Yong was an Assistant Commissioner of Police with the Singapore Police Force. He joined the SPF in 1995 and retired in August 2015. During his tenure, he held various key appointments, including Deputy Director, Director, Commander of Clementi Police Division, Deputy Director and Director. In 2011, Yong started the Delta League, a youth engagement programme using football to keep youths out of trouble during the June and December school holidays. In 2015, Yong was appointed as special adviser to Delta League and continues to provide guidance on the development of the league. As of 2016, more than 14,000 youths have participated and benefited from Delta League. Yong also served on the National Crime Prevention Council and the National Police Cadet Corps Council. He was also the Vice Chairman of the Police Sports Association and Vice Chairman of the POLWEL Cooperative Society.
Political career
On 19 August 2015, Yong was introduced as one of the PAP candidates to be fielded in Tanjong Pagar GRC at the 2015 General Election. On 11 September 2015, the PAP team for Tanjong Pagar GRC consisting of Chan Chun Sing, Indranee Rajah, Chia Shi-Lu, Joan Pereira and Melvin Yong won with 77.7% of the total votes. On 7 October 2015, Yong was appointed as Chairman of Tanjong Pagar Town Council, taking over from Lily Neo. As a trade union-affiliated MP, Yong delivered his maiden parliamentary speech at the Debate on President’s Address, focusing on the importance of tripartism as Singapore’s key economic advantage. Yong is a member of both the Transport Government Parliamentary Committee and the Community, Culture & Youth GPC.
Other career
Yong became a People's Association grassroots leader in 2002 when he joined the newly formed Punggol Cove Residents’ Committee as a member. He later became the RC chairman from 2005–2008 before stepping down to take on appointments in the Punggol North Citizens’ Consultative Committee. Yong was the CCC’s Treasurer and Secretary between 2008–2015. In September 2015, Yong joined the NTUC as a Director. On 1 January 2016, Yong joined the United Workers of Electronics & Electrical Industries as its Deputy Executive Secretary and subsequently took over from Heng Chee How as the Executive Secretary on 1 June 2016. In 2018, Yong was elected . Yong was appointed a Member of the National Wages Council since 2016. After a spate of lift breakdowns in late 2016, Yong wrote on the struggles of lift technicians in Singapore on the NTUC's blog Labourbeat. He subsequently became the Chairman of the Lift & Escalator Sectoral Tripartite Committee to work on a Manpower Development Plan for the lift and escalator industry. On 1 September 2017, Yong was appointed a board member of the Land Transport Authority. Yong, along with Desmond Choo, were appointed as the Assistant Secretary-General of NTUC on 1 April 2018.
Personal life
Yong is married and has two children with his wife Connie. He is a Roman Catholic.
