Sebastian Teo


Sebastian Teo Kway Huang a politician and businessman from Singapore who is currently the President of the opposition National Solidarity Party.

Political career

2001 general election

Teo first stepped into the political arena in the 2001 general election, in which the NSP's candidates stood under the banner of the Singapore Democratic Alliance. Goh was part of the five-member SDA team in the Tampines Group Representation Constituency together with Yip Yew Weng, Christopher Neo, Foo Kok Wah and Abdul Rahim bin Osman. The SDA team was defeated by the team from the governing People's Action Party made up of Mah Bow Tan, Yatiman bin Yusof, Ong Kian Min, Sin Boon Ann and Irene Ng. The SDA team took 26.7% of the valid votes to the PAP's 73.3%.

2006 general election

In the 2006 general election, Teo was a member of the SDA team in the Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency, together with Fong Chin Leong, Cheo Chai Chen, Vincent Yeo and Muhamad Ali bin Aman. They went up against the PAP team of Lee Boon Yang, Yaacob Ibrahim, Heng Chee How, Lily Neo and Denise Phua. The SDA team took 30.7% of the valid votes to the PAP's 69.3%.

2011 general election

Following the 2006 general election, the NSP withdrew from the SDA and Teo took over the leadership of the party from Steve Chia. At the 2011 general election, Teo stood as a member of the NSP team in the Chua Chu Kang Group Representation Constituency together with Tony Tan Lay Thiam, Hazel Poa, Nor Lella Mardiiiah Mohamed and Jeisilan Sivalingam against the PAP team of Gan Kim Yong, Alvin Yeo, Zaqy Mohamad, Alex Yam and Low Yen Ling. The NSP team took 38.8% of the valid votes to the PAP's 61.2%.

2015 general election

In the 2015 general election, Teo returned to the Tampines Group Representation Constituency which he had contested in 2001. His NSP team took 27.9% of the valid votes, losing to the PAP team led by Heng Swee Keat which won 72.1%.

Career outside politics

Teo began his career as an Executive Officer the Ministry of Defence. He left MINDEF in 1975 to go into business. He has served as the Executive Director of Knight Royal Management International, the Academy Director for Strategy Academic Research, and as General Manager of companies in China and Taiwan. He has also worked extensively as a management consultant. He has been a part-time lecturer for the University of South Australia and the Asia Pacific International University, and has had teaching stints with the NUS Business School and the Singapore Chinese Chamber Institute of Business.

Corruption conviction and bankruptcies

In September 1979, Teo was arrested by Singapore's Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau. The anti-corruption bureau believed that over a nine-month period from March to December 1975, when Teo was working at the Ministry of Defence, he had taken money on 12 occasions from a vegetable supplier in exchange for information regarding the successful vegetable supply contractor and the price of vegetables contracted, with the total amount paid to Teo being S$60,200. Teo subsequently pleaded guilty to two charges of corruption in November 1979, with ten other charges taken into consideration. He was fined S$15,000 and ordered to pay a penalty S$10,500 for the court proceedings.
Receiving and adjudication orders under the Bankruptcy Act were twice issued against Teo in 1985 and 1986.
Details of Teo's past convictions and bankruptcy were published in an article on the TR Emeritus website on 22 August 2015. In a subsequent post on the NSP's Facebook page, Teo claimed that he was innocent of the corruption charges, but that fear and a lack of legal experience had led him to plead guilty. He stated that: "I deferred to the advice of my legal and financial advisors. In hindsight, I wish I had not done so."

Education

Teo holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Nanyang University, a Master of Business Administration degree from the National University of Singapore and a master's degree in Strategic Marketing Management from the University of Southern Queensland.