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Gerald Giam

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In this Chinese name, the family name is Giam.
The Honourable
Gerald Giam
严燕松
Official portrait, 2021
Member of Parliament
for Aljunied GRC
Incumbent
Assumed office
10 July 2020
Preceded byLow Thia Khiang
Majority28,485 (19.90%)
Non-Constituency Member of the
12th Parliament of Singapore
In office
10 October 2011 – 25 August 2015
Serving with Yee Jenn Jong
Preceded bySylvia Lim
Succeeded byDaniel Goh
Dennis Tan
Leon Perera
Personal details
Born
Gerald Giam Yean Song

(1977-11-22) 22 November 1977 (age 47)[1][2]
United Kingdom[2]
Political partyWorkers' Party
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Southern California (BS)
Nanyang Technological University (MS)
OccupationPolitician

Gerald Giam Yean Song[a] (Chinese: 严燕松; pinyin: Yán Yànsōng; born 22 November 1977)[1][2] is a Singaporean politician. A member of the opposition Workers' Party (WP), Giam has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Bedok Reservoir–Punggol division of Aljunied GRC since 2020.

Giam was previously the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament between 2011 and 2015 of the 12th Parliament of Singapore and was elected as Policy Research Team Head of the Workers' Party Central Executive Committee (CEC) since 2022.

Education

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Giam was educated at Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and Anglo-Chinese Junior College. He holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California and a Master of Science in international political economy from Nanyang Technological University.[3]

Career

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Giam has worked in various roles in the information technology industry, including as a senior consultant at Avanade and a project manager at MSC Consulting.[3] He was also a foreign service officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and had volunteered as a youth leader in the South West Community Development Council.[4] He was also previously a deputy editor at The Online Citizen.[5][6]

Giam is the chief technology officer of an information technology solutions company which he co-founded. He is a Registered Management Consultant certified by the Institute of Management Consultants (Singapore).[3]

Political career

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Giam at a political rally in 2011

Following the 2011 general election, Giam first entered politics in a five-member Workers' Party with team members, Png Eng Huat, Mohd Fazli Talip, Eric Tan and Glenda Han contesting in the East Coast GRC against the People's Action Party (PAP). The Workers' Party team lost with 45.2% of the votes.

As the best performing defeated team, Giam was offered a Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seat in Parliament.[7] On 13 May 2011, the Workers' Party confirmed that Giam would take up the NCMP seat.[8][9]

With Giam taking up the NCMP position together with Yee Jenn Jong, the Workers' Party set a new record in Singapore's electoral history by becoming the first opposition party to have eight (six elected and two NCMP) seats in Parliament.[10]

Giam served as a NCMP in the 12th Parliament from 10 October 2011 to 25 August 2015.[11]

During the 2015 general election, Giam contested in East Coast GRC alongside, Daniel Goh, Leon Perera and Mohamed Fairoz Bin Shariff going against the People's Action Party (PAP) team. The Workers' Party team lost with 39.27% of the votes.[12]

As the opposition team with third highest percentage of votes among losing candidates, Giam's team decided that it was best for Daniel Goh and Leon Perera to take the remaining NCMP seats.

During the 2020 general election, Giam contested in Aljunied GRC alongside Pritam Singh, Sylvia Lim, Leon Perera and Faisal Manap after Low Thia Kiang and Chen Show Mao's retirement. They won with 59.95% of the vote against the People's Action Party team. Giam was elected as Member of Parliament representing Bedok Reservoir–Punggol division of Aljunied GRC in the 14th Parliament.

Giam was elected as Head, Policy Research of the Workers' Party Central Executive Committee since 2022. Giam was appointed as the Vice-Chairman of the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) from 2020 to 2024. He was later appointed as Chairman of AHTC in 2024. Giam is also one of the Town Councillors under the Tenders and Contracts Committee in AHTC. [13][14][15]

During the 2025 general election, Giam contested in Aljunied GRC alongside Pritam Singh, Sylvia Lim, Fadli Fawzi who replaced Faisal Manap following his wish to contest in Tampines GRC[16] and Kenneth Tiong, who replaced Leon Perera following his resignation in 2023. Giam defended his seat with 59.71% of the vote against the People's Action Party team. Giam continued to represent Bedok Reservoir–Punggol division of Aljunied GRC.

Personal life

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Giam is a Christian. He is married to a chartered accountant with two children.[13][17]

Notes

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  1. ^ IPA: /ɡjɑːm/ GYAHM

References

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  1. ^ a b "MP | Parliament of Singapore".
  2. ^ a b c "Parliament of Singapore : MP Gerald Giam Yean Song's CV". Parliament of Singapore. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "20200714_cv---gerald-giam" (PDF). Parliament of Singapore. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  4. ^ Giam, Gerald (23 January 2010). "Why I joined the Opposition – geraldgiam.sg". Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  5. ^ Sim, Walter (3 March 2016). "The Online Citizen now a one-man show". The Straits Times. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  6. ^ "The Online Media: Untangling Singapore's web of politics". The Online Citizen. 15 October 2015. Archived from the original on 18 June 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Gerald Giam offered Workers' Party's NCMP seat". www.asiaone.com. 13 May 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Eric Tan quits Workers' Party over NCMP snub". www.asiaone.com. 14 May 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  9. ^ Wong, Alicia (13 May 2011). "Eric Tan quits Workers' Party over 'betrayal'". sg.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Elections Department Singapore". www.eld.gov.sg. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  11. ^ "MP | Parliament Of Singapore - Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song". www.parliament.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  12. ^ Chen, May (11 September 2015). "GE2015: PAP retains East Coast GRC with 60.7 per cent of votes | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Gerald Giam – The Workers' Party". www.wp.sg. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  14. ^ Tan, Audrey; Kurohi, Rei (26 June 2020). "Singapore GE2020: Workers' Party confirms Aljunied GRC slate, introduces second batch of candidates". The Straits Times. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  15. ^ Chew, Hui Min (11 July 2020). "GE2020: Workers' Party retains Aljunied GRC with wider margin against PAP". CNA. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  16. ^ "GE2025: Faisal Manap's move to Tampines GRC was one he always wanted, says WP chief Pritam Singh". The Straits Times. 23 April 2025. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  17. ^ Sng, Pastor Edric (26 June 2020). "We must never abandon our values for the sake of political expediency: Gerald Giam". Salt&Light. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
[edit]
Parliament of Singapore
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC
(Bedok Reservoir–Punggol)
2020 – present 		Incumbent
Preceded by Non-Constituency Member of Parliament
2016–2020
Served alongside: Yee Jenn Jong, Lina Chiam 		Succeeded by
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