Alex Yam

Early life and education

Yam was born on June 20, 1981 at Mount Alvernia Hospital in Singapore. He attended Maris Stella High School, graduating in 1993, followed by Dunman High School, where he graduated in 1997. He went on to study at Victoria Junior College, before obtaining in 2005 a Bachelor's in Politics and International Relations with honours from the University of Kent.

While at Kent, he was elected to the Union Council representing Ethnic Minorities and International Students. He was concurrently Co-President of the University Chaplaincy.

Early career

In 2000, Yam was awarded the National Volunteers Award by the Life Insurance Association of Singapore (LIA) for his work as Honorary Secretary of HEARTS International. From 2005 to 2006, he worked as an administrative officer at the National University of Singapore. Yam joined the National Trades Union Congress in 2006 and was Head, Strategies & Planning and Head, Youth Lab while also serving with the Singapore Industrial & Services Employees' Union as a Consultant.

From 2006 to 2010, Yam served as Secretary to then Minister for the Environment Lim Swee Say in the Buona Vista Citizen's Consultative Committee and was also Chairman of the Youth Wing, having succeeded Liang Eng Hwa in both roles when Liang entered politics.

He subsequently served in Yew Tee Citizen's Consultative Committee and the Yew Tee Community Club Management Committee from 2010 to 2011 before standing for elections to succeed former Minister of Transport Yeo Cheow Tong.

Since 2009, he has served as a board member of the Chinese Development Assistance Council as a nominee of the Patron of CDAC. From October 2015, he chaired the Outreach Committee of the CDAC, having taken over from Grace Fu who relinquished her role on becoming Minister for Culture, Community & Youth. He was later the Chairman of the newly formed Fulfilling Ageing Committee from November 2015, handing leadership of the Outreach Committee to Ong Ye Kung.

Political career

He was previously Secretary of the Young PAP General Branch and executive committee member of the Young PAP EXCO. Yam was first sworn in as a Member of Parliament for the Chua Chu Kang Group Representation Constituency on May 7, 2011, following the Singapore general election in 2011. In the Singapore general election in 2015, his division of Yew Tee was redrawn into the new Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC. He was re-elected as Member of Parliament for the same division on September 11, 2015 with Lawrence Wong, Halimah Yacob and Ong Teng Koon.

Yam was appointed Deputy Executive Director of the PAP in 2012. He became Executive Director upon the retirement of Party veteran Mr Lau Ping Sum Pearce in early 2013. He relinquished his full-time role in the National Trades Union Congress and became Advisor to the United Workers of Petroleum Industries and the Reuters Local Employees Union.

He was the Deputy Chairman of the Defence & Foreign Affairs Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) and sat on the Culture, Community & Youth GPC and the Social & Family Development GPC in the 12th Parliament.

In the 13th Parliament, he was elected chairman of the newly created National Development GPC and concurrently serves in the Culture, Community & Youth GPC.

Yam is a member of the Animal Welfare Legislative Review Committee and Chairman of the Multi-Stakeholder Consultative Committee for the Codes of Animal Welfare. Together with Yeo Guat Kwang he moved a Private Member's Bill to amend the Animal & Birds Act to strengthen animal welfare legislation in 2014.

He has also actively championed anti-human trafficking legislation, supporting Christopher de Souza's Private Member's Bill targeting traffickers and protecting victims.

He has served on the National Committee for Youth Guidance & Rehabilitation since 2011. He has been a member of the National Youth Council. He co-chairs the Sports & Arts (SPAR) sub-committee with Tin Pei Ling and was involved in the launch of the YEAH! Centre as part of the Youth Employment System (YES).

A PCF graduate himself, Yam was appointed as a member of the Council of Management of the PAP Community Foundation in 2011 and is also a member of its Executive Committee.

Personal life

Yam is a Cantonese Singaporean. His paternal grandfather, the late Yam Kok Yuen (Chinese: 任國源; pinyin: Rèn Guóyuán), was a Cantonese community leader representing Heshan and Zhaoqing's clansmen and was a founding member of the Malayan Chinese Association in Singapore.

Yam is a Roman Catholic, and is married to Mdm Jocelyn Wong. They have two young sons. He and his wife are active in their parish and neighbourhood community and also lead a church support group for families who have suffered miscarriages, stillbirths or abortions. A pro-family advocate, he is known to hold pro-life views along with Christopher de Souza.