Dennis Tan Lip Fong ( zh, s=陈立峰, p=Chén Lìfēng; born 31 August 1970) is a Singaporean politician and lawyer. A member of the opposition

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 ...

(WP), Tan has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing

Hougang Single Member Constituency The Hougang Single Member Constituency is a single member constituency (SMC) located in the north-eastern area of Singapore. The current Member of Parliament is Dennis Tan from the Workers' Party (WP). History The constituency was first for ...

(SMC) since 2020. Tan was previously the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament between 2015 and 2020 of the

13th Parliament of Singapore The 13th Parliament of Singapore was a meeting of the Parliament of Singapore. The first session commenced on 15 January 2016 and was dissolved on 23 June 2020. The membership was set by the 2015 Singapore General Election on 11 September 2015, ...

Education

Tan was educated at Nanyang Primary School,

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 ...

before he went on to study law at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

. After graduating with a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

(Honours) in 1994, Tan attended the

Bar Professional Training Course The Bar Professional Training Course or BPTC is a postgraduate course which allows law graduates to be named and practise as barristers in England and Wales. The eight institutes that run the BPTC along with the four prestigious Inns of Court ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and became a

barrister-at-law A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching the law and giv ...

at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

. Later, he completed a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

in maritime law at the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

in 2005.

Political career

Tan started as a volunteer with the Workers' Party during the 2011 general election, becoming a member in early 2012. He contested in the 2015 general election in

Fengshan SMC Fengshan Single Member Constituency was a former single Member Constituency within Bedok, Singapore. The constituency was created in 1984 from parts of Bedok, Changi & Kampong Chai Chee constituencies. As the population in Bedok grew, the cons ...

and obtained 42.5% of the polled votes. Following the election, Tan was appointed a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) in the

, where he served on the Public Petitions Committee of Parliament from 16 September 2015 to 22 June 2020. Dennis Tan Lip Fong 5

At the 2020 general election,

Png Eng Huat Png Eng Huat (; born 9 December 1961) is a Singaporean politician and businessman. A member of the opposition Workers' Party (WP), he was the Member of Parliament for Hougang SMC between 2012 and 2020. Although he stepped down as an MP for Hou ...

stepped down as Member of Parliament of

Hougang SMC The Hougang Single Member Constituency is a single member constituency (SMC) located in the north-eastern area of Singapore. The current Member of Parliament is Dennis Tan from the Workers' Party (WP). History The constituency was first for ...

. Tan stood as a candidate in

. During the campaign he complained that some of his campaign posters had been "pulled down" by the ruling PAP from their original height. However, in response, the Elections Department said that this was because the candidates posters had been posted at an incorrect height and could obstruct the sight of motorists. Tan defeated PAP's Lee Hong Chuang with 61.21% of the vote, retaining the seat for WP. Tan is a member of the Workers’ Party Central Executive Committee where he serves as the Organising Secretary in 2022. He has also previously served as Treasurer and Vice-Chairman of the party's media team. He was elected to the Workers’ Party Central Executive Committee member as Organising Secretary. Tan was appointed the Vice-Chairman of the Aljunied—Hougang Town Council (AHTC) since 2022 alongside with

Kenneth Tiong Kenneth Tiong Boon Kiat (; born 1988 or 1989) is a Singaporean politician. A member of the Workers' Party, Tiong has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Serangoon division of Aljunied GRC since 2025. Early life Tiong attend ...

. At the 2025 general election, Tan defended his seat at Hougang SMC against PAP's Marshall Lim. Tan won the contest with 62.15% of the vote, retaining the seat for WP.

Personal life

Tan has practised as a shipping lawyer since 1997. Prior to becoming an advocate and solicitor at the

Supreme Court of Singapore The Supreme Court of Singapore is a set of courts in Singapore, comprising the Court of Appeal and the High Court. It hears both civil and criminal matters. The Court of Appeal hears both civil and criminal appeals from the High Court. The C ...

in 1997, Tan was a

at the

. He re-qualified as a solicitor at the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1999 while working in the English law firm

Stephenson Harwood Stephenson Harwood LLP is a law firm with over 1,400 people worldwide, including more than 210 partners. Headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with eight offices across Asia, Europe and the Middle East. In 2020/21 it achieved total revenues o ...

. He was previously a partner in Ang & Partners, a shipping law firm. In 2005, he started the shipping law firm, DennisMathiew, with a partner. He is also a fellow of the

Chartered Institute of Arbitrators The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (abbreviated as CIArb) is a professional organisation representing the interests of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practitioners. Founded on 1 March 1915, it was granted a royal charter by Queen Elizabe ...

in United Kingdom. Tan participates in triathlons, and is fluent in

Hokkien Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...

and Teochew. He is married to Tan Hui Tsing, also a lawyer and a Workers' Party member. Together they have a daughter.

References

External links

Dennis Tan
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 ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tan, Dennis Workers' Party (Singapore) politicians Singaporean politicians of Chinese descent Alumni of the University of Nottingham Alumni of the University of Southampton Raffles Institution alumni Raffles Junior College alumni 21st-century Singaporean lawyers Singaporean Non-constituency Members of Parliament Members of the Parliament of Singapore 1970 births Living people