SINGAPORE — Two-time general election candidate Terence Tan, who represented the Workers' Party in Marine Parade GRC in 2015 and East Coast GRC in 2020, has left the opposition party to focus on his career and family.
The 53-year-old, who is married to Sengkang GRC MP He Ting Ru, told The Straits Times he had stepped down from the party in January, and that the party's leaders had been very understanding about it.
"I think from the perspective of one nuclear family with young children, my wife's contribution is sufficient," said Tan, who has three sons below the age of seven with He.
"I feel that my time is better served trying to support my wife, to spend more time with my kids, and to develop my career."
Tan started volunteering with the WP shortly after the 2011 General Election, and became a member of the party in 2012. He was in the party's central executive committee as deputy organising secretary from 2018 to 2020.
In his electoral debut in 2015, Tan was part of the party's Marine Parade GRC team that garnered 35.9 per cent of the vote against the incumbent PAP team led by former prime minister Goh Chok Tong.
He was also fielded in the same constituency. They were not married at the time.
In 2020, Tan was part of the WP's team in East Coast GRC, which got 46.6 per cent of the vote against the PAP team led by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat.
He was elected into Parliament that year as part of the WP's team in Sengkang GRC, which got 52.1 per cent of the vote.
Elaborating on his decision to leave the party, Tan said: "I think party activities do take up quite a bit of time for anyone, so there's always a bit of give and take, and sometimes a lot of give."
He added that as an MP and a party leader, He holds Meet-the-People sessions in her constituency, attends various grassroots activities, helps manage the party's town council in Sengkang, and also spends a significant amount of time on her parliamentary duties.
If both he and his wife were in the political fray, his children would bear the brunt of that decision, he said.
On why he chose to leave the party and rather than taking a back seat as an ordinary member, Tan said: "I am either fully active and engaged, or I'm not. That's my perspective."
He said he continues to be a staunch supporter of the WP, and remains close friends with party leaders, such as party chief Pritam Singh and party chair Sylvia Lim.
He added that they were "very nice about it and very understanding" when he resigned from the party in January.
As to how his departure would affect the party, he said he believed that "no one is indispensable" and that the party has many capable people and new faces.
For now, Tan, who is a director at Robertson Chambers LLC, intends to focus on his career as a litigation lawyer, and also spend time with his children.
He added that he does not intend to join any other political parties, and will continue to volunteer for the WP if and when needed.
"If the GE comes, I will volunteer as a volunteer," he quipped.
ST has reached out to the WP for comments.
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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
