Lee Li Lian

Lee Li Lian
李丽连
Member of Parliament
for Punggol East SMC
In office
26 January 2013 – 11 September 2015
Preceded by Michael Palmer
Succeeded by Charles Chong
Personal details
Born 19 July 1978
Singapore
Nationality Singapore Singapore
Political party Workers' Party
Education Curtin University
Alma mater Curtin University
Occupation Financial trainer
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Lee.

Lee Li Lian (simplified Chinese: 李丽连; traditional Chinese: 李麗連; pinyin: Li Lì Lián, born 19 July 1978) is a Singaporean politician. A member of the opposition Workers' Party, she has been a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the single-member constituency of Punggol East from January 2013 until August 2015. She was defeated by PAP candidate Mr Charles Chong in the 2015 General Election and lost her seat for Punggol East SMC.

Career

Outside politics, Lee has worked as a Business Development Executive at Clapper (S) Pte Ltd (2000–2003), a Financial Consultant for American International Assurance (2003–2005), a Broker with CIMB-GK Securities (2005–2006), a Recruitment Manager for Prudential Assurance (2006–2008) and a Senior Trainer at Great Eastern Life Assurance (2008–2013). Lee confirmed that she resigned from her job as a financial trainer to serve as a full-time MP for Punggol East.[1]

Political career

Lee first contested the Punggol East seat at the 2011 general election, where she was defeated by the candidate of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), Michael Palmer. Lee won 12,777 votes (41.01%) to Palmer's 16,994 (54.54%), with Desmond Lim of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) coming in third with 1,387 votes (4.45%). After the election, Palmer was made the Speaker of Parliament.

Palmer resigned as Speaker and as MP for Punggol East in December 2012 after it emerged that he had been having an extra-marital affair.[2] A by-election was called to fill the seat in January 2013.[3]

The Workers' Party selected Lee to contest the seat again at the by-election. Her PAP opponent was colorectal surgeon Koh Poh Koon (who had never contested a parliamentary election before). Desmond Lim of the SDA also contested the seat again at the by-election, along with a fourth candidate, Kenneth Jeyaretnam of the Reform Party.

Lee won the by-election with 16,045 votes (54.50%), with Koh taking 12,875 votes (43.73%), Jeyaretnam 353 votes (1.20%) and Lim 168 votes (0.57%).

Following the election, Lee told the media that her immediate priority as Member of Parliament would be to ensure the smooth handover of the Town Council from the ruling PAP.[4] She was sworn in as a Member of Parliament on 4 February 2013.[5]

Lee was the Workers' Party's Deputy Treasurer from 2008 to 2011, the party's Youth Wing President from 2011 to 2012 and the Deputy Webmaster from 2012 to 2014. Since 2014, she has been the Organising Secretary on the party's Executive Council. Prior to her election to parliament, she also served as a legislative assistant to Pritam Singh, one of the Workers' Party's MPs in the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency.

In the 2015 General Election, Lee lost her seat to PAP's veteran six-term MP Charles Chong by the closest margin in this election, with Lee having 48% of the votes. However, she declined to take up the Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) position. Subsequently, Associate Professor Daniel Goh replaced her as NCMP.

Education

Lee was educated at Holy Innocents' High School and Ngee Ann Polytechnic, before earning a Bachelor's degree from Curtin University in 2001.[6]

Personal life

Lee is married to Koh Chee Koon, a telecommunications consultant.[7] On 15 January 2014, it was announced that she is pregnant with her first child and is due to deliver in July 2014. On 1 July 2014, she gave birth to a baby girl.

Electoral history

General Election 2015: Punggol East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
PAP Charles Chong 16,957 51.76 +8.03
WP Lee Li Lian 15,801 48.24 -6.26
Majority 1,156 3.52 +7.25
Rejected ballots 379 1.14 -0.26
Turnout 33,137 96.14 +1.83
Registered electors 34,466
PAP gain from WP Swing
By-Election 2013: Punggol East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
WP Lee Li Lian 16,045 54.50 +13.49
PAP Koh Poh Koon 12,875 43.73 -10.81
Reform Kenneth Jeyaretnam 353 1.20 N/A
SDA Desmond Lim Bak Chuan 168 0.57 -3.88
Margin of victory 3,170 10.77 -2.76
Rejected ballots 418 1.40 -0.3
Turnout 29,859 94.31 -0.99
Registered electors 31,659
WP gain from PAP Swing +12.15
General Election 2011: Punggol East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
PAP Michael Palmer 16,994 54.54 N/A
WP Lee Li Lian 12,777 41.01 N/A
SDA Desmond Lim Bak Chuan 1,387 4.45 N/A
Turnout 31,709 95.3 N/A
PAP win (new seat)

References

  1. ↑ "Lee Li Lian quits her job to be a full-time MP". AsiaOne. 2013-04-28.
  2. ↑ "Speaker of Parliament Michael Palmer resigns over "grave mistake"". Channel NewsAsia. 2012-12-12.
  3. ↑ "Punggol East by-election announced, Polling Day is Jan 26". The Straits Times. January 9, 2013.
  4. ↑ "WP's Lee sets out immediate priorities for Punggol East". Channel NewsAsia. 2013-01-27.
  5. ↑ "WP's Lee Li Lian sworn in as MP for Punggol East". Channel NewsAsia. February 4, 2013. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Member's CV". Parliament of Singapore. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  7. ↑ "'People's person' Lee believes in the value of personal touch". My Paper. January 17, 2013. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
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