SINGAPORE – Former Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin has resigned from his post as president of the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC), the organisation announced in a statement on Tuesday.
This comes a day after Mr Tan resigned from the People’s Action Party, as Speaker and as an MP for Marine Parade GRC, over an extramarital affair with Tampines GRC MP Cheng Li Hui. Ms Cheng also resigned on Monday.
Responding to queries from The Straits Times, an SNOC spokesman said that its executive committee has accepted Mr Tan’s resignation, and noted that the Constitution states that “in the event of the resignation of the president, the vice-president who is most senior in office shall be appointed as the acting president for the remainder of the term of the resigned president”.
“Accordingly, Mrs Jessie Phua, who is currently the most senior vice-president in office, will be appointed by SNOC as its acting president at the next executive committee meeting,” said the SNOC.
“The SNOC executive committee thanks Mr Tan for his years of service and contributions to the SNOC.”
The SNOC is a non-profit organisation that co-ordinates the selection of Singapore athletes for major Games such as the Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and South-east Asian (SEA) Games.
Mr Tan was appointed its president in 2014, after then Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Teo Chee Hean stepped down from the role following 16 years at the helm.
Mr Tan was re-elected unanimously in 2022 for a third term ending in 2026.
During his tenure, he witnessed several major Games milestones, including national swimmer Joseph Schooling’s historic gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
He was also at the helm when the SNOC excluded marathoner Soh Rui Yong from the 2019 and 2021 SEA Games, with the organisation citing Soh’s poor conduct and behaviour as reasons for his non-selection.
Soh received the green light for the 2023 SEA Games, but was again omitted from the upcoming Asian Games after SNOC’s appeals committee said he had failed to “honour commitments” to the SNOC and had “continued to make disparaging and derisive remarks about others in the public domain”.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Mr Soh, 31, said: “I have always held hope that we would reconcile our differences before the end of either of our time in sports or office.
“I wish him all the best moving forward, and thoughts are with his wife and children. I encourage all of us to exercise grace and compassion in what must be a difficult time for the family.”
Mr Tan, a former brigadier-general who entered politics in 2011, had come under fire earlier in July when a video emerged of the former Speaker muttering the words “****ing populist”, following Workers’ Party MP Jamus Lim’s speech in Parliament in April on helping lower-income groups.
Barely a week later, news of the affair broke, when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong revealed that Mr Tan had been in a relationship with Ms Cheng at least since 2020, and that they had continued the affair despite both being counselled by the PM in February.
In the wake of the scandal, Mr Tan has resigned from roles in other organisations.
The National Council of Social Service, where Mr Tan has been an adviser since 2017, said on Tuesday he had asked to step down from his role with immediate effect.
Its spokesman added that the council “is grateful for his leadership and support over the years, particularly his passion in promoting volunteerism in the social service sector”.
The Centre for Fathering also noted that Mr Tan stepped down from his role as patron on Monday, and thanked him for his service, which began in January 2018.
Mr Tan is also deputy chairman of the board of Mandai Park Holdings, and when asked on Monday if he would be removed, it said: “We have nothing further to add from Mr Tan’s statement on the matter.”
