Francis Yuen

Francis Yuen
阮健平
2nd Secretary-General of the Progress Singapore Party
In office
1 April 2021 – 26 March 2023
ChairmanTan Cheng Bock
(since 2021)
Preceded byTan Cheng Bock
Succeeded byLeong Mun Wai
2nd Assistant Secretary-General of the Progress Singapore Party
In office
2019–2021
Preceded byLeong Mun Wai
Succeeded byNadrarajah Loganathan
Ang Yong Guan
Personal details
Born1950 (age 74–75)
Colony of Singapore
Children2
Alma materNational University of Singapore
Air Command and Staff College
Military service
Branch/serviceRepublic of Singapore Air Force
RankLieutenant-Colonel
Unit120 Squadron
In this Chinese name, the family name is Yuen.

Francis Yuen (Chinese: 阮健平; pinyin: Ruǎn Jiànpíng) is a Singaporean politician. As a member of Progress Singapore Party, he was appointed as PSP Assistant Secretary-General between 2019 and 2021 and as Secretary-General of PSP from 2021 to 2023.

Yuen had indicated that he would lead party into the next general election.[1] However, this did not happen as he stepped down as the PSP secretary-general before the election.

Early life

Yuen is the oldest child of eight siblings in his family and was raised in Chinatown, Singapore. Both his parents died within a year of each other during his O Level examination period. Yuen signed on with the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) after his A Level.[2]

Career

Military career

As part of his training to be a helicopter pilot, Yuen was part of the first batch of pilots to be sent to France for aviation training. As part of 120 Squadron, he assembled the first RSAF helicopter, and also flew on his first operational flight on the Cessna 172. Failing to graduate from flight training, Yuen was selected as a scholar and pursued a bachelor's degree in business administration at the National University of Singapore, where he also attained his master's degree. He topped his classes and won several academic awards.[2]

Yuen was then deployed to the United States Air Command and Staff College before returning to the RSAF at the Air Force Systems Command for various leadership roles.[2]

Political career

In the 2020 general election, Yuen joined the Progress Singapore Party and contested as part of a four member team in Chua Chu Kang GRC but subsequently lost to the ruling People's Action Party.[3]

After the 2020 general election, Yuen was appointed as Progress Singapore Party Assistant Secretary-General between 2019 and 2021. Yuen was appointed as Secretary-General of Progress Singapore Party from 2021 to 2023. Yuen had indicated that he would lead party into the next general election when he was the Secretary-General. This did not happen as he stepped down as secretary-general before the next election.

References

  1. ^ "'Don't push older people aside': Tan Cheng Bock backs PSP's pick of 71-year-old as next chief". Today. 3 April 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Zheng, Zhangxin; Tan, Jeanette; Chua, Nigel. "What's a 70-year-old ex-Air Force colonel doing in the opposition? PSP's Francis Yuen Kin Pheng tells us". Mothership. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  3. ^ Yuen, Sin (1 April 2021). "Francis Yuen is new PSP chief, taking over from founder Tan Cheng Bock". The Straits Times. Retrieved 1 April 2021.


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