Tony Tan
Tony Tan
Tony Tan Keng Yamis the seventh President of Singapore, in office since 2011. He served as a Member of the Singapore Parliament from 1979 to 2006 and held various ministerial portfolios, including defence, finance, Arts, trade and industry. In the late 1980s, Lee Kuan Yew mentioned Tan as his first choice to succeed himself as Prime Minister of Singapore, but he declined. He left the Cabinet from 1991 to 1995 to lead the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation before returning as Deputy...
NationalitySingaporean
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth7 February 1940
CountrySingapore
How could I remain a spectator while Singapore faces such complex challenges? How could I not step forward when I know I have more to contribute to the country we all worked to build?
Singapore is an international city, and it would be a grave mistake to close our doors.
Whatever initiatives we launch, we must always put the interests of Singaporeans and Singapore first.
Singapore is a natural gateway for international firms looking to access Asia and for Asian businesses to access the world.
Through the outreach that I have done, through platforms, I hope to unify Singaporeans because at the end of the day, Singapore is our home. We share a common destiny, and I think all of us work together for the benefit of our country.
There is an urgent need for bold reforms to transform Singapore into an R&D-driven, innovative, knowledge-based enterprise economy, where we compete on knowledge and talent, in addition to efficiency and cost-effectiveness, ... Singapore needs to refocus its research and innovation agenda.
Very high significance targets, embassies, some of our military bases, places like that, places that would have an impact, and significance throughout the world,
We have developed our own approach towards rehabilitating people, involving psychological rehabilitation, social rehab within families and of our Religious Rehabilitation Group.
To ensure that Singaporeans can take advantage of opportunities, the government should continue to monitor carefully the proportion of foreign students in our education institutions to ensure that the proportion matches the present and future needs of the country, and the Singaporeans are the main beneficiaries of our education policy.
The stronger ties between primary care providers and the patients they serve will produce better outcomes and allow for more sustainable healthcare spending.
The growth of markets in the region also provides opportunities for home-grown entities - whether established brand names like DBS, Singtel and Keppel Corporation, or SMEs - to establish and grow their presence in the region.
I think we have a good foundation which Mr. Lee Kuan Yew laid down, but you have to move forward. Now the question is what can Mr. Lee Hsien Loong and his team, and all our younger ministers can do now to build on the foundation which Mr. Lee Kuan Yew has built.
Every clinical encounter is an opportunity to generate social capital. Even in situations where patient needs are complex or seemingly insurmountable, it is the empathy and goodwill which makes the difference.
Where patient needs are complex, we should provide greater support in the community so that patients can cut down on trips to the tertiary hospital.