC FairPrice in 2010.

Political career

Seah was fielded as a

(PAP) candidate for

in the 2006 general election, and was elected as Member of Parliament for Marine Parade GRC in a

walkover John Baxter Taylor and William Robbins (athlete)">William Robbins to refuse to race in protest. A walkover, also W.O. or w/o (originally two words: "walk over"), is awarded to the opposing team/player, etc., if there are no other players avail ...

for the 11th Parliament. Seah was re-elected in Marine Parade Group GRC in the

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 ...

and

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 ...

general elections when the PAP team was challenged by the National Solidarity Party and

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 ...

respectively. In Parliament, Seah served as

Deputy Speaker Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain ...

from October 2011 to January 2016. On 10 March 2010,

Vivian Balakrishnan Vivian Balakrishnan (; born 25 January 1961) is a Singaporean politician, diplomat and former ophthalmologist who has been serving as Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2015. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been th ...

, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, suggested that Seah to work out a private member's bill to propose amendments to the Maintenance of Parents Act. After establishing a 10-person workgroup to look at the proposal, the bill was introduced on 18 October 2010 and was passed on 23 November 2010. Seah was appointed as

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

NTUC Fairprice NTUC FairPrice is the largest supermarket chain in Singapore. The company is a co-operative of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC). The group has more than 100 supermarkets across the island, with over 160 outlets of Cheers convenience s ...

from 2010 to 2022 and as chairperson of Social and Family Development Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) in the 14th Parliament. In April 2020, Seah attracted controversy during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, when he "played the role of a safe distancing ambassador" during the government-imposed "circuit breaker" lockdown. On 21 July 2023, it was announced that Seah will be nominated to be the next

Speaker of Parliament The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hun ...

by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong after the resignation of

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 ...

due to his extra-marital affair. Seah was elected as Speaker on 2 August 2023. In his first speech after his election as Speaker, he urged that all members of the parliament must be vigilant in personal conduct and serve the people. On 23 April 2025, Seah was fielded with

Tin Pei Ling Tin Pei Ling ( zh, s=陈佩玲, p=Chén Pèilíng; born 23 December 1983) is a Singaporean politician and businesswoman. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the MacPhe ...

Goh Pei Ming Goh Pei Ming (; born ) is a Singaporean politician and former brigadier-general and chief of staff of Singapore Armed Forces. A member of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP), he is a Member of Parliament representing Marine Parade–Braddel ...

Faishal Ibrahim Muhammad Faishal bin Ibrahim Khan Surattee (Jawi alphabet, Jawi: محمد فيصل إبراهيم; born 16 June 1968) is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Ministry of Home Affairs (Singapore), Minister of State for Home Affairs ...

, and Diana Pang to contest at

Marine Parade–Braddell Heights Group Representation Constituency The Marine Parade–Braddell Heights Group Representation Constituency is a five-member group representation constituency (GRC) in the eastern region of Singapore. The GRC was created in March 2025 prior to the general election. The current Mem ...

in the

2025 Singaporean general election General elections were held in Singapore on 3 May 2025 to elect all Member of parliament, members of the Parliament of Singapore across Constituencies of Singapore, 33 constituencies. It was the 19th general election in Singapore's history sinc ...

. As there was no opposition to the team's candidacy, a

was declared on the Nomination Day on 23 April 2025.

Personal life

Seah is married to Jean Yap and they have two children.

References

External links

Seah Kian Peng
on

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 ...

Braddell Heights constituency website
* {{Navboxes, title=Member of multiple Parliaments of Singapore, list= {{11th Parliament of Singapore {{12th Parliament of Singapore {{13th Parliament of Singapore {{14th Parliament of Singapore {{15th Parliament of Singapore Members of the Parliament of Singapore People's Action Party politicians Living people 1961 births University of New South Wales alumni Raffles Institution alumni Speakers of the Parliament of Singapore