Lam Pin Min

Dr Lam Pin Min (; born 1 September 1969) is a former Singaporean politician and medical doctor. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was Senior Minister of State in the Ministry for Health and the Ministry for Transport from 1 May 2017 to 26 July 2020. However, he was not elected after losing the 2020 general election in Sengkang GRC.
He was also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sengkang West SMC from 7 May 2011 to 23 June 2020 and for Ang Mo Kio GRC for Sengkang West from 6 May 2006 to 19 April 2011. He is a Singaporean Chinese of Hakka descent and has family roots in Dabu County, Guangdong, China. 
His PAP team anchored by the then-Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Ng Chee Meng was defeated by the Workers' Party (WP) team helmed by He Tingru in the newly-created Sengkang GRC in 2020 Singapore general election. He lost his Member of Parliament seat as a result of being voted out. His team was the second PAP team which lost a Group Representation Constituency to the Workers' Party.
Early life.
Lam has four siblings: two brothers and a younger sister. As the middle child, he is quoted to have had to "recycle the secondhand textbooks handed down from [his] elder brother." He grew up in one of the earliest HDB flats in Tanglin Halt Road. It was a 3-room HDB flat – 2 bedrooms and 1 living room, with only one bedroom being air-conditioned. The house was cramped and the siblings had to sleep on mattresses on the floor. Lam's father was the sole breadwinner as his mother stayed home to look after the four children. All three of his siblings, and him, have graduated from university, supported by their parents. Lam claims he grew up wanting to be a veterinarian, but his parents thought that studying to become a doctor locally would be much cheaper.
Career.
Lam served as a regular medical officer in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in 1995, obtaining a Diploma in Aviation Medicine from the United Kingdom in 1997 and subsequently a Fellowship in the Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh) and a Master in Medicine in Ophthalmology from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2000. Dr Lam held many appointments in the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), including Officer Commanding in an Airbase Medical Centre and as a Branch Head in the RSAF Aeromedical Centre. He also spent 3 months serving as the medical commander of the Singapore Medical Contingent, serving in the United Nations Military Hospital in East Timor during pre-independence in 2000. Lam was trained as an Aviation Medicine Specialist and served the RSAF as a medical officer and Flight Surgeon from 1995 to 2003, before moving into clinical practice in 2003. Prior to becoming a Minister of State, he served as a pediatric ophthalmologist at KK Women's and Children's Hospital, the Singapore National Eye Centre, and Eagle Eye Centre. Lam sits on the Civil Aviation Medical Board and is the Adviser to the Society of Aviation Medicine, Singapore.
After his electoral defeat in Sengkang GRC in 2020 Singapore general election, he joined Eagle Eye Centre (EEC) as the Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Paediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus Service and Lumens Auto as a senior adviser on 1 September and 27 October 2020 respectively.
Political career.
Lam was first elected to parliament at the 2006 general election as a member of the PAP team in the Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency. He was part of the six-member PAP team (led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong) which defeated the team from the Workers' Party by 96,636 votes (66.1%) to 49,479 (33.9%).
At the 2011 general election, Lam's Sengkang West ward (which encompasses Anchorvale and Fernvale of Sengkang New Town) was made a single-member constituency. Lam stood in the single-member constituency and defeated Koh Choong Yong of the Workers' Party by 14,689 votes (58.1%) to 10,591 (41.9%).
At the 2015 general election, Lam defeated Koh Choong Yong of the Worker's Party in Sengkang West SMC after scoring 62.1% of the vote.
Lam served as the Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health from 2009 to 2014 (having previously been the Deputy Chairman from 2006 to 2008).
In August 2014, Lam was appointed a Minister of State in the Ministry of Health.
Subsequently in May 2017, Dr Lam was appointed Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Transport.
During the 2020 general election, Lam contested in the newly carved Sengkang Group Representation Constituency made up by Sengkang West SMC, Punggol East SMC and parts of the Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC. Lam stood in the Group representation constituency and was defeated by the Workers' Party team which had won the election with 60,136 votes (52.13%) to 55,214 votes (47.87%), resulting in an electoral defeat. This is the second instance of the ruling PAP losing a Group Representation Constituency to the Opposition since their loss in 2011 to the Worker's Party in Aljunied Group Representation Constituency.
Controversies.
In January 2015, Lam was involved in a controversy wherein Build-To-Order residents in Fernvale Lea, in his Sengkang West ward, were not informed of plans to build a columbarium next to their block. During a meeting with residents, Dr Lam was spotted sitting alongside the contractors, leading to a misunderstanding that he was on their side instead of the residents’. Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan informed Parliament that there will be no commercial columbarium at the site.
In February 2018 it was revealed that Lam had sent an appeal letter directly to State Courts to help his resident, Tang Ling Lee, who was sentenced to one week jail for seriously injuring a motorcyclist in a road traffic accident. The High Court Judge, justice See Kee Oon dismissed the appeal, stating that Lam's letter had misrepresented the facts and trivialised the injuries sustained by the rider. This incident led to a furor online with many netizens questioning why Lam, a legislative as well as an executive member of the government, was overstepping his duty by interfering with the judiciary. Such letters should be forwarded to the Attorney-General’s Chambers first.
Education.
Lam was educated in Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) and National Junior College (NJC) (1986-1987). He graduated from the medical school of the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1993. He then joined the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) as a regular medical officer in 1995. Whilst in service in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), he obtained his postgraduate Diploma in Aviation Medicine from the Royal College of Physicians (London) in 1997 and subsequently a Fellowship in the Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh) and a Master in Medicine in Ophthalmology from NUS in 2000.
Personal life.
Lam is married and has two daughters. He is a Christian.