Denise Phua Lay Peng (Chinese: 潘丽萍; pinyin: Pān Lìpíng;[1] born 9 December 1959)[2] is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Mayor of Central Singapore District since 2014. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Kampong Glam division of Jalan Besar GRC since 2015.
Denise Phua
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潘丽萍
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Mayor of Central Singapore District | |
Assumed office 27 May 2014 | |
Prime Minister | Lee Hsien Loong Lawrence Wong |
Preceded by | Sam Tan |
Member of Parliament for Jalan Besar GRC (Kampong Glam) | |
Assumed office 11 September 2015 | |
Preceded by | Constituency established |
In office 6 May 2006 – 7 May 2011 | |
Preceded by | Loh Meng See (PAP) |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Member of Parliament for Moulmein–Kallang GRC (Kampong Glam) | |
In office 7 May 2011 – 24 August 2015 | |
Preceded by | Constituency established |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | (1959-12-09) 9 December 1959 (age 64) Colony of Singapore |
Political party | People's Action Party |
Alma mater | National University of Singapore (BA) Golden Gate University (MBA) |
Occupation | Politician |
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Prior to entering politics, she is a full-time special needs volunteer after working in the private sector for two decades. She became the president of the Autism Resource Centre and co-founded Pathlight School.
As an MP, she has focused on developing programmes for disabled people and special needs communities in Singapore. She is a member of both the Government Parliamentary Committees (GPC) for Education and Social and Family Development.
Phua attended Balestier Girls' Primary School,[3] Raffles Girls' School and Hwa Chong Junior College[1] before graduating from the National University of Singapore (NUS) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.
She went on to complete a Master of Business Administration degree at Golden Gate University.[1][4]
In a career spanning two decades, she held management positions at Hewlett-Packard and the Wuthelam Group. She then founded a regional leadership training firm, the Centre of Effective Leadership.[1]
Her son was diagnosed with autism at the age of three.[5][6] As Phua consulted professionals and did research on how to help him,[5][6] she thought about how she could help other autistic children.[7] She subsequently founded WeCAN, a charity which helps caregivers of autistic people and offers early intervention programmes for autistic preschoolers.[4][8]
In 2005, Phua left the corporate world to be a full-time special needs volunteer.[3][4] She and her partners sold the Centre of Effective Leadership to Right Management, a Manpower Inc. subsidiary.[1] Phua then became president of the Autism Resource Centre.[3][9] She often wrote to newspapers and government agencies on issues affecting the special needs community.[6][10] She is one of the key architects behind three 5-year Enabling Masterplans for the Disabled in Singapore.[11]
Phua is also the co-founder[12] and former acting principal[9]ofPathlight School, the first special school for autistic children in Singapore.[9] The school offers mainstream curriculum and life skills education to its students.[8][13] A believer in helping autistic people realise their potential and integrate into society,[8][14] Phua helped develop many of the school's programmes.[15] These include employability skills training through a student-run café,[16] specialised vocational training,[14] and satellite classes where Pathlight students mix with mainstream students.[15] In four years, enrolment increased tenfold[17] and the school attracted media attention for its impact on students.[13][14]
Continuing her volunteer efforts, Phua continues to supervise two charities – Autism Resource Centre (Singapore) and Autism Association (Singapore), and two special schools – Pathlight School and Eden School.[11]
Phua joined the ruling PAP's Jalan Besar branch in 2004.[12] The following year, she was appointed to the Feedback Supervisory Panel, which leads the government's Feedback Unit.[10] In the 2006 general election, she was fielded as a PAP candidate in Jalan Besar GRC, which was contested by the Singapore Democratic Alliance.[18] During the election campaign, she promised to make Singapore a more inclusive society by representing disabled people and special needs communities.[7][19] The PAP team won Jalan Besar GRC with 69.26% of the vote.[18]
In July 2006, the PAP formed a workgroup, headed by Phua, to explore initiatives to improve the financial security of disabled and special needs children.[20] Phua also led a committee that drew up a five-year plan to improve services for special needs children.[21] The PAP studied their proposals and later implemented some, such as a National non-profit Special Needs Trust Fund.[22] Laws were also drafted to prohibit abuse of mentally disabled people and to allow parents to appoint someone to look after their disabled children after they die.[23]
Phua was appointed Mayor of Central Singapore District in 2014 for a three-year term,[24] and was reappointed for the following term in 2017.[25] As Mayor, Phua has initiated many projects to meet the needs of her residents. These include a suite of more than 50 community programmes by the Central Singapore Community Development Council to help residents live a better life, and build a do-good district. Among them are:
Parliament of Singapore | ||
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Preceded by Loh Meng See |
Member of Parliament for Jalan Besar GRC (Kampong Glam) 2006 – 2011 |
Constituency abolished |
New constituency | Member of Parliament for Moulmein–Kallang GRC (Kampong Glam) 2011 – 2015 |
Constituency abolished |
New constituency | Member of Parliament for Jalan Besar GRC (Kampong Glam) 2015 – present |
Incumbent |
Government offices | ||
Preceded by | Mayor of Central Singapore district 27 May 2014 – present |
Incumbent |