Mah Bow Tan

Mah Bow Tan (Chinese: 马宝山; pinyin: Mǎ Bǎoshān; born 1948)[1] is a Singaporean businessman. He has been the non-executive deputy chairman of Global Yellow Pages since 2020[2] and was reported in 2018 to have joined Singapore-based fintech firm HydraX as an adviser and director, in addition to serving as chairman of GlobalCities Sustainable Investment.[3]

Mah Bow Tan
马宝山
Mah at the World Economic Forum Global Redesign Summit 2010 in Doha
Member of Parliament
for Tampines GRC (Tampines East)
In office
3 September 1988 – 11 September 2015
Preceded bynewly created seat
Succeeded byCheng Li Hui
Minister for National Development
In office
3 June 1999 – 20 May 2011
Preceded byLim Hng Kiang
Succeeded byKhaw Boon Wan
Minister for the Environment
In office
1 July 1993 – 16 April 1995
Minister for Communications
In office
1 September 1991 – 3 June 1999
Acting:1 July 1991 - 31 August 1991
Personal details
Born1948[1]
Singapore
Political partyPeople's Action Party (1984)
Spouse(s)Sheryn Kaye Von Senden
Children4
Alma materUniversity of New South Wales
In this Chinese name, the family name is Mah.

Formerly a politician, Mah was a member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP) and an elected Member of Parliament representing the Tampines East ward of Tampines GRC from 1988 to 2015. In Parliament, he was Leader of the House from 2007 to 2011. He also held the Cabinet positions of Minister for Communications (1991–1999), Minister for the Environment (1993–1995), and Minister for National Development (1999–2011) before retiring from politics just before the 2015 general election.

Education

Mah was educated at St. Michael's School and St. Joseph's Institution[4] before he received the President's Scholarship and Colombo Plan Scholarship to study at the University of New South Wales. He graduated in 1971 with a Bachelor of Engineering (first class honours) in industrial engineering and also won the University Medal for being the top student in engineering. He completed a Master of Engineering in operations research at the University of New South Wales in 1973 and received an honorary doctorate from the university in 2001.[4]

Career in SBS and SPH

After completing his university education, Mah worked in the Singapore Bus Service from 1973 to 1983 and became its general manager. He was then seconded to Singapore News and Publications to serve as the chief executive officer of the Singapore Monitor newspaper. From 1985 to 1988, he was the group general manager of Singapore Press Holdings, which was formed from the 1984 merger of Singapore News and Publications and two other organisations.[4]

Political career

1984 general election

Mah entered politics in the 1984 general election when he contested as a candidate of the governing People's Action Party (PAP) in Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency (SMC) against Chiam See Tong of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party. He lost to Chiam, who won with 60.28% of the vote. Lee Kuan Yew, the PAP's leader, was thought to have played a role in Mah's electoral defeat, having been seen as being unnecessarily dismissive in comparing Chiam's average GCE Ordinary Level results to Mah's stellar academic achievements.[5]

1988–2015

During the 1988 general election, Mah joined a three-member PAP team contesting in Tampines Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and they won with 61% of the vote, so Mah became a Member of Parliament representing the Tampines East ward of Tampines GRC. Since then, he and the PAP team in Tampines GRC had won the subsequent five general elections (1991, 1997, 2001, 2006 and 2011) against the opposition Singapore Democratic Alliance and National Solidarity Party. Excluding an uncontested walkover in 1997, Mah and the PAP team in Tampines GRC won with results of between 73.34% (in 2001) and 57.22% (in 2011) of the vote during those five general elections.

In 1990, Mah was appointed Minister of State at the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Communications. A year later, he was appointed to the Cabinet as Acting Minister for Communications while concurrently holding the post of Minister of State for Trade and Industry.

Mah served as Singapore's Minister for Communications from 1991 to 1999. He concurrently served as the Minister for the Environment from 1993 to 1995. He was appointed Minister for National Development in 1999 and served until 2011. He also served as Deputy Leader of the House in Parliament from 2002 to 2007, and Leader of the House from 2007 to 2011.

On 20 May 2011, Mah said at a Building and Construction Authority event that he accepted responsibility over public unhappiness due to a sharp increase in housing prices over the previous years.[6] He stepped down from his Cabinet position of Minister for National Development after the 2011 general election.[7] In a 2013 Chinese-language book published by the Hainan Culture and Heritage Centre, Mah refuted rumours that he had to step down because he had seemingly been blamed for growing public unhappiness over sky-rocketing property prices, claiming that he stepped down to make way for younger, talented people to take over.[8]

Throughout his political career, Mah had also held other positions, including chairman of the board of directors of NTUC Comfort from 1983 to 1986; chairman of the National Productivity Board, National Productivity Council and Skills Redevelopment Fund Advisory Council; chairman of the board of governors of the Singapore Institute of Labour Studies from 1990 to 2002; and president of the Football Association of Singapore from 1999 to 2004.[4]

Mah announced his retirement from politics on 23 August 2015 just before the 2015 general election.[9]

Post-political career

After retiring from politics in 2015, Mah was appointed as an independent director and non-executive chairman of Global Yellow Pages in September 2011.[10][11] In November 2018, Mah joined Singapore-based fintech firm HydraX as an adviser and director, in addition to serving as chairman of GlobalCities Sustainable Investment.[3] He stepped down as non-executive chairman of Global Yellow Pages in 2020 and has been non-executive deputy chairman and non-independent director since then.[2]

Personal life

Mah is married to Sheryn Kaye Von Senden and they have two sons and two daughters.[12]

In 2011, the Flower Dome and Heritage Garden at Gardens by the Bay named a dendrobium Mah Bow Tan in his honour.[13]

References
  1. Corfield, Justin (2010). Historical Dictionary of Singapore (Revised ed.). United States: Scarecrow Press. p. 163. ISBN 0810873877.
  2. "Our People". GYP Properties Limited.
  3. "Mah Bow Tan joins Singapore fintech firm HydraX as investor and adviser". November 15, 2018 – via The Straits Times.
  4. "The Cabinet - Mr Mah Bow Tan". Government of Singapore. Archived from the original on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 22 Jun 2010.
  5. "Did PM help or hinder?". Archived from the original on 2015-08-15. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
  6. "Mah Bow Tan: I accept responsibility for unhappiness". sg.news.yahoo.com.
  7. "Opening Remarks by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Press Conference on the New Cabinet Line-up, 18 May 2011". Prime Minister's Office. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  8. "Mah Bow Tan: I didn't step down because of high housing prices". AsiaOne. September 30, 2013.
  9. Yong, Charissa (23 August 2015). "Mah Bow Tan leaves politics after 27 years as MP". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  10. "Gloria Jean's to offload 25 cafes". Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  11. "Housing complex plans launched". Otago Daily Times Online News. 2017-02-16. Archived from the original on 2017-09-18. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  12. Lee, Siew Hua. "Love and the City". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 2017-09-18. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
  13. "Flower Dome and Heritage Garden photo 17/57". Archived from the original on 2011-11-14. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
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