Prime Minister Chan Chun Sing

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From Wikipedia:

Chan Chun Sing (Chinese: 陈振声; born 9 October 1969) is a Singaporean politician and former army general. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he is the current minister for trade and industry and minister-in-charge of public service. He is the deputy chairman of the People's Association. [1] He was elected into the party's central executive committee as second assistant secretary-general in November 2018.

Chan served in the Singapore Armed Forces, where he rose to the rank of major-general and became Chief of Army from 2010 to 2011. He subsequently retired from the army and ran for Member of Parliament in Tanjong Pagar GRC during the 2011 general election, winning his first term. Between May 2011 and April 2018, he served in the ministerial portfolios of minister in the Prime Minister's Office, social and family development and culture, community and youth. Chan also previously served as party whip from September 2015 to June 2019.

Education[edit]
Chan Chun Sing was educated at Raffles Institution (1982–85) and Raffles Junior College (1986–87). Chan was one of the top four scorers from Raffles Junior College for the GCE A Levels in 1987.[2][3]

In 1988, Chan was awarded a President's Scholarship and Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship to study in the University of Cambridge,[4] where he completed a degree in economics at Christ's College and graduated with First Class Honours.

In 2005, Chan completed the Sloan Fellows programme at the MIT Sloan School of Management under a Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship.[5]

Career[edit]
Military career[edit]
Chan served in the Singapore Army from 1987 to 2011. His appointments included Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment (1998–2000), Army Attaché in Jakarta (2001–03), Commander of the 10th Singapore Infantry Brigade (2003–04), Head of the Joint Plans and Transformation Department (2005–07), Commander of the 9th Division / Chief Infantry Officer (2007–09),[6] and Chief of Staff – Joint Staff (2009–10).

Chan excelled as a student at the US Army Command and General Staff College in 1998, and was the first foreign student to be conferred the "Distinguished Master Strategist Award" in the same year.[7]

Chan was appointed the Chief of Army on 26 March 2010 (replacing Major-General Neo Kian Hong). He left the Singapore Armed Forces on 25 March 2011 in order to stand for Parliament (and was replaced as Chief of Army by Brigadier-General Ravinder Singh).[8]

Early political career[edit]
Chan was a PAP candidate in the Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency at the 2011 general election, representing the Buona Vista ward previously held by Lim Swee Say.[9][10] The PAP's team in the constituency was led by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, and was declared elected on Nomination Day (27 April 2011) in a walkover.[11] During the election campaign, Chan used the Hokkien phrase "kee chiu" (meaning "hands up") at a rally to engage the crowd, and the term became a well-known nickname for him in Singapore.[12]

Following the general election, Chan was appointed the Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, and the Minister of State at the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts. At the age of 42 then, Chan was one of the youngest ministers to be appointed to the Singapore Cabinet.

On 31 July 2012, Chan relinquished his appointment in MICA and was appointed as Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF). Following a restructuring of government ministries in November 2012, he began heading the newly created Ministry of Social and Family Development as Acting Minister.[13] He was promoted to full Minister in September 2013,[14] and concurrently serves as Second Minister for Defence.

On 23 January 2015, Chan joined the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) on a part-time basis; He was appointed as NTUC's deputy secretary-general on 27 January 2015 and will join NTUC full-time from April.[15]

On 1 October 2015, following the 2015 election, Chan is appointed the Deputy Chairman of the People's Association[16] Chan is seen as one of the frontrunners for the top position of the fourth-generation of PAP leaders.[17][18]

Minister for Social and Family Development[edit]

This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (September 2017)

Chan has announced three key priorities for his Ministry in the Committee of Supply debate 2014.[19][20] These priorities are: (i) to maintain the currency and adequacy of Singapore's social support policies, (ii) to deliver integrated social services and (iii) to develop manpower for the social service sector.

He launched the first of 23 Social Service Offices to bring social assistance touch points closer to the populace.[21]

The tender evaluation process was revised for commercial childcare centres. The joint effort by Early Childhood Development Agency and Housing Development Board aimed to keep rental costs in HDB estates manageable, and in turn keep childcare programmes affordable.[22]

More infrastructure support to benefit non-Anchor Operators (AOP) setting up preschools in high demand areas and workplaces. Non-AOPs who provide quality and affordable programmes can tap on a Teaching & Learning Resources Grant of up to $4,000 per year for materials and equipment.[23]

During a Parliament session in 2017, responding to a raised question, he replied that there will be no change to an existing policy, that single mothers will continue to get only eight of the 16 weeks paid maternity leave that married mothers are entitled to, and will still not be entitled to claim a child relief tax incentive.[24]

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office[edit]
Chan was a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office[25] and Secretary General of the National Trade Union Congress. He is widely seen as a contender to be the fourth-generation Prime Minister of Singapore.[26]

Minister of Trade and Industry[edit]
On 24 April 2018, it was announced that Chan would succeed Lim Hng Kiang and S. Iswaran as the new Minister for Trade and Industry, and would relinquish his NTUC chief portfolio to then-Minister of Education Ng Chee Meng, effective from 1 May.[27] He also took over responsibility for the Public Service Division on the same day.[28]

On 23 November, Chan succeeded Tharman Shanmugaratnam as the People's Action Party's second Assistant Secretary-General (alongside Minister of Finance Heng Swee Keat).[29]

Personal life[edit]
Chan grew up in a single-parent household.[3] His mother Kwong Kait Fong was a machine operator and he has a sister Siew Yin.[2] He lived in a 3-room HDB flat in MacPherson (with his mother, grandparents, auntie and sister) until he was 30 years old.[30] Chan is married with a daughter and two sons.[31] He is well-versed in three of the four official languages of Singapore, being fluent in English, Mandarin and Malay.

 

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Based on Cabinet Minister Chan Chun Sing’s logic: “I am not related to Mr. Lee’s family. . .my surname is Chan and my wife’s surname is Low.”

https://jesscscott.wordpress.com/2015/09/06/chan-chun-sing/

 

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Chan Chun Sing and his "kee chiu" speech in 2011

 

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Feb 2020 - Chan Chun Sing said no need to wear mask, criticises Hong Kong

 

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May 2020 - Cotton comes from sheep

 

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Chan Chun Sing poised for a bigger role, says ESM Goh

JAN 25, 2015

Minister Chan Chun Sing is set for a bigger role in Singapore politics, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said yesterday.

A day after the news of Mr Chan joining the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), Mr Goh said on Facebook: "He led an army; he is leading a ministry; soon, he will lead the labour movement. With this array of experience, he is poised to play a bigger role in Singapore politics."

Mr Chan was army chief and became the youngest member of the Cabinet after entering politics in the 2011 General Election.

He will leave the Ministry of Social and Family Development when he joins the NTUC full-time from April 1. He has already started at the labour movement part-time, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the NTUC said last Friday.

Mr Chan, 45, will be named deputy secretary-general on Tuesday, and is slated to run for union elections later this year. That puts him in line to succeed labour chief Lim Swee Say, who turns 62 next year.

Mr Goh's advice for Mr Chan: "Keep your feet firmly on the ground, open your heart to the people and work to advance their and the country's interests. Singapore needs to look forward."

 

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Jul 2012
On PAP's role:
"Don't expect PM Chan to provide the answers."

Because he has none?

http://singaporenewsalternative.blogspot.com/2012/07/chan-chun-sing-our-job-as-leader-is-not.html

https://www.sammyboy.com/threads/ch...leaders-is-not-to-provide-the-answers.123089/

Like Teo Chee Hean said: "What do you think?"

 

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9 Jul 2012
On the failure of the Commissioner of Churches’ review to detect City Harvest Church’s fraud:
“Charity governance reviews not meant to detect fraud”

 

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https://therealthingis.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/mg-chan-chun-sing-pap-elitist-arrogant/

https://www.facebook.com/theonlinec...o-sauce-chye-tow-kuay-fried-/338464539506358/

 

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All hail—oops!
Singapore’s prime-minister-in-waiting gives up the job
The city-state’s carefully planned leadership transition is in disarray
Asia
The Economist
Apr 8th 2021
SINGAPORE

IT WAS A rare moment of drama in Singapore’s normally snoozy politics. On April 8th Heng Swee Keat announced that he was relinquishing his role as heir apparent to the current prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong (pictured). Political successions in the city-state, like almost everything else, are normally meticulously planned years in advance by the grandees of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP). It has governed Singapore since the country’s founding in 1965. Yet now party mandarins will have to endure the distinctly unfamiliar experience of going back to the drawing board—and admitting, at least in private, to having made a mistake.

Mr Heng, who is 60, was supposed to take over from Mr Lee sometime before the latter’s 70th birthday, in February 2022. Mr Lee had vowed to step down by then, and hand power to a member of the fourth generation of the PAP’s leadership—“4G”, in the party’s jaunty shorthand. But in July Mr Lee announced that he was putting retirement off indefinitely owing to the pandemic. Mr Heng concluded that the delay would not give him enough time to make his mark before he would be expected to retire himself. In a letter to Mr Lee published on April 8th, Mr Heng wrote that by the time the problems caused by the pandemic are resolved, perhaps five years from now, “I would have too short a runway.”

But that was not Mr Heng’s only problem. Although an accomplished administrator who had helped shepherd the economy through the global financial crisis and the pandemic, “he’s no politician,” says Michael Barr of Flinders University in Australia. That is putting it mildly: most Singaporeans consider him dull and distant. Concerns about his health have also dogged him since 2016, when he suffered a stroke that left him in a coma for six days. During the most recent election campaign, last year, he gave a disastrous speech at what was supposed to be his coming-out party, in effect, as leader-to-be. He fumbled his lines so badly that it inspired widespread public ridicule and a bounty of internet memes. It was soon after the PAP’s disappointing performance in the election that Mr Lee delayed his retirement, ostensibly because of the pandemic. Kenneth Paul Tan of Hong Kong Baptist University was not surprised by Mr Heng’s abdication: “The writing was on the wall.”

This “unexpected turn of events is a setback for our succession planning”, admitted the 4G squad in a joint understatement. In theory they will decide among themselves whom to elevate as their new boss—although Mr Lee is thought to have played a big part in Mr Heng’s coronation. The favourite is the pugnacious trade and industry minister, Chan Chun Sing, who is the second most senior leader of 4G and, at 51, has a longer runway than Mr Heng. Other contenders include Ong Ye Kung, the transport minister, Desmond Lee, the national development minister, and Lawrence Wong, the education minister.

Mr Lee said at a news conference on April 8th that he hopes not to have to linger as prime minister for much longer. Nonetheless, he manfully accepted 4G’s invitation to stay on until they settle on a replacement for Mr Heng. This is, after all, what the Lee family does. Mr Lee is the son of Lee Kuan Yew, who led Singapore to independence. The two of them have governed the country for its entire history, bar a 14-year interregnum during which they both held senior jobs in the cabinet. At the news conference, Mr Lee said that he hopes his successor will be in place by the next election, which must be called by 2025. Of course, further pressing reasons to stick around may have arisen by then. His father did not leave the cabinet until his late 80s, although he stood down as prime minister at 67.

In the meantime, the succession fiasco may damage the PAP’s reputation. Singaporeans vote for the party because its leaders are effective administrators, notes Mr Barr. Their sales pitch sounds less convincing if they cannot properly administer their own leadership transition.

 

[bobby]

 

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6 Feb 2017 - Chan Chun Sing leaked the biggest open secret when he addressed PAP's nominee Halimah Yacob as President Halimah during Parliament.

From Wikipedia:
"While speaking during the debate on the Presidential Elections Amendment Bill on 6 February 2017, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing addressed Halimah as "Madam President" twice instead of "Madam Speaker", drawing laughter from the PAP MPs[28][29] and leading to widespread speculation that Halimah would be the party's preferred candidate for the reserved presidential elections.[30][31]

On 6 August 2017, Halimah announced that she would be stepping down as Speaker of Parliament and MP of Marsiling–Yew Tee the next day to run for the presidency in the 2017 presidential election,[32][33] which was reserved for members of the Malay community.[34] She was widely viewed as the PAP's candidate for the election, and was endorsed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.[35]"