Who is former Workers’ party member Tang Liang Hong and why are WP members silent on his death?

Political Otter
Oct 3
2 min read

Former Workers’ Party (WP) politician Tang Liang Hong has passed away on 15 Sep 2025 at the age of 90. There will be a wake held in Woodlands from 2^nd to 4^th October, before a private family farewell service on 5^th October.

Who is Tang Liang Hong?

Tang Hong Liang was one of the first students from the Chinese stream to graduate from NUS Law School. Thereafter, he became a lawyer and served as Chairman of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

He came into prominence during the 1997 election when he had contested as part of a five-member WP team alongside the late WP leader J. B. Jeyaretnam in Cheng San GRC. During the campaign, he was accused by the People’s Action Party (PAP) of being an anti-Christian Chinese chauvinist, which he subsequently rejected this label. Although the WP team lost the election, they had received 45.18 per cent of the votes, which was one of their strongest performances then.

After the election, Tang filed police reports against several PAP members and was served with multiple defamation lawsuits by then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, then Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and then-Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Tang was also accused of tax evasion and left Singapore shortly after for Australia.

Silence of the Workers’ Party’s prominent members on Tang’s death:

When news broke of Tang’s death, only alternative media platforms like Mothership, Wake Up Singapore or The Online Citizen reported it. Prominent Workers’ Party members such as Secretary-General Pritam Singh and Sylvia Lim have remained silent on his death. Instead, they have been posting on the upcoming Mid-Autumn festival celebration, or on closing the WP’s bank account used to fund-raise for AHTC case.

Even though Tang Liang Hong did not leave politics on a pleasant note, he was still an important part of the WP’s history in Singapore. It is astounding that the WP leaders did not publicly comment on his death. Could this be an attempt to whitewash their Chinese roots to pander to the current population? How will Low Thia Khiang feel about the treatment of his former comrade?

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