Melvin Yong

Melvin Yong Yik Chye (simplified Chinese: 杨益财; traditional Chinese: 楊益財; pinyin: Yáng Yìcái; born 19 February 1972) is a Singaporean politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Radin Mas SMC since 10 July 2020 and Member of Parliament of Tanjong Pagar GRC for Moulmein-Cairnhill ward from 11 September 2015 to 23 June 2020. He is a politician from Singapore’s governing political party, the People's Action Party (PAP) and the Assistant Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) under Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng. Yong is also the NTUC's Director (Tripartism) and Director (Workplace Safety & Health), as well as the Executive Secretary of the National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU) and the Executive Secretary of the United Workers of Electronics & Electrical Industries (UWEEI).

Melvin Yong MP
杨益财
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Radin Mas SMC
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 July 2020
Preceded by	Sam Tan (PAP)
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC (Moulmein-Cairnhill)
In office 11 September 2015 – 23 June 2020
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Alvin Tan (PAP)
Personal details
Born	(1972-02-19) 19 February 1972
Nationality	Singaporean
Political party	People's Action Party
Children	2

Education

Yong attended The Chinese High School (1985–1988) and National Junior College (1989–1990).[1] He took on a SPF scholarship in 1992 and graduated from Nanyang Technological University in 1995 with a degree in Accountancy.[1] In 2005, he received his Master of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of Leicester.[1]

Police career

Yong was an Assistant Commissioner of Police with the Singapore Police Force (SPF). He joined the SPF in 1995 and retired in August 2015. During his tenure, he held various key appointments, including Deputy Director (Planning & Organisation), Director (Administration & Finance), Commander of Clementi Police Division, Deputy Director (Operations) and Director (Public Affairs).[1]

In 2011, Yong started the Delta League, a youth engagement programme using football to keep youths out of trouble during the June and December school holidays. In 2015, Yong was appointed as special adviser to Delta League and continues to provide guidance on the development of the league. As of 2016, more than 14,000 youths have participated and benefited from Delta League.[2]

Yong also served on the National Crime Prevention Council and the National Police Cadet Corps Council. He was also the Vice Chairman of the Police Sports Association and Vice Chairman of the POLWEL Cooperative Society.[3]

Political career

On 19 August 2015, Yong was introduced as one of the PAP candidates to be fielded in Tanjong Pagar GRC at the 2015 General Election. On 11 September 2015, the PAP team for Tanjong Pagar GRC consisting of Chan Chun Sing, Indranee Rajah, Chia Shi-Lu, Joan Pereira and Melvin Yong won with 77.7% of the total votes.[4]

On 7 October 2015, Yong was appointed as Chairman of Tanjong Pagar Town Council, taking over from Lily Neo.[5]

As a trade union-affiliated MP, Yong delivered his maiden parliamentary speech at the Debate on President’s Address, focusing on the importance of tripartism as Singapore’s key economic advantage.[6]

Yong is a member of both the Transport Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) and the Community, Culture & Youth GPC.[7]

Other career

Yong became a People's Association grassroots leader in 2002 when he joined the newly formed Punggol Cove Residents’ Committee (RC) as a member. He later became the RC chairman from 2005–2008 before stepping down to take on appointments in the Punggol North Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC). Yong was the CCC’s Treasurer (2008–2011) and Secretary (2011–2015) between 2008–2015.[8]

In September 2015, Yong joined the NTUC as a Director (Industrial Relations Field).[9]

On 1 January 2016, Yong joined the United Workers of Electronics & Electrical Industries (UWEEI) as its Deputy Executive Secretary[10] and subsequently took over from Heng Chee How as the Executive Secretary on 1 June 2016. In 2018, Yong was elected president of the IndustriALL Singapore Council.

Yong was appointed a Member of the National Wages Council since 2016.[11]

After a spate of lift breakdowns in late 2016, Yong wrote on the struggles of lift technicians in Singapore on the NTUC's blog Labourbeat.[12] He subsequently became the Chairman of the Lift & Escalator Sectoral Tripartite Committee[13] to work on a Manpower Development Plan for the lift and escalator industry.

On 1 September 2017, Yong was appointed a board member of the Land Transport Authority.[14]

Yong, along with Desmond Choo, were appointed as the Assistant Secretary-General of NTUC on 1 April 2018.[15]

Personal life

Yong is married and has two children with his wife Connie.[3] He is a Roman Catholic.

References

1. "MELVIN YONG YIK CHYE 杨益财" (PDF). Parliament of Singapore.
2. "Delta League" (PDF). National Crime Prevention Council. 2013.
3. "MELVIN YONG YIK CHYE" (PDF). PAP. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
4. "New MP and Aljunied candidate take up senior posts at NTUC". The Straits Times. 22 September 2015.
5. "Tanjong Pagar Town Council Annual Report 2015/2016" (PDF). Tanjong Pagar Town Council. 21 October 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
6. "Speech by Melvin Yong (MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC) at the Debate on President's Address on 25 January 2016". Melvin Yong's Facebook. 2016.
7. "Government Parliamentary Committees". PAP.
8. "MELVIN YONG YIK CHYE CV" (PDF).
9. "Opening of Singapore's Parliament: Who are the new MPs making their debut?". AsiaOne. 15 January 2016.
10. "New MP and Aljunied candidate take up senior posts at NTUC". The Straits Times. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
11. "National Wages Council". Singapore Tripartism Forum.
12. "Melvin Yong: Uplifting the Lift Industry - LabourBeat". LabourBeat. 2016-10-07. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
13. "First Lift & Escalator Sectoral Tripartite Committee (STC) meeting". Facebook. 20 March 2017.
14. "6 new members appointed to board of Land Transport Authority". The Straits Times. 31 August 2017.
15. "Melvin Yong and Desmond Choo to move up as NTUC assistant secretaries-general". The Straits Times. 23 February 2018.

External links

• Melvin Yong on Parliament of Singapore

Parliament of Singapore
Preceded by Lui Tuck Yew as MP for Moulmein–Kallang GRC (Moulmein)	Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC (Moulmein–Cairnhill) 2015 – 2020	Succeeded by Alvin Tan
Preceded by Sam Tan	Member of Parliament for Radin Mas SMC 2020 – present	Incumbent