Steve Chia
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Steve Chia Kiah Hong ( zh, s=谢镜丰, p=Xiè Jìngfēng; born 3 November 1970) is a Singaporean politician. 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), he has been the party's secretary-general since 2019. He was previously a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament between 2001 and 2006 of the
10th Parliament of Singapore The 10th Parliament of Singapore was a meeting of the Parliament of Singapore. The first session commenced on 25 March 2002 and was prorogued on the 1 December 2004. The second session begun from 12 January 2005 and was dissolved on 20 April 20 ...
. Chia started his political career when he joined the opposition National Solidarity Party (NSP) in 1995 and served as the party's secretary-general from 2001 to 2005. During this time, he contested in four general elections, as a NSP candidate in
1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...
and
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 under the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) banner in
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
and
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
when the NSP was part of the SDA. However, he lost in all four elections to candidates from 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). Chia withdrew from contesting in MacPherson SMC during the 2015 general election after he received online criticism for pushing the NSP to contest in a three-cornered fight in MacPherson against the PAP and 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 ...
. He left the NSP and joined the SPP in 2018 and became the party's secretary-general in the following year. During the 2020 general election, he contested as part of a five-member SPP team in Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC, but they lost to the PAP team.


Early Life

In his youth, Chia was a delinquent who had vandalised school property and had been sent to a boys' home and placed under probation. After that, he went to
junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...
, where he was a student councillor. While serving 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 ...
, he got into the Officer Cadet School and served as a manpower officer in a reserve unit of 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 ...
. After completing his National Service, Chia read psychology and philosophy 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 ...
(NUS). During his time in NUS, he was active in student politics and was elected president of the 15th NUS Student Union in this third year.


Personal Life

Chia met his wife, Doreen Chee, during a trip to climb Mount Ophir when they were both studying 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 ...
in the early 1990s. They married in 1996 and have two sons and one daughter. They divorced later in 2017.


Political Career


1997 General Election

After graduating from NUS in 1994, Chia met Tan Chee Kien, the president of the opposition National Solidarity Party (NSP). He joined the party around the end of 1994 and gradually rose to the position of the party's assistant secretary-general and eventually secretary-general. During the 1997 general election, Chia along with Patrick Kee, Tan Chee Kien, Wong Wee Nam and Yadzeth Bin Hairisto form a five-member NSP team to contest in Hong Kah GRC against 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) but they lost after garnering 31% of the vote against the PAP team's 69%.


2001 General Election

In June 2001, the NSP, under Chia's leadership, joined three other opposition parties ( SPP, PKMS and SJP) to form the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA). In the general election that year, Chia contested as a solo candidate under the SDA banner in Chua Chu Kang SMC. Although Chia ultimately lost to the PAP candidate Low Seow Chay with 34.66% of the vote against Low's 65.34%, he was offered a seat as a Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) in the 10th Parliament because he was one of the "best losers" in an election in which there were fewer than six elected opposition Members of Parliament. At the time, the 30-year-old Chia was the youngest parliamentarian. During his term as a NCMP from 5 November 2001 to 18 April 2006, Chia posed questions in Parliament on various issues, including
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 ...
, HDB flats for singles, bus and train fare subsidies, and organ transplants. Chia claimed in a 2020 interview with ''Mothership'' that he asked the highest number of questions among all the Members of Parliament in the 10th Parliament.


2006 General Election

During the 2006 General Election, Chia contested in Chua Chu Kang SMC again as a SDA candidate, this time against PAP candidate
Gan Kim Yong Gan Kim Yong (born 9 February 1959) is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore since 2024 and Minister for Trade and Industry since 2021. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he h ...
. He lost after garnering 39.63% of the vote against Gan's 60.37%,


2011 General Election

The NSP withdrew from the SDA in 2007, so Chia contested under the NSP banner during the 2011 general election, this time in Pioneer SMC. He lost after garnering 39.27% of the vote against the PAP candidate
Cedric Foo Cedric Foo Chee Keng ( zh, s=符致镜, p=Fú Zhìjìng; born 16 July 1960) is a Singaporean business executive and former politician. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the ...
, who won with 60.73%.


2015 General Election

Ahead of the 2015 General Election, the NSP announced that it planned to field Chia as a candidate in MacPherson SMC. This was a controversial decision as another opposition party, 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 ...
, had already announced that they would have a candidate contesting against the PAP in MacPherson SMC. On 22 August 2015, Chia released a statement on
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
announcing that he had decided not to contest in the 2015 general election because he had received a lot of online criticism for pushing the NSP to renege on its deal to avoid a three-cornered fight in MacPherson SMC.


2020 General Election

Chia eventually left the NSP and joined another opposition party, the
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), and became its organising secretary. He was elected secretary-general of the SPP on 5 November 2019. During the 2020 general election, Chia along with Williamson Lee, Melvyn Chiu and Osman Sulaiman contested in Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC against the PAP team of
Ng Eng Hen Ng Eng Hen, Hinghwa Romanized: ''Ńg Ṳ̂ng-héng'' (born 10 December 1958) is a Singaporean former politician and oncologist who previously served as Minister for Defence from 2011 to 2025. A member of the governing People's Action Party ...
,
Chong Kee Hiong Chong Kee Hiong ( zh, s=钟奇雄, poj=Cheng Kî-hiông, j=Zung1 Kei4 Hung4, p=Zhōng Qíxiǒng; born April 1966) is a Singaporean accountant and former politician who has been serving as Treasurer of the PAP Community Foundation since 2020. A m ...
,
Chee Hong Tat Chee Hong Tat ( zh, s=徐芳达, p=Xú Fāngdá, poj=Chhî Hong-ta̍t, first=poj; born 4 November 1973) is a Singaporean politician and former civil servant who has been appointed as Minister for National Development in 2025. A member of the ...
and
Saktiandi Supaat Saktiandi bin Supaat ( Jawi: سقتيند سوڤات; born 29 October 1973) is a Singaporean politician and economist. He is a member of People's Action Party(PAP). He was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Toa Payoh East d ...
. The SPP team lost with 32.77% of the vote against the PAP team's 67.23%.


2025 General Election

In the 2025 General Election, Chia led a four-man team consisting of himself, Melvyn Chiu, Lim Rui Xian and Muhammad Norhakim at Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, in a straight-fight against the incumbent PAP team led by then-Minister for Transport
Chee Hong Tat Chee Hong Tat ( zh, s=徐芳达, p=Xú Fāngdá, poj=Chhî Hong-ta̍t, first=poj; born 4 November 1973) is a Singaporean politician and former civil servant who has been appointed as Minister for National Development in 2025. A member of the ...
. However, the SPP team lost, securing just 24.82% of the vote, or 21,944 votes.


Controversies


2003 nude photo scandal

In 2003, Chia's wife Doreen Chee, who was then pregnant with their first child, made a police report against her husband, alleging that he had molested their Indonesian domestic helper. The report came after she discovered photos of him and their helper, both naked, in the recycle bin of his computer. Their helper told the police that she was not forced into posing for the pictures, while Chia publicly admitted to taking the photos, confessing that he had an interest in nude photography. Chia also resigned from his positions as
NSP NSP may refer to: Companies and organizations * Afghan National Solidarity Programme, an initiative to develop villages in Afghanistan * National Ski Patrol, a rescue organization in ski areas in the United States * National Solidarity Party (Singa ...
secretary-general and
SDA SDA or sda may refer to: Science and technology Computing * /dev/sda, Device file#Naming conventions, the first mass-storage disk in Unix-like operating systems * T-Mobile SDA, a smartphone * Screen Design Aid, a utility program used by midrange ...
executive council member to save the NSP and SDA from further embarrassment, but remained a NCMP.


2006 driving incident

In 2006, Chia was fined for driving his car across a traffic junction when the red light was on, resulting in a crash with a bus.


Notes


References


External links


Singapore People’s Party CEC Members
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chia, Steve Living people 1970 births Singaporean Non-constituency Members of Parliament National Solidarity Party (Singapore) politicians Nanyang Junior College alumni National University of Singapore alumni Singaporean people of Teochew descent Singapore People's Party politicians