Daniel Goh

Goh studied in St Joseph's Institution, completed his undergraduate and graduate studies in Sociology in the National University of Singapore. He was then awarded the International Institute Fellowship, Department of Sociology Teaching Fellowship and the Rackham Graduate Fellowship to pursue his doctoral study in sociology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor from 2000 to 2005.[1]

On his return to the National University of Singapore in 2005, he was appointed assistant professor at the Department of Sociology. In 2012, he was awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor. He is currently the deputy head of the Department of Sociology and the convener of the Cultural Studies Minor and Cultural Studies in Asia PhD Programme. His research interests have focused on political sociology, urban sociology, cultural studies, sociology of religion, and sociology of ethnic and multicultural relations.[2]

Goh has been a supporter of the Workers' Party since 1988, when he attended his first political rally at Eunos.[3] However, he only started volunteering with the Workers' Party only in the 2011 General Election and joined as a member in 2013.[4] He began his formal political career when he contested in the 2015 General Election under the banner of the Workers' Party in the East Coast Group Representation Constituency (East Coast GRC). He contested as part of a four-man team consisting of himself, Gerald Giam, Mohamed Fairoz Bin Shariff, and Leon Perera. Although his team lost with 39.27% of the votes,[5] he filled the NCMP seat that was offered to but turned down by former Punggol East Member of Parliament Lee Li Lian. He was a Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) of the 13th Parliament of Singapore from 29 February 2016 to 22 June 2020 and is an associate professor at the Department of Sociology in the National University of Singapore. [6]

During a parliamentary debate on 26 February 2019, Goh asked for the retirement age to be removed so that workers' can age with dignity and independence. He added that this move helps "to reform the system so that Singaporeans do not have to worry about their finances and can retire in their 60s if they want to, but they can also continue to work if they want to."[7]

On 21 April 2020, the Workers' Party announced that Goh would not contest the upcoming general election due to a health condition, in addition to resigning from various party posts except in the central executive council.[8]