Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who first led the ruling party to a clear mandate from voters on May 3, announced the new cabinet lineup on the 21st. The number of political office holders increased from 37 to 40, and 6 out of 16 ministries have new ministers, one less than the cabinet reshuffle after the 2020 general election.
The new cabinet is centered around Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat and three new coordinating ministers, with 9 new political office holders, marking the highest number of new members in recent years. Lawrence Wong will continue to serve as Finance Minister. Ministers, Senior Ministers of State, and Ministers of State will be sworn in on Friday.
At the press conference, Lawrence Wong emphasized the commitment to assembling the strongest team for Singapore.
He described the team as a combination of "steady and experienced veterans, along with new and younger ministers. This team is slightly larger because we are in a transition period. I expect that further adjustments will be made in one to two years when more young political office holders are ready to take on more responsibilities."
He stated that the primary task of the new cabinet is to secure Singapore's position in the new international environment, "not only consolidating Singapore's position in advancing national interests abroad but also leading Singapore to cope with significant economic uncertainties and changes." Therefore, when considering new cabinet appointments, they avoided moving key ministers in the economic and security fields while rotating less experienced political office holders as much as possible.
Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat's position not filled
The new cabinet did not appoint someone from the 4th generation leadership team to succeed Heng Swee Keat's retired Deputy Prime Minister role as expected. Heng Swee Keat, who was appointed Deputy Prime Minister last year, continues to serve as the Prime Minister's deputy. Three ministers were promoted to coordinating ministers: Shanmugam replaces Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean as Coordinating Minister for National Security, Chan Chun Sing becomes Coordinating Minister for Public Service, and Ong Ye Kung is responsible for social policies. The role of Coordinating Minister for Public Service is a newly established position.
Lawrence Wong said: "This means there are four senior leaders in the cabinet. I think this is an appropriate arrangement. They will be four key ministers, assisting me while also providing advice and guidance to the younger ministers."
Regarding departmental changes, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing will replace the retired Ng Eng Hen as Minister of Defence; Desmond Lee will leave the Ministry of National Development to take over as Minister for Education from Chan Chun Sing; Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law, will take over the Ministry of Law originally managed by Shanmugam and become Second Minister for Home Affairs, while Shanmugam remains Minister for Home Affairs; Transport Minister S Iswaran will be reassigned as Minister for National Development.
Additionally, two first-term MPs will directly enter the cabinet. Eric Chua will serve as Acting Minister for Culture, Community, and Youth, and Chee Hong Tat will be Acting Minister for Transport. Furthermore, Faishal Ibrahim from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of National Development will replace Masagos Zulkifli as Acting Minister in charge of Muslim Affairs and also be promoted to Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs.
The remaining ten ministerial positions remain unchanged, mainly those related to economic development such as the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Ministry of Manpower, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which is responsible for external affairs, and the Ministry of Health which needs to address long-term issues like an aging population.
A total of 9 MPs are appointed to new political positions, among which 7 are new MPs. In addition to Eric Chua and Chee Hong Tat, there are also Dinesh Naidu, Tan See Leng, Alvin Tan, Fahmi Aliman, and Shahira Abdullah. Two backbenchers are appointed to political positions for the first time, they are Cheryl Chan and Yeo Wan Ling.
After this latest adjustment, there are only three third-generation leaders left in Singapore’s new cabinet. Besides Heng Swee Keat and Shanmugam, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong also remains in the cabinet, with his role unchanged. The average age of the 40 political office holders is about 52, roughly the same as after the 2020 election reshuffle, but this administration spans the 3rd, 4th, and potential 5th generation leadership, with an expanded age range from 40-68 in 2020 to 39-73.
The new cabinet achieves a good balance between experience and new perspectives
Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong believes that the new cabinet members have achieved a good balance between experience and new perspectives, and leadership renewal has made progress.
In a Facebook post on the evening of the 21st, he noted that newly appointed young ministers would take on more responsibilities.
He said: "I will continue to support the Prime Minister in my role as Senior Minister and am confident that Singapore will thrive under his leadership."