Yeoh Ghim Seng


Yeoh Ghim Seng BBM JP was Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore from 1970 to 1989. He is said to be one of the longest serving Speakers of any parliament in the world.

Early Life

Yeoh received his early education at St. Michael's Institution in his hometown of Ipoh and at Penang Free School. He studied medicine at Cambridge University in the 1940s and was on attachment to hospitals there before becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1950.

Career

In 1951, Yeoh returned to Malaya to become consultant surgeon to the Singapore General Hospital. When he was appointed Professor of Surgery at the then University of Malaya in 1955, he was one of the first locals to hold that chair. He resigned the chair in 1962 to set up what became a lucrative private practice, but continued to train medical graduates from the university. A six-footer, Yeoh was described once as "the biggest but fastest Asian surgeon".
Yeoh's political career began in 1966, when he was recruited by the People's Action Party to stand in a by-election in Joo Chiat. He won by a walkover and served as the constituency's MP for 22 years.
His preoccupation with medicine precluded a ministerial appointment; instead, he was made Deputy Speaker in 1968, and elected Speaker two years later. In 1977, Minister of Law, Environment, Science and Technology, Mr E. W. Barker, congratulating him on his re-election to yet another term as Speaker, said that if not for Dr. Yeoh's commitment to surgery, he "could with ease and distinction occupy one of the front benches on this side of the House". As Speaker of the House, Dr Yeoh's residence was The Command House.
In 1977, he also became the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization's first president.
Yeoh was a Public Service Star recipient, an active Rotarian, and a Justice of the Peace who also served as chairman of various boards including the Detainees' Aftercare Association and the University of Singapore Council. The National University of Singapore created the Yeoh Ghim Seng Professorship in Surgery in his honour.
At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife, five daughters and 15 grandchildren.