Former S’pore President Tony Tan Has Just Released His Autobiography

Former Singapore President Tony Tan has just released his autobiography.

Here’s everything you need to know about it.

“Tony Tan Keng Yam: My Political Journey”

On Tuesday (12 March), former president Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam launched his autobiography, titled “Tony Tan Keng Yam: My Political Journey”.

The book launch, held at the Singapore Management University’s Administration Building function room, was attended by just about every Singaporean politician you can think of — Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, former deputy PM S. Jayakumar, and former People’s Action Party chairman Khaw Boon Wan.

Macam assembling the Avengers sia.

The autobiography, as its title suggests, details the political journey of Dr Tan from start to end. Specifically, the book covers Dr Tan’s perspective on national policymaking and decision-making. It also reflects on the tough decisions made during his illustrious political career.

It’s a perfect read for those looking for a little inspiration.

Or, in PM Lee’s words at the book launch, a book that would hopefully inspire more to follow in Dr Tan’s footsteps; to come forward and lead Singapore into a better future.

The book, published by the Straits Times Press and co-authored by Dr Tan and former journalist Leslie Koh, is available for purchase on the stbooks.sg website — the paperback costs $37 while the hardcover copy costs $72.

It would probably make a great gift for your parents, as an addition to the extensive collection of LKY books they already have on their bookshelves.

PM Lee: Dr Tan’s Views Were Always Valued

If that isn’t enough to convince you to check out Dr Tan’s autobiography, perhaps PM Lee’s words at the book launch will.

Speaking at the book launch, PM Lee recounted his experiences working alongside Dr Tan throughout his political career. Notably, PM Lee shared that he always valued Dr Tan’s views.

Before politics, Dr Tan was initially in the banking sector — it was only after extensive convincing by then-PM Lee Kuan Yew, did Dr Tan finally decide to join politics in 1979.

And since joining politics, Dr Tan has left an indelible mark on the lives of many, including that of PM Lee.

In particular, PM Lee highlighted three instances where he worked alongside Dr Tan.

First, PM Lee recalled his first posting to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) as minister of state, when Dr Tan was minister. PM Lee recounted that he was assigned by Dr Tan to chair an economic committee in 1985, which was responsible for recalibrating Singapore’s long-term economic strategy.

However, during PM Lee’s time chairing the economic committee, the economy suddenly dipped into a recession. As a result, demands from employers to cut Central Provident Fund (CPF) contribution rates arose — this was now something PM Lee had to contend with, and it was not easily dealt with at all.

While the government had vehemently resisted cutting the CPF contribution rates, discussions confirmed that the high CPF rates had to be cut by 15% for the economy to bounce back.

It was a difficult policy decision to make — and it was only with Dr Tan’s astute leadership did the policy decision go through.

In PM Lee’s words: “It was difficult, not just because the Government has taken such a strong public stance on the issue. But Dr Tan also felt that it would be awkward for me as a new MOS (minister of state), on such an important matter, to be the one to publicly contradict the prime minister, who was my father. He was very conscious that we had to keep public and personal life separate”.

Eventually, Dr Tan decided to publicly float the idea, and convince the Cabinet and Mr Lee to cut CPF contribution rates.

This, to PM Lee, was an exemplary show of Dr Tan’s leadership.

But that’s not all that PM Lee had to highlight about Dr Tan’s political career.

PM Lee also praised Dr Tan’s contributions to the National Research Foundation (NRF) when Dr Tan chaired the NRF between 2005 and 2011. Specifically, Dr Tan’s decision to push for biotech — a huge bet made by NRF then, which now demonstrates Dr Tan’s invaluable foresight.

PM Lee also raised the instance when Dr Tan put himself forward as a candidate for the 2011 Presidential Election, sharing that: “He knew what was needed of a president, to be a respected and unifying figure that stood above the fray of politics, represented a whole nation and provided a steady fulcrum for our political system”.

Tony Tan Never Thought He Would Write a Book

And what would be a book launch if the author himself did not speak?

Dr Tan, speaking at the book launch, shared that he never thought he would write a book, let alone one about himself or his political life.

To be fair, he seems too busy to even have the time to write a book.

However, this opinion slowly changed after Dr Tan’s retirement. Many around the former president had encouraged him to share his story.

While Dr Tan was “more than a little reluctant”, he eventually decided to begin writing — not so that his writing may be published, but so that he could recall what he had done and learnt throughout his political career, in case his grandchildren were interested in reading about it.

How sweet. All my grandparents ever tell me is “study harder”.

The cementing moment came in 2019 when COVID-19 hit the shores of Singapore — the unprecedented nature of the pandemic helped Dr Tan realise how valuable the lessons he had learnt throughout his life and work were.

Dr Tan added: “I hope that some of the lessons we have learnt in the past might be of value to the next generation of citizens and leaders.

I guess this is one good thing that came out of the COVID-19 pandemic.