Permanent Secretary Appointments – 31 May 2024

New Permanent Secretary Appointment

Mr Lau Peet Meng (刘笔明) will be appointed as Permanent Secretary (Transport Development) with effect from 1 July 2024.

Changes in Permanent Secretary Appointments

2.       The following changes to Permanent Secretary appointments and designations will take effect from 1 July 2024.

3.       Mr Lai Chung Han (黎忠汉) will be appointed as Permanent Secretary (Development), Ministry of Finance and will relinquish his appointment as Permanent Secretary (Education).

4.     Ms Lim Wan Yong (林宛蓉) will be appointed as Permanent Secretary (Education) and will relinquish her appointment as Permanent Secretary (Development), Ministry of Social and Family Development.

5.      Mr Augustin Lee (李东阳), Second Permanent Secretary (Smart Nation and Digital Government Group), Prime Minister’s Office will be appointed concurrently as Second Permanent Secretary (Education).

6.      Ms Lai Wei Lin (赖慧玲) will be appointed as Permanent Secretary (Policy and Development), Ministry of Health and relinquish her appointments as Permanent Secretary (Transport Development) and Second Permanent Secretary (Finance). This is an update to PSD’s press release on 8 April 2024 about Permanent Secretary appointments.

7.       Mr Ng How Yue (黄好游), Permanent Secretary (Health Development) will be re-designated as Permanent Secretary (Services), Ministry of Health and appointed concurrently as Permanent Secretary (Development), Ministry of Social and Family Development.

8.      Ms Teoh Zsin Woon (张静文) will relinquish her appointment as Permanent Secretary (Development), Public Service Division and continue as Permanent Secretary (Culture, Community and Youth).

Permanent Secretary Re-designations

9.      The following Permanent Secretary re-designations will take effect from 8 July 2024, in tandem with the renaming of the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) as the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI).

10.      Mr Joseph Leong (梁颖强), Permanent Secretary (Communications and Information) and concurrently Permanent Secretary (Smart Nation and Digital Government Group), Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Permanent Secretary (Cybersecurity), PMO will be re-designated as Permanent Secretary (Digital Development and Information) and Permanent Secretary (Smart Nation), PMO. He will continue as Permanent Secretary (Cybersecurity), PMO.

11.       Mr Chng Kai Fong (庄凯峰), Permanent Secretary (Information and Development), MCI and concurrently Permanent Secretary (Development) (Cybersecurity), PMO will be re-designated as Permanent Secretary (Information and Development), MDDI. He will continue as Permanent Secretary (Development)(Cybersecurity), PMO.

12.       Mr Augustin Lee (李东阳), Second Permanent Secretary (Smart Nation and Digital Government Group), PMO, will be re-designated as Second Permanent Secretary (Smart Nation), PMO. He will continue as Second Permanent Secretary (Education).

Background

Mr Lau Peet Meng

13.       Mr Lau, 49, joined the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in 1994 after he was awarded an SPF Overseas Scholarship. He was appointed to the Administrative Service in 2000. Mr Lau has held various appointments in the SPF, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Home Affairs. He was appointed Chief Executive of the then-Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore in 2011, and as Director (Operations), SPF in 2014 and subsequently the first Deputy Commissioner (Operations), SPF in 2015. Mr Lau was appointed Director, Security and Intelligence Division, Ministry of Defence in 2019.

Mr Lai Chung Han

14.       Mr Lai, 51, has held various command and staff appointments in the course of his military career in the Singapore Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence, including as Commanding Officer of 188 Squadron and Fleet Commander. He was appointed as Deputy Secretary (Policy), Ministry of Defence in 2012 and was Chief of Navy from August 2014 to June 2017 before his appointment as Second Permanent Secretary (Education) and Second Permanent Secretary (Home Affairs) in 2017. In 2019, he was appointed as Permanent Secretary (Education).

Ms Lim Wan Yong

15.       Ms Lim, 47, has held various appointments in the Trade Development Board (now Enterprise Singapore), Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance and the Civil Service College, and was Special Assistant to then-Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean. She was appointed Deputy Secretary (Planning), Ministry of National Development in 2017, and concurrently Deputy Secretary (Security Coordination), Prime Minister’s Office in 2019. In 2021, she was appointed Second Permanent Secretary (Education) and subsequently took on a concurrent appointment as Second Permanent Secretary (Social and Family Development) in 2022. In 2023, she was re-designated as Permanent Secretary (Education Development) and Permanent Secretary (Development), Ministry of Social and Family Development.

Mr Augustin Lee

16.       Mr Lee, 53, has held various appointments in the then-Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Health, National Healthcare Group and Ministry of Trade and Industry. He also served as Principal Private Secretary to then-Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong in 2007 before his appointment as Deputy Secretary (Manpower), Ministry of Manpower in 2010 and Chief Executive Officer, Central Provident Fund Board in 2019. In 2023, he was appointed as Second Permanent Secretary (Smart Nation and Digital Government Group), Prime Minister’s Office.

Ms Lai Wei Lin

17.       Ms Lai, 48, has held various appointments in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of National Development and the Civil Service College, before joining the Ministry of Health as a Director in 2009 and appointed as its Deputy Secretary (Policy) in 2015. She was subsequently appointed as Deputy Secretary (Policy), Ministry of Education in 2017. She served as Second Permanent Secretary (Education) from 2019 till 2021, and concurrently as Permanent Secretary (Law) from 2020 till 2022. In 2022, she was appointed as Permanent Secretary (Transport Development) and concurrently as Second Permanent Secretary (Finance).

Mr Ng How Yue

18.       Mr Ng, 53, has held various appointments in the Civil Service, including Director-General of Singapore Customs in 2003 and Deputy Secretary (Trade), Ministry of Trade and Industry in 2007. He was appointed Principal Private Secretary to then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2008. Mr Ng was appointed as Second Permanent Secretary (Trade and Industry) in 2011 and Permanent Secretary (Law) in 2014. He was appointed concurrently as Second Permanent Secretary (Health) in 2017 and was re-designated Permanent Secretary (Health Development) in 2019.

Ms Teoh Zsin Woon

19.       Ms Teoh, 50, has held various appointments in the then-Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Manpower, the then-Workforce Development Agency and Ministry of National Development (MND). She had also served as General Manager of the then-Marine Parade Community Development Council. Ms Teoh was appointed as Deputy Secretary (Development), Ministry of Health in 2013 and subsequently Deputy Secretary (Transformation), Public Service Division in 2018. In 2021, she was appointed Second Permanent Secretary (National Development) and concurrently Second Permanent Secretary, Public Service Division (PSD) before being re-designated as Permanent Secretary (Development) in MND and PSD. In January 2024, Ms Teoh was appointed as Permanent Secretary (Culture, Community and Youth) and continued in her concurrent appointment as Permanent Secretary (Development), PSD.

Mr Joseph Leong

20.       Mr Leong, 53, joined the Singapore Armed Forces in 1990 and rose to the rank of Rear-Admiral, having held various key appointments. Mr Leong was Director, Security and Intelligence Division, Ministry of Defence before his appointment as Permanent Secretary (Defence Development) and concurrently as Second Permanent Secretary (Communications and Information) and Second Permanent Secretary (Cybersecurity), Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in 2019. He was appointed as Permanent Secretary (Communications and Information) and Permanent Secretary (Cybersecurity), PMO and concurrently as Permanent Secretary (Smart Nation and Digital Government Group), PMO in 2022.

Mr Chng Kai Fong

21.       Mr Chng Kai Fong, 45, has held various appointments in the then-Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, Ministry of Home Affairs, Civil Service College, Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Communications Group, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). He has also served a two-year stint at Shell Eastern Petroleum Pte Ltd. He was appointed as Principal Private Secretary to then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2014 and subsequently as Managing Director, Economic Development Board in 2017. In 2021, he was appointed as Second Permanent Secretary (Smart Nation and Digital Government Group), PMO. In 2022, he took on additional concurrent appointments as Second Permanent Secretary (Communications and Information) and Second Permanent Secretary (Cybersecurity), PMO. In 2023, he was re-designated as Permanent Secretary (Development) in the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and Smart Nation and Digital Government Group (SNDGG), PMO as well as for Cybersecurity in PMO. He subsequently relinquished his appointment as Permanent Secretary (Development), SNDGG and was re-designated as Permanent Secretary (Information and Development), MCI.