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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - New PAP candidate for next election</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">kojakbt22 <NOBR>
</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">Dec-5 8:18 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 14) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>3445.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>High-flier moves closer to the ground
MR ONG Ye Kung has gone from the Istana to the ground, literally.
The high-flier was principal private secretary to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong before becoming one of the youngest civil servants, then aged 35, to helm a statutory board.
In 2005, he was posted to the Workforce Development Agency (WDA), where he had to figure out the training needs of Singaporeans to help them get new jobs or move up the career ladder.
There, he and his team came up with a Continuing Education and Training (CET) masterplan.
But on Monday, Mr Ong, now 39, went even more heartland - to the labour movement.
He was seconded to the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) as assistant secretary-general - a posting that sparked talk of whether he is being groomed for politics. What fuelled the talk is that he is the only non-politician in the top echelon of NTUC.
He joins a team of five MPs.
Apart from labour chief Lim Swee Say, the others are Mr Heng Chee How and Madam Halimah Yacob, both of whom are deputy secretaries-general; and Mr Seng Han Thong and Mrs Josephine Teo, both assistant secretaries-general.
The straight-talking Mr Ong, however, declined to be drawn into any speculation about his career path.
He believes a move to the NTUC is 'appropriate'.
'I presume one of the considerations is that I was in WDA before, so training workers, upgrading their skills, helping them advance in their careers are not new to me,' he says.
'So a move to NTUC is quite an appropriate extension.
'My new job is a professional one, to make sure the system, processes and the programmes are all there to help (workers). That is my only purpose.'
Originally from the elite Administrative Service, Mr Ong is no policy wonk happy to stay within the walls of government ministries.
He says as much when describing his WDA posting: 'I get more excited working closer to the ground, which is why I wanted a statutory board posting instead of a ministry posting. Therefore, I was in WDA.'
Now, he will probably get a further thrill from executing the plans he had laid out at the WDA. At NTUC, he is in charge of its one-stop training and job placement centre, Employment and Employability Institute, or e2i.
On his new role, he says: 'You are making sure the workers receive the training (and)...can improve their lifestyle.' Asked if his NTUC posting had an end date, he replies with a wry smile: 'No, I didn't sign a contract.'
[email protected]
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MR ONG Ye Kung has gone from the Istana to the ground, literally.
The high-flier was principal private secretary to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong before becoming one of the youngest civil servants, then aged 35, to helm a statutory board.
In 2005, he was posted to the Workforce Development Agency (WDA), where he had to figure out the training needs of Singaporeans to help them get new jobs or move up the career ladder.
There, he and his team came up with a Continuing Education and Training (CET) masterplan.
But on Monday, Mr Ong, now 39, went even more heartland - to the labour movement.
He was seconded to the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) as assistant secretary-general - a posting that sparked talk of whether he is being groomed for politics. What fuelled the talk is that he is the only non-politician in the top echelon of NTUC.
He joins a team of five MPs.
Apart from labour chief Lim Swee Say, the others are Mr Heng Chee How and Madam Halimah Yacob, both of whom are deputy secretaries-general; and Mr Seng Han Thong and Mrs Josephine Teo, both assistant secretaries-general.
The straight-talking Mr Ong, however, declined to be drawn into any speculation about his career path.
He believes a move to the NTUC is 'appropriate'.
'I presume one of the considerations is that I was in WDA before, so training workers, upgrading their skills, helping them advance in their careers are not new to me,' he says.
'So a move to NTUC is quite an appropriate extension.
'My new job is a professional one, to make sure the system, processes and the programmes are all there to help (workers). That is my only purpose.'
Originally from the elite Administrative Service, Mr Ong is no policy wonk happy to stay within the walls of government ministries.
He says as much when describing his WDA posting: 'I get more excited working closer to the ground, which is why I wanted a statutory board posting instead of a ministry posting. Therefore, I was in WDA.'
Now, he will probably get a further thrill from executing the plans he had laid out at the WDA. At NTUC, he is in charge of its one-stop training and job placement centre, Employment and Employability Institute, or e2i.
On his new role, he says: 'You are making sure the workers receive the training (and)...can improve their lifestyle.' Asked if his NTUC posting had an end date, he replies with a wry smile: 'No, I didn't sign a contract.'
[email protected]
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