Fong Swee Suan

Fong Swee Suan (; 27 October 1931 – 4 February 2017) was a Singaporean trade unionist, founding member of the People's Action Party (PAP), and a Barisan Sosialis leader. Early life and education Fong was born in Senggarang, Johor, then a part of the Unfederated Malay States, on 27 October 1931. He was the third child of seven children of his laundry man father and farmer mother. He studied at Zhong Hua Primary School, and later attended the Hua Qiao Secondary School in the town of Batu Pahat. Following this, he applied to study at the Chinese teacher’s training college but was rejected due to his involvement in the boycott, and instead attended a private English School. and later formed the People's Action Party with Lee and other trade unionists, lawyers and journalists on 21 November 1954. Fong became a member of PAP's first Central Executive Committee. In the same year, he and Lim founded the Singapore Factory and Shop Workers' Union. Fong would later denied causing the riots years later. and was detained with other union leaders on Saint John's Island. Fong was released in 1959 when the PAP won the 1959 general election in a landslide victory.

Fong left PAP and became the secretary-general of the newly formed Singapore Association of Trade Unions (SATU) in August. In the same month, Fong joined Barisan Sosialis as its party secretary. and then later sent to Malaysia for detention.

Personal life Fong and his wife, Chen Poh Cheng, were childhood friends and married in 1960. His ban was lifted in December 1990

Three years after Fong died, his widow Chen committed suicide on 6 December 2020. She was 84 years of age at the time of her death.