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Hazel Poa

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The Honourable
Hazel Poa
潘群勤
Non-Constituency Member of the
14th Parliament of Singapore
Incumbent
Assumed office
16 July 2020
Serving with Leong Mun Wai
Preceded byDennis Tan (WP)
Daniel Goh (WP)
Leon Perera (WP)
4th Secretary-General of the Progress Singapore Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
20 February 2024
ChairmanTan Cheng Bock
Preceded byLeong Mun Wai
2nd Vice Chairperson of the Progress Singapore Party
In office
4 April 2023 – 20 February 2024
Preceded byWang Swee Chuang
3rd Secretary-General of the National Solidarity Party
In office
26 June 2011 – 25 October 2013
Preceded byGoh Meng Seng
Succeeded byJeannette Chong-Aruldoss
Personal details
Born (1970-08-27) 27 August 1970 (age 54)
Singapore
Political partyProgress Singapore Party (2019–present)
Other political
affiliations		Reform Party (2009–2011)
National Solidarity Party (2011–2015)
SpouseTony Tan Lay Thiam
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
Profession
  • Politician
  • businesswoman
In this Chinese name, the family name is Poa.

Hazel Poa Koon Koon (Chinese: 潘群勤; pinyin: Pān Qúnqín; born 27 August 1970)[1][non-primary source needed] is a Singaporean politician and businesswoman. A member of the opposition Progress Singapore Party (PSP), she has been a Non-Constituency Member of the 14th Parliament of Singapore since 2020. She has served as the Secretary-General of PSP since 2024.

She was the Vice-Chairman of the Progress Singapore Party from 2023 to 2024, and was elected as Secretary-General on 20 February 2024.[2]

A Public Service Commission scholar, Poa graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1992 with a first-class honours degree in mathematics. After graduation, she worked as a civil servant before joining the financial industry and starting her own business.

Poa was a member of the Reform Party before joining the National Solidarity Party (NSP) in 2011. She was Secretary-General of the NSP from June 2011 to September 2013, and acting Secretary-General from June 2015 to August 2015.

Biography

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Poa attended the University of Cambridge on a scholarship from Singapore's Public Service Commission, completing a degree in Mathematics with first class honours.[3] At Cambridge, she met her future husband, Tony Tan Lay Thiam, also a government scholar. Upon completing her degree, Poa returned to serve in the Singapore Civil Service and was appointed to the Administrative Service. She was first posted to the Prime Minister's Office, where she worked in the Public Service Division, handling personnel policies within the civil service. She later became Assistant Director for Indirect Taxation at the Ministry of Finance.

After four years, Poa left the civil service and joined the investment department of an insurance company as an analyst. She later worked as an assistant fund manager before starting her own business.[4] Poa and her husband run a private school in Singapore and a chain of education centres in Singapore and Indonesia.

Political career

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Poa and her husband first joined the Reform Party in 2009, ahead of the 2011 general election. They had been slated to stand as candidates for the party in the election, but were later among six members of the party who resigned in February 2011 due to disagreements with the party's leadership.[5] Poa and Tan later joined the National Solidarity Party.[6]

2011 general election

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In the 2011 general election, Poa along with team members, Sebastian Teo, Tony Tan, Nor Lella Mardiiiah and Mohamed Jeisilan Sivalingam contested in Chua Chu Kang GRC.[7] The NSP's team lost to the team from the governing People's Action Party (PAP) by 56,885 votes (38.8%) to 89,710 (61.2%). In June 2011, Poa was elected as the Secretary-General of the NSP by the Central Executive Council following the resignation of Goh Meng Seng.[8][9] She was the first woman to be elected Secretary-General of the NSP.[10]

Poa resigned as Secretary-General in September 2013 citing health problems.[8][11]

2015 general election

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In June 2015, nearly two years after she resigned, Poa was appointed the Acting Secretary-General of the NSP following the resignation of Tan Lam Siong. The party decided against calling a Party Congress to elect a new Secretary-General "in view of the need to focus on preparations for the next general election".

In August 2015, Poa stepped down as Acting Secretary-General and left the party due to disagreements with the party's Central Executive Committee fielding a candidate in the single-member constituency of MacPherson in the 2015 general election, despite the opposition Workers' Party already planning to contest there.[12] On 30 August, Poa was seen helping out with the Singapore Democratic Party team in their walkabout, but did not eventually join the party.[13][14]

In July 2019, Poa, along with former SDP member Michelle Lee Juen, was elected one of the CEC members of the newly established Progress Singapore Party.[15]

2020 general election

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Poa, along with a team members, Tan Cheng Bock, Leong Mun Wai, Nadarajah Loganathan and Jeffrey Khoo contested in the 2020 Singaporean general election at West Coast GRC but failed to garner a majority against the incumbent People's Action Party team, but was awarded two seats under the Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) scheme.[16][17] In 2020, the PSP announced that they had chosen Poa and Leong Mun Wai for the seats.[18][19] Poa and Leong were appointed NCMPs from 16 July 2020.[20][21] On July 20, 2020, Poa stepped down as vice-chairman of PSP to focus on her NCMP duties.[22] She was re-elected vice-chair in 2023. Poa succeeded Leong Mun Wai as PSP secretary-general on 20 February 2024.[23]

Political positions

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In September 2020, Poa called on the Singapore government to allow Central Provident Fund members who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic to borrow from their own CPF accounts, and to explore the option of indexing CPF Life payments to inflation.[24]

In April 2022, Poa called on the Government to reform the parental leave system given that "parenthood is a responsibility that should be shared equally by both parents". Her proposal called for parental leave to be shared equally between parents by default, but parents could adopt other arrangements by mutual agreement, subject to a minimum period of parental leave for each parent.[25]

In February 2023, Poa called on the Government to allow singles aged above 28 to purchase 3-room flats.[26]

Poa raised a number of parliamentary questions in 2023 relating to the prosecution of S Iswaran. In September 2023, she raised a motion in Parliament to suspend Iswaran from MP duties and prevent him from receiving an allowance while not performing duties.[27] In January 2024, she requested an update into Iswaran's investigation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau.[28]

Poa has been active in calling for institutional reform while in Parliament. In July 2023, Poa raised a private member's motion in Parliament calling for Group Representation Constituencies to be abolished.[29] In August 2024, Poa raised another private member's motion in Parliament, calling for changes to how electoral boundaries are drawn. Her motion was defeated by a 10-76 vote despite also receiving support from the Workers' Party.[30]

Personal life

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Poa is married to Tony Tan Lay Thiam. They have two adopted sons.

References

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  1. ^ "Hazel Poa". Facebook. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  2. ^ "Leong Mun Wai steps down as PSP chief to take responsibility for recent POFMA order". CNA. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  3. ^ Parliament of Singapore. "Hazel Poa Koon Koon" (PDF). Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  4. ^ "National Solidarity Party's team for Choa Chu Kang GRC". Archived from the original on 2 July 2011.
  5. ^ "Key members of Reform Party resign, Feb 23. 2011". Yahoo. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  6. ^ NSP's new faces share their plans for Singapore Archived 3 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Yahoo! News Singapore, 13 April 2011.
  7. ^ "Two new PAP faces likely at Chua Chu Kang GRC, April 2. 2011". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  8. ^ a b hermesauto (19 August 2015). "NSP acting sec-gen Hazel Poa resigns, says she strongly disagrees with decision to contest MacPherson". The Straits Times. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Channel NewsAsia - Goh Meng Seng steps down as NSP chief". Archived from the original on 27 June 2011.
  10. ^ "Hazel Poa appointed as NSP's Acting Secretary-General, 26 Jun 2015". TODAY. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  11. ^ NSP sec-gen Hazel Poa steps down Archived 18 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine, The Straits Times, 22 September 2013.
  12. ^ "Hazel Poa quits NSP abruptly over party's decision to contest in MacPherson". The Business Times, 20 August 2015. Archived from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  13. ^ "Hazel Poa seen at SDP walkabout". TodayOnline, 31 August 2015. Archived from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  14. ^ "Inconvenient Questions (IQ) Interview with Hazel Poa, Vice Chairperson, Progress Singapore Party - YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  15. ^ "PSP wants to be a 'credible alternative' to PAP, but no regime change expected in next election: Tan Cheng Bock". TODAYonline. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  16. ^ "GE2020: PAP wins West Coast GRC with 51.69%". mothership.sg. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  17. ^ hermesauto (11 July 2020). "GE2020: Two PSP candidates from West Coast GRC team to be offered NCMP seats". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  18. ^ "PSP to announce candidates for remaining two NCMP seats - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  19. ^ Koh, Fabian (14 July 2020). "GE2020: PSP chooses assistant secretary-general Leong Mun Wai and vice-chairman Hazel Poa as NCMPs". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  20. ^ "Election of Non-Constituency Members of Parliament in General Election 2020" (PDF). www.eld.gov.sg. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  21. ^ "Singapore Gazette No.1449/2020" (PDF). 17 July 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  22. ^ Koh, Fabian (20 July 2020). "PSP's Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa step down from party positions to focus on NCMP duties". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Archived from the original on 1 August 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  23. ^ "Leong Mun Wai steps down as PSP chief to take responsibility for recent POFMA order". CNA. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  24. ^ "Search". sprs.parl.gov.sg. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  25. ^ "Search". sprs.parl.gov.sg. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  26. ^ Citizen, The Online (7 February 2023). "Hazel Poa proposes singles be allowed to buy 3-room HDB flats". The Online Citizen. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  27. ^ "Parliament rejects PSP proposal to suspend Iswaran as MP; will 'consider the matter' after outcome of graft probe". CNA. Archived from the original on 21 August 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  28. ^ "S. Iswaran's CPIB probe: Investigations completed, being reviewed by Attorney-General's Chambers". Yahoo News. 9 January 2024. Archived from the original on 21 August 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  29. ^ Ng, Michelle (6 July 2023). "Parliament rejects PSP motion to abolish GRC system". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Archived from the original on 21 August 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  30. ^ "Govt rejects opposition MPs' electoral boundary suggestions, says EBRC is free from political intervention". CNA. Archived from the original on 7 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hazel Poa.
Parliament of Singapore
Preceded by Non-Constituency Member of Parliament
2020 - present
Served alongside: Leong Mun Wai 		Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Secretary-General of the National Solidarity Party
2011 – 2013 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary-General of the Progress Singapore Party
2024 – present 		Incumbent
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