22 Facts About Simon Tay

Simon Tay Seong Chee is a Singaporean lawyer and legal academic who served as a Nominated Member of Parliament between 1997 and 2003.

Simon Tay's father, Tay Seow Huah, was a senior civil servant.

In 1993, Simon Tay went on to pursue a Master of Laws degree at Harvard University as a Fulbright Scholar.

In 1989, Simon Tay was a columnist for The Sunday Times newspaper for two years.

In 1991, Simon Tay started the Singapore Volunteers Overseas with the Singapore International Foundation, which recruits young volunteers to provide technical assistance in developing countries.

In 1995, Simon Tay was on the board of directors of the non-governmental, Singapore Environment Council.

In 1997, Simon Tay, nominated by the public, was selected by a special Parliamentary committee and appointed by the president of Singapore to serve in Parliament as one of nine non-elected and independent Members of Parliament.

On 30 June 1998, Simon Tay moved a motion in Parliament pertaining to the haze pollution.

Simon Tay continued to serve as a NMP until 2003, for a record three terms.

In 1998, Simon Tay was appointed by the prime minister to lead a public consultation, known as the Singapore 21, on the future needs and aspirations of Singapore in the future.

Simon Tay was part of the Main Committee of 11 Members of Parliament and was the co-chair of the committee on "Consultation and Consensus vs Decisiveness and Quick Action".

In 1999, Simon Tay took up the position of Chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.

Simon Tay was named a "global leader of tomorrow" during the 2000 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in addition to being featured in the Far Eastern Economic Review as one of 'Ten People to Watch in Asia'.

From 2002 to 2008, Simon Tay chaired the National Environment Agency of Singapore, the country's main agency for environmental protection and public health.

In 2009, Simon Tay spent a year in New York as a Bernard Schwartz Fellow.

Simon Tay formerly taught at Harvard Law School, Yale and the Fletcher School of Tufts University as a visiting professor.

Simon Tay is currently associate professor of law at the National University of Singapore, Chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs and Senior Consultant at WongPartnership LLP, a leading Asian law firm.

Simon Tay writes fortnightly commentaries in TODAY, a Singaporean newspaper, and monthly columns in The Peak Singapore, a lifestyle magazine title.

Simon Tay's columns are featured in other Asian newspapers such as Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, Thailand's Nation and Indonesia's Jakarta Post.

Simon Tay appears regularly in American and international media, including BBC, CNN, and Bloomberg.

Simon Tay is one of the editors of the Asian Journal of International Law.

Apart from his academic and political interests Simon Tay is a poet and author.