Singapore's fifth president, Ong Teng Cheong (born 1936) took office in 1993. It was the climax of Ong's 21-year career as a member of Parliament (MP), cabinet minister, party chairman, and trade union chief.

Ong Teng Cheong was born in Singapore on January 22, 1936. He was educated at the Chinese High School in Singapore and proceeded to the University of Adelaide in Australia, to study architecture. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in architecture in 1961 and worked as an architect in Adelaide for two years before returning to Singapore in 1964. While in Adelaide he married Ling Siew May, also an architect. Ong worked as an architect in the private sector for nearly two years after returning to Si ngapore. In September 1965 he left for the United Kingdom to pursue a post-graduate degree in town planning at the University of Liverpool on a Colombo Plan scholarship. He obtained his master's degree in...