Singapore

Famous Singaporean People: Singaporean Artists, Scientists, Leaders, Musicians, Politicians and Athletes

The following people made their mark on both the local and international scenes. They are just some of many famous Singaporeans who have lifted Singapore’s name worldwide and made a difference in our world. Their purpose and stories inspired awe if not greatness.

:: List of Famous People from Singapore ::

Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew was born on September 16, 1923 and the eldest child of Chua Jim Neo and Lee Chin Koon. His ancestors were Chinese immigrants. He was given an English education and graduated with Double Starred First Class Honors in law from the Fitzwilliam College in Cambridge, England.

During the Japanese occupation of Singapore he sold tapioca-based glue with the brand name Stikfas in the black market. He also became a transcriber of Allied reports for the Japanese as he had lessons in Chinese and Japanese. Lee Kuan Yew also became the English language editor of the Japanese propaganda department, Hodobu in 1943 up to 1944.

Lee was the election agent of John Laycock in 1951, in whose legal office Lee worked for after his graduation. Laycock ran under the pro-British party banner. Soon Lee realized that Laycock will not win mass support since majority of the voters are of Chinese descent. He started his links to the working class Chinese-speaking population when he was named as a legal advisor to the students’ union as well as the trade union.

His political party, the People’s Action Party or PAP was started with some of his fellow English – educated buddies. They needed a pro-communist support group while the communists needed a party that is non-communist as a shield because the Malayan Communist Party was considered illegal. The final aim of both parties was to end the British rule. Lee became the secretary-general of PAP from 1954 to 1992. He won the Tanjong Pagar seat in 1955. His position was temporarily threatened by the pro-communists in 1957 but was reinstated when the Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock ordered the arrest and imprisonment of the communist leaders and supporters.
The People’s Action Party won 43 out of the total 51 seats in the national elections held on June 1, 1959 and Lee was named the Prime Minister succeeding Lim Yew Hock. Singapore became won autonomy from the British in all matters regarding the state except for foreign affairs and defense. At that time, unemployment, education and housing were major problems for Singapore. His leadership was not smooth-sailing and was threatened the whole time and was almost overthrown when the issue of merging with Malaysia came about in 1962. Lee actively campaigned for the merger and Singapore was made part of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963 but this did not last long as the merger did not favor Singapore. Accusations and distrust led to Singapore’s expulsion from the federation in 1965 and Singapore became independent from Malaysia on August 9, 1975.

To strengthen Singapore’s status as an independent nation, Lee sought recognition for the country and became a member of the United Nations. He also co-founded the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and went on diplomatic missions to establish better ties with its neighboring countries. Lee also started a move to create a unique identity for Singapore with great focus on multiculturalism, stressing the importance of racial harmony and religious tolerance.

Lee Kuan Yew followed the Switzerland model of non-alignment and neutrality but was worried about his country’s vulnerability as an independent nation. He instructed Goh Keng Swee to build a strong Singapore Armed Forces, which was fulfilled with the help of Israel.

There were many policies introduced by Lee Kuan Yew which paved the way for Singapore to be one of the most developed countries in Asia. He instituted measures to stem corruption by creating an anti-corruption bureau with powers to search, arrest investigate bank accounts and income tax returns of suspected individuals, including their families and supported the belief that government officials should be well paid so they will not be tempted to engage in corrupt practices. He also instituted the Stop At Two program where married couples were encouraged to only have two children to prevent over-population. The law was strict and those families with three and four children had lower priorities in education and government rebates. He also believed in caning as an efficient corporal punishment.

Lee stepped down in as prime minister in 1990 and was succeeded by Goh Chok Tong. He remained in office as a Senior Minister until 2004 and became Minister Mentor from 2004 until 2011. His son, Lee Hsien Loong is the current prime minister.

Stephanie Sun
Stephanie Sun is a multi-awarded singer-songwriter born on July 23, 1978. She also goes by the name Sun Yan Zi. She has a degree in marketing from the Nanyang Technological University. She was discovered by her music teacher who also owns the school when she attended his Lei Wei Song School of Music. She has recorded 10 albums and has sold 10 million copies in Asia alone. Although Stephanie is a Singaporean, she has made Taiwan her base where she has a large fan base. She usually goes around Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and China for record and album promotions.

Zoe Tay
Zoe Tay is a multi-awarded Singaporean model and actress who was born on January 10, 1968. She is nicknamed Thousand-Faced Lady as well as the Queen of Caldecott Hill. Zoe was discovered in 1988 during a Star Search. As a winner she was awarded a contract with a local TV station, Singapore Broadcasting Station, now owned by MediaCorp. She soon became a household name, starring in numerous drama series and product commercials for television. Her name was entrenched in the minds of local viewers that she was voted The Top0 10 Most Popular Female Artists for ten consecutive years until 2003 and she holds the distinction of being the first actress to achieve it. She was elevated to the All Time Favorite Artist in the 2004 Star Awards. Zoe has also starred in a few movies and had published a coffee table book. She was the first Singaporean female artist to do so.

Fandi Ahmad
Fandi Ahmad was a former Singaporean soccer superstar and now a coach. He was born on May 29, 1962. He was a striker and a midfielder, and was the captain of the national soccer team of Singapore from 1993 to 1997. He also played for soccer teams in Europe and Asia. Fandi used to be the youngest player, at age 16 to play for the national team. He was a member of the team that won the Malaysia Cup in 1980, even scoring the winning goal in the final against Selangor with a score of 2-1. Fandi played for FC Groningen of Netherlands from 1983 to 1985. His impact with the FC Groningen fans earned him a place in their 1999 Hall of Fame as one of the best 25 players to play for the club. He returned to Asia and played for Kuala Lumpur from 1986 up to 1990, and was instrumental in their winning the Malaysia Cup three years in a row from 1987 to 1989. Fandi won the Golden Boot Award in 1988. He moved to Greece 1990 to join the club OFI Crete and stayed with the club for a few months before returning to Malaysia to join Pahang in 1991 and was again instrumental in winning the Malaysian Cup and the Malaysian League in 1992.

He returned to Singapore in 1993 but he was not able to help the team to secure a win. In 1996 the S. League was launched with Fandi as captain of the Geylang United, which was the eventual champion. He then moved to captain the Singapore Armed Forces Football Club, winning the S. League championships in 1997 and 1998 before he became their coach. His club also won the title in 2000. Overall Fandi had won more than 100 caps for Singapore and had scored 50 goals and had helped Singapore to win silver in 1983, 1985 and 1989 Southeast Asian Games.

Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong was Singapore’s prime minister when Lee Kuan Yew stepped down. He was a broad-minded prime minister who announced that his cabinet will employ qualified homosexuals to available positions in 2003, shocking the more conservative people of Singapore. He was born on May 20, 1941. He earned his First Class Honors in economics from the University of Singapore and his Master’s in development economics for Williams College in the US. He joined the party of Lee Kuan Yew in 1976 and was elected as the representative of the Marine Parade constituency in the parliament. In 1981 he was appointed as the Senior Minister of State for Finance before being promoted to Minister for Trade and Industry before being appointed as the Minister for Health as well as the Minister for Defense. By 1985 he was already the First Deputy Prime Minister and became the prime minister-in training, assuming more government responsibilities. From 1990 up to 2004, Goh served as the Prime Minister of Singapore. While he instituted several policies that helped Singapore economically, it was also during his time that Singapore faced several crises, including the 2003 SARS outbreak, the economic recession of 2001 to 2003, the 2001 embassy-bombing plots by the Jemaah Islamiyah, and the Asian financial crisis in 1997.

From 2004 to 2011 he served as Senior Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. He was able to strengthen Singapore’s business ties with the Middle East while he was the Monetary Authority of Singapore chairman. He signed a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement with Israel on May 19, 2005 so that Singapore businessmen will avoid double taxation when conducting business with Israel and vice versa as well as the recognition of each country’s standard of certification so that imported and exported goods from the two countries can move faster.

He now holds the title of Emeritus Senior Minister and was appointed by Prime Minister Lee as the senior adviser to the Monetary Authority of Singapore on May 18, 2011.

Ng Teng Fong
Although he was born in Fujian, China in 1928 his family migrated to Singapore when he was six years old and he became a citizen of Singapore. His family is into real estate and owns the Sino Group and the Far East Organization, which has several malls and hotels in Hong Kong and Singapore. Despite his obvious wealth, it was said the Ng Teng Fong lived a very frugal life, living in the same house he had acquired 30 years ago although they own at least one-fourth of the housing market in Singapore. He was also known to bring his own lunch even when traveling by plane. Their Far East Organization owns The Fullerton Singapore hotel and other hotels and properties in Singapore, handled by his younger son, Philip Ng. His older son Robert Ng takes care of the Sino Group’s real estate development interests in Hong Kong. Ng Teng Fong died on January 23, 2010 due to cerebral hemorrhage. Their family’s net worth in 2009 was 5.5 billion US dollars, making him the richest Singaporean when he died.

Sim Wong Hoo
Sim Wong Hoo is Singapore’s youngest billionaire. He started a computer repair shop that he named Creative with a school friend after graduating from Ngee Ann Polytechnic. It was in his shop that he developed and eventually sold the Apple II add-on memory board. It was the start for Creative to begin creating customized personal computers that conformed to the Chinese language. Their device was able to produce melodies and speech through an enhanced audio capability, which led to the development and eventual success of a stand-alone sound card which was branded as Sound Blaster. Through his guidance, his company Creative became very successful in the audio processing card line and the Sound Blaster’s success is still unsurpassed. Sim Wong Hoo was the first person to receive the Businessman of the Year award twice. The first was in 1992 and he again received the award in 1997. The Singapore Computer Society bestowed the Person of the Year award to Sim Hong Woo in 2002. As the star entrepreneur of Singapore, he is the current chairperson of the Technopreneurship 21 Private Sector Committee of Singapore.