Син Кек Тонг: Сингапур саяхатшысының өмірі мен саяси жолы

Singaporean politician

Sin Kek Tong
| predecessor3 = Sin Kek Tong
| successor3 = Steve Chia
| constituency MP4 = Potong Pasir SMC
| term start4 = 22 December 1984
| term end4 = 19 April 2011
| majority4 = 1,718 (11.6%)
| predecessor4 = Howe Yoon Chong
| successor4 = Sitoh Yih Pin
| office5 = 1st Secretary General of theSingapore Democratic Party
| term start5 = 6 August 1980
| term end5 = 17 May 1993
| predecessor5 = Position established
| successor5 = Chee Soon Juan
| office6 = 1st Chairman of the Singapore Democratic Alliance
| term start6 = 2001
| term end6 = 2011
| predecessor6 = Position established
| successor6 = Desmond Lim
| birth date = 12 March 1935, Age: 89 He founded and led the SDP to contest in the 1980 general election, only to be defeated again. Chiam was elected on his fourth attempt during the 1984 general election, winning in Potong Pasir SMC against People's Action Party candidate Mah Bow Tan. He joined J. B. Jeyaretnam from the Workers' Party as one of only two opposition MPs in Singapore at the time. After Jeyaretnam was removed from his seat in 1986, Chiam became the sixth de facto Leader of the Opposition and the only opposition MP at the time. He continued his leadership of the opposition after the 1991 general election, in which he led the SDP to contest in three SMCs. In 1993, after a falling out with the SDP's central executive committee, Chiam resigned as the SDP's secretary general and consequently lost his leadership of the opposition. Chiam later joined and successfully ran for election as a member of the Singapore People's Party, regaining his position as the opposition leader after the 1997 general election. In 2001, Chiam convinced three other opposition parties —National Solidarity Party, Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura and Singapore Justice Party — to join the SPP in forming the Singapore Democratic Alliance, and served as SDA's chairman between 2001 and 2011. He withdrew the SPP from the SDA in the lead up to the 2011 general election, leading the SPP in a contest in Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC, but eventually lost to the PAP team. Chiam retired after 39 years in politics at the age of 80 prior to the 2015 general election due to health reasons. He was the longest serving opposition MP until he was surpassed by Low Thia Kiang in 2018. He remains the longest serving de facto Leader of the Opposition in Singapore.

Between 1997 and 2011, Low Thia Kiang from the Workers' Party and Chiam from the SPP were the only elected opposition MPs. During the 2011 general election, Low and Chiam left their respective strongholds in Hougang and Potong Pasir SMCs to challenge the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) in group representation constituencies (GRCs). Low contested in Aljunied GRC, while Chiam contested in Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC. In so doing, Low and Chiam risked a situation where there would be no elected opposition MPs in Parliament if they lost. Chiam's team, which included Benjamin Pwee, Wilfred Leung, Jimmy Lee and Mohamad Hamim Aliyas, ultimately lost in Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC with 43.07% of the vote against the PAP team's 56.93%.

On 30 August 2015, Chiam announced that he would not be running for election in the 2015 general election due to his declining health. On 4 September 2019, the SPP announced that Chiam would be resigning from his position as the party's secretary general due to his declining health. Chiam stepped down on 16 October 2019 and was succeeded by Steve Chia. Chiam and Loh are co patrons of the organisation, which is chaired by their daughter, Camilla Chiam.

Chiam's name, "See Tong" (s=时中), which means "punctual" or "timely", was given to him by his grandfather, Chiam Seng Poh, who was a revolutionary involved in the uprisings in the final years of the Qing dynasty before the 1911 Revolution. Chiam Seng Poh had fled China with his family after one of those failed uprisings and settled in Muar, Malaya. Chiam's maternal grandfather, Lim Liang Quee, was part of the Straits Chinese elite. Chiam's father, Chiam Heng Hong, was a businessman who dealt in commodities like rubber, pepper and sugar. Chiam's mother, Lily Lim, was a founder of the 7th Singapore Company of the Girls' Brigade at Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church in the 1950s. Chiam Heng Hong and Lily Lim had two sons, Chiam See Tong and Chiam Joon Tong. They married in Singapore in 1975 when Chiam was 40 and Loh was 26, and have a daughter, Camilla.