“Former President Tony Tan Reflects on Leadership Role He Never Sought “

Most Singaporeans know Tony Tan as Singapore’s seventh president, a position he held from 2011 to 2017. However, in his new autobiography, Tony Tan Keng Yam: My Political Journey, launched on Tuesday (March 12) by Straits Times Press, Tan shares that he never envisioned himself as a politician.

In a surprising revelation, Tan recounts that founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had once considered him as the preferred candidate to take over as Singapore’s leader, though Goh Chok Tong ultimately became Singapore’s second prime minister in 1990. Lee made this announcement at the 1988 National Day Rally, catching Tan off guard. Reflecting on this moment, Tan writes that such discussions should have occurred privately, as Lee had never directly told him he was the favored successor.

Though he briefly considered the role of prime minister, Tan never saw himself in a political career, considering it a duty rather than a passion. Tan, who co-authored his 340-page memoir with former Straits Times journalist Leslie Koh, describes banking as his true calling. He started as OCBC Bank’s general manager in 1978 and only entered politics the following year at Lee’s invitation. “How could one say no to Lee Kuan Yew?” he writes, admitting that he joined out of a sense of national duty.

A defining moment came when Lee famously remarked, “If good people don’t go into politics, bad people will.” This conviction led Tan to join politics, where he would go on to serve as Education Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and later, President. He even returned to the Cabinet in 1995 to bolster PM Goh’s team and remained active in public service during PM Lee Hsien Loong’s administration, spearheading research and development policies.

At the memoir’s launch, PM Lee recalled Tan’s dedicated service and his popularity with Sembawang residents as an MP. He praised Tan’s unwavering commitment to public service, which always came before personal ambitions.