Gan Siow Huang ( zh, s=颜晓芳, p=Yán Xiǎofāng; born 28 September 1974) is a Singaporean politician and former brigadier-general who has been serving as Minister of State for Education and Minister of State for Manpower concurrently since 2020. 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), she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing Marymount SMC since 2020 and was appointed as Chairperson of Bishan—Toa Payoh Town Council (BTPTC) since 2024. Before entering politics, Gan served in the

Republic of Singapore Air Force The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) is the aerial service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for controlling and defending the airspace of the country, and providing air support to the Army and Navy. It was establis ...

(RSAF) and attained the rank Brigadier-General, becoming the first woman to hold a general rank in the

Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A component of the Ministry of Defence (Singapore), Ministry of D ...

(SAF). She served as Chief of Staff – Air Staff between 2019 and 2020. Gan made her political debut in the 2020 general election when she contested as a PAP candidate in Marymount SMC and won with 55.04% of the vote against

Progress Singapore Party The Progress Singapore Party (abbreviation: PSP) is a political party in Singapore. It was one of the three political parties represented in 14th Parliament, alongside the governing People's Action Party (PAP) and the other opposition Workers' ...

's Ang Yong Guan. After being elected, she was appointed Minister of State for Education and Manpower.

Education

Gan was educated at Raffles Girls Secondary and

Victoria Junior College Victoria Junior College (VJC) is a co-educational junior college in Singapore offering pre-university education to boarding and day-students. Founded in 1984, the school stands on Marine Vista, less than one kilometre from the affiliated Victor ...

before she was awarded the Singapore Armed Forces Merit Scholarship (Women) in 1993 to study at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, from which she graduated in 1996 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree 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 ...

. She had also attended the command and staff course at the New Zealand Defence College in 2003. Gan subsequently went on to complete 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 ...

degree in 2010 under the

Sloan Fellows The Sloan Fellows program is a middle and senior-career master's degree program in general management and leadership offered at MIT, Stanford University, and London Business School (LBS). Initially supported by a grant from Alfred P. Sloan, ...

programme at the

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (branded as MIT Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree progra ...

Military career

Gan started her career as a

weapon systems officer A Weapon Systems Officer (WSO), nicknamed "Wizzo", is an air flight officer directly involved in all air operations and weapon systems of a military aircraft. Historically, aircrew duties in military aircraft were highly specialised and rigi ...

in the

. Throughout her military career, she held various command and staff appointments in the Air Force, including Commanding Officer of the 203 Squadron, Commander of Air Surveillance and Control Group, and Head of the Joint Manpower Department in the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. She also received the Public Administration Medal (Silver) (Military) in 2013. On 1 July 2015, Gan was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General, becoming the first woman to hold a general rank and the highest ranking female officer in the

. In a speech at a

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. Described as an international bill of rights for women, it was instituted ...

forum held on 3 October 2015,

Low Yen Ling Low Yen Ling ( zh, s=刘燕玲, p=Liú Yànlíng; born 17 August 1974) is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Mayor of South West District since 2014, Senior Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth and Senior Ministe ...

cited Gan as "one notable example who smashed the 'brass ceiling' to become the first female general in the Singapore Armed Forces". Gan succeeded Brigadier-General Neo Hong Keat as Commander of the Air Power Generation Command on 5 October 2016. In July 2019, she was appointed Chief of Staff – Air Staff, succeeding Brigadier-General Tommy Tan Ah Han. On 1 March 2020, she resigned as Chief of Staff – Air Staff to stand for election in the 2020 general election.

Political career

On 26 June 2020, Gan was officially introduced as a

(PAP) candidate contesting in the 2020 general election. She contested in Marymount SMC against Ang Yong Guan of the

(PSP) and won with 55.04% of the vote, thus becoming the Member of Parliament representing Marymount SMC. On 25 July 2020, Gan was appointed as Minister of State for Education and Minister of State for Manpower. Gan was appointed as the chairperson for the Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council (BTPTC) since 2024.

Personal life

Gan is married to Lee Jek Suen, a former

Republic of Singapore Navy The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) is the Naval warfare, maritime Military branch, service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for defending the country against any seaborne threats and as a guarantor of its sea lines of ...

officer who now works at

Jurong Port Jurong Port Pte Ltd is a port operator headquartered in Singapore. Jurong Port, which operates the only multi-purpose port in Singapore, handles bulk, break-bulk and containerised cargo. It handled over 40,000 vessel-calls annually in 2019. ...

. They have three children. Gan is also a volunteer with the

Girl Guides Singapore Girl Guides Singapore (GGS; Malay: ''Pandu Puteri Singapura'') is the national Guiding organisation of Singapore. It was first established in 1917 as The Singapore Girl Guides Association, before being renamed to its current iteration on 24 Ju ...

and a member of its executive committee in 2016 and 2017.

References

External links

Gan Siow Huang
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:Gan, Siow Huang Living people 1974 births Alumni of the London School of Economics Victoria Junior College alumni MIT Sloan Fellows Republic of Singapore Air Force generals Female air force generals and air marshals Singaporean women in politics Members of the Parliament of Singapore