Ahmad Mattar

In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Mattar is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Ahmad.

Ahmad bin Mohamed Mattar (born 13 August 1940)^[1] is a former Singaporean politician and academic who served as the inaugural Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs from 1977 and 1993 and Minister for the Environment from 1985 to 1993. A former member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leng Kee Constituency between 1972 and 1976, Brickworks Constituency between 1976 and 1988 and the Brickworks division of Brickworks Group Representation Constituency (GRC) between 1988 and 1996.

Ahmad Mattar
Minister for the Environment
In office 2 January 1985 – 30 June 1993
Prime Minister	Lee Kuan Yew Goh Chok Tong
Preceded by	Ong Pang Boon
Succeeded by	Mah Bow Tan
Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs
In office 5 September 1977 – 30 June 1993
Prime Minister	Lee Kuan Yew Goh Chok Tong
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Abdullah Tarmugi
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Brickworks GRC
In office 3 September 1988 – 16 December 1996
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Majority	1988: 13,893 (34.86%) 1991: N/A (walkover)
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Brickworks
In office 23 December 1976 – 17 August 1988
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Majority	1976: 6,401 (47.98%) 1980: N/A (walkover) 1984: 4,119 (32.54%)
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Leng Kee
In office 2 September 1972 – 6 December 1976
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Ow Chin Hock
Majority	6,893 (43.07%)
Personal details
Born	Ahmad bin Mohamed Mattar (1940-08-13) 13 August 1940 (age 85) Singapore, Straits Settlements
Party	People's Action Party (1972–1996)
Alma mater	University of Singapore (BSc; DSc) University of Sheffield (MSc)
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Lecturer, academic

Early life and education

Born when Singapore was part of the Straits Settlements, Ahmad studied at Raffles Institution (RI) before graduating from the University of Singapore (now the National University of Singapore) with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in physics in 1963. He later obtained his Master of Science (MSc) at the University of Sheffield on a Colombo Plan scholarship and earned his Doctor of Science (DSc) at the University of Singapore.^[2]

Career

Prior to entering politics, Ahmad was a lecturer at Singapore Polytechnic (SP) and conducted the first large-scale study on the effects of traffic noise on housing estates in Singapore; the study would later inform future legislations and studies on traffic noise.^[2] In 1982, he founded Mendaki, an organisation established to look into the educational and welfare needs of the Singaporean Malay–Muslim community, and served as its president until 1989.^[3]

Political career

During the early 1970s, Ahmad was recruited by the PAP. On the recommendation of Abdul Rahim Ishak, incumbent MP for Siglap Constituency and younger brother of Yusof Ishak, the inaugural President of Singapore, he stood in Leng Kee Constituency during the 1972 general election and won. From 1977 to 1993, he served as the inaugural Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, a role created to strengthen understanding and improve relations between the Singaporean Malay–Muslim community and the government.^[4]

From 1985 to 1993, he served as the Minister for the Environment in the 7th and 8th Cabinets under Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. During his tenure, he was noted for tightening restrictions on the sale of aerosols containing chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), continuing the clean-up of the Singapore River and introducing the corrective work order (CWO) to combat littering through the public shaming of "litterbugs". Despite plans to resign from the Cabinet after the 1991 general election, he was persuaded by newly elected prime minister Goh Chok Tong, who succeeded Lee, to remain for a final term in his first Cabinet.

In 1993, Ahmad resigned from the Cabinet; he remained a backbencher until his full retirement from politics at the 1997 general election. He has largely kept a low profile since.^[5]

Personal life

Ahmad is the uncle of Siti Alia Mattar, a Workers' Party (WP) candidate for Punggol GRC in the 2025 general election. The WP team lost to Gan Kim Yong and his PAP team with 44.83% of the vote.^[6]