Yeoh Ghim Seng
| Yeoh Ghim Seng | |
|---|---|
| 杨锦成 | |
 |
|
| 5th Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore | |
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In office 1970–1988 |
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| Preceded by | P Coomaraswamy |
| Succeeded by | Tan Soo Khoon |
| acting President of Singapore | |
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In office Acting: November 23, 1970 – January 2, 1971 |
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| Preceded by | Yusof bin Ishak |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin Henry Sheares |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
June 22, 1918 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia (then the Federated Malay States) |
| Died | June 3, 1993 (aged 74) Singapore
|
| Nationality | Singaporean |
| Political party | People's Action Party (1966-1993) |
Yeoh Ghim Seng (simplified Chinese: 杨锦成; traditional Chinese: 楊錦成; pinyin: Yáng Jǐn Chéng; 22 June 1918 – 3 June 1993) 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.
He received his early education at St. Michael's Institution in his hometown of Ipoh (in Malaysia) 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. In 1951, he 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.
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