Jump to content

Heng Swee Keat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 116.87.64.121 (talk) at 18:35, 6 July 2020 (→Career). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Right Honourable
Heng Swee Keat
PPA PJG MP
王瑞杰
Heng Swee Keat in Washington, D.C. in February 2012
Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 May 2019
PresidentHalimah Yacob
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byTeo Chee Hean
(2009-2019)
Tharman Shanmugaratnam
(2011-2019)
ConstituencyTampines GRC
Minister for Finance
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 October 2015
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Second MinisterLawrence Wong
Indranee Rajah
Preceded byTharman Shanmugaratnam
Chairman of the Committee on the Future Economy
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 October 2015
Preceded byPosition established
Minister for Education
In office
21 May 2011 – 30 September 2015
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byNg Eng Hen
Succeeded byNg Chee Meng (Acting Schools Minister)
Ong Ye Kung (Acting Higher Education and Skills Minister)
Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore
In office
1 June 2005 – 2 April 2011
Preceded byKoh Yong Guan
Succeeded byRavi Menon
First Assistant Secretary-General of the People's Action Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
23 November 2018
Serving with Chan Chun Sing
(Second Assistant Secretary-General)
Secretary-GeneralLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byTeo Chee Hean
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Tampines GRC
(Tampines Central)
In office
9 May 2011 – 10 July 2020
Preceded bySin Boon Ann
Majority18,347 (14.4%)
Personal details
Born
Heng Swee Keat

(1961-11-01) 1 November 1961 (age 63)
Singapore
CitizenshipSingapore
Political partyPeople's Action Party
Spouse
Chang Hwee Nee
​
(m. 1988)​
Children2
EducationRaffles Institution
Alma materChrist's College, Cambridge (BA, MA)
Harvard University (MPA)

Template:Chinese name

Heng Swee Keat PPA PJG MP (born 1 November 1961) is a Singaporean politician who is serving as the current Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore and Minister of Finance since 2019 and 2015 respectively. A member of the country's governing People's Action Party (PAP), he is also the First Assistant Secretary-General of the party since 2018 under the current Prime Minister and the Secretary-General, Lee Hsien Loong. He previously served as Singapore's Minister for Education from 2011 to 2015. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) representing Tampines GRC for Tampines Central since 2011.[1] Prior to the 2020 General Elections, Heng is announced to lead the East Coast GRC team replacing two anchor ministers Lim Swee Say and Lee Yi Shyan.

He is widely believed to be poised as the next Prime Minister of Singapore, succeeding Lee Hsien Loong.[2] On 1 May 2019, Heng became the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore (DPM) while the two incumbent DPMs, Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, relinquished their posts on the same day.[3] He is also the first solo Deputy Prime Minister in 34 years, Singapore had two sitting deputy prime ministers working concurrently from 1985 to 2019.

Prior to his election to Parliament, Heng served as the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) from 2005 to 2011.

Career

Early career

In 1983, Heng began his career in the Singapore Police Force where he was awarded the SPF Overseas Scholarship from then President Devan Nair.[4] In 1997, he then joined the Singapore Civil Service's Administrative Service. He served a period at the Ministry of Education, before being appointed the Principal Private Secretary to former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (who was then Senior Minister) in 1997. In 2001, Heng became the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry.[5] He then served as managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore from 2005 to 2011.[6]

In February 2011, Heng was named the Asia-Pacific Central Bank Governor of the Year by the British magazine The Banker.[7]

Political career

At the 2011 general election, Heng was a People's Action Party (PAP) candidate in the Tampines Group Representation Constituency (Tampines GRC). When he was introduced as a candidate, former Prime Minister (and Emeritus Senior Minister) Goh Chok Tong tipped Heng to be a potential minister and core member of Singapore's fourth generation leadership team.[8] Heng was one of five PAP candidates in his constituency in a team led by then-Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan, which also included Minister of State Masagos Zulkifli, Irene Ng, and Baey Yam Keng. They faced a team from the National Solidarity Party (NSP), led by the party's then-Secretary-General Goh Meng Seng (now the leader of People's Power Party), along with Reno Fong, Syafarin Sarif, Raymond Lim and Gilbert Goh. On polling day on 7 May, the PAP team won the contest with 57.22% of the votes.[9] (This represented a drop of 11.29% from the PAP's percentage of the votes in the constituency at the 2006 general election.)[10]

On 22 November 2018, Heng succeeded Teo Chee Hean as the Party's first Assistant Secretary-General.[11] The following day, on the CEC election, Heng was appointed as the first Assistant Secretary-General.[12][13]

Minister for Education (2011–2015)

On 18 May 2011, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong appointed Heng to the Cabinet as the Minister for Education. Heng was the second first-term MP-elect to be directly promoted to a member of Cabinet, after Richard Hu back in 1984.

In August 2012, Heng was tasked to lead a new ministerial committee to conduct a broad-based review of the Government's policies and direction.[14]

Minister for Finance

On 28 September 2015, it was announced that Heng will be the Minister of Finance from 1 October 2015.[15]

On 24 April 2018, it was announced that Heng will take over responsibility for assisting the Prime Minister on National Research Foundation matters from Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean effectively from 1 May.[16]

On 19 February 2018, Heng announced on his annual budget statement in parliament that he plans to raise GST from 7% to 9% some time between 2021 and 2025. He said, "the GST increase is necessary because even after exploring various options to manage our future expenditures through prudent spending, saving and borrowing for infrastructure, there is still a gap".[17]

Heng's fourth budget took place on 18 February 2020. Referred to as the "Unity Budget", it covered measures to cover uncertainties long-term against the backdrop of the developing COVID-19 pandemic. Less than a month after on 26 March, Heng delivered a second budget, an additional S$55 billion "Resilience Budget" in response to the worsening situation of the pandemic and to mitigate the economic impact on businesses. It was the second time in Singapore's history since the financial crisis of 2007–08 that past reserves had to be used to fund the initiatives provided. Measures include a cash grant of S$9,000 for eligible self-employed persons as well as S$3,000 for lower-income recipients under the Workfare Income Supplement Scheme (WIS) as emergency relief against the pandemic. Heng also mentioned that this will likely be the worst contraction ever in Singapore's economy since 1965.[18]

Deputy Prime Minister

On 23 April 2019, the Prime Minister's Office announced that Heng will assume the role as the 12th Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore effectively from 1 May 2019, taking over Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who previously served in the office for 10 years and 8 years respectively.[3]

Personal life

Heng is married to Chang Hwee Nee, CEO of the National Heritage Board. Heng has 2 children.[19][20][21]

Stroke

On 12 May 2016, Heng Swee Keat collapsed from a stroke during a Cabinet meeting. He was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where he underwent neurosurgery to relieve pressure in his brain. He was transferred to the ICU after the surgery.[22] Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, was immediately appointed to cover Mr Heng's duties.[23]

On 25 June 2016, Heng Swee Keat was discharged from hospital after 6 weeks. The Prime Minister's Office said on a statement that Mr Heng "has made an excellent recovery", but is still on medical leave as he continues his rehabilitation. He resumed his duties as MP and Finance Minister on 22 August 2016.

Despite his stroke, Heng is still seen as the leading contender to be the next Prime Minister of Singapore after the 2020 election.[24]

Education

He completed his pre-university education at Raffles Institution.

In 1983, Heng graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Economics from Christ's College, Cambridge.[25]

In 1993, Heng obtained a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.[25]

Notable awards

  • Asia-Pacific Central Bank Governor of the Year award from the British banking magazine The Banker (2011)

Honours

References

  1. ^ Parliamentary Elections Act (Chapter 218) [candidates declared to have been elected Members of Parliament at the 2011 general election] (G.N. No. 1229/2011)[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ hermes (24 November 2018). "Heng Swee Keat picked as 4G leader, with Chan Chun Sing as deputy". The Straits Times. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Heng Swee Keat to be promoted to DPM in Cabinet reshuffle". Channel NewsAsia. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  4. ^ http://www.mha.gov.sg/news_details.aspx?nid=Nzk3-uw4ySnZavTA%3D[permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ Minister for Education Mr HENG Swee Keat, Cabinet of Singapore, 12 June 2012, archived from the original on 7 December 2013
  6. ^ "MAS chief Heng Swee Keat steps down", The Straits Times, 31 March 2011
  7. ^ "MAS chief named top central bank governor for Asia-Pacific", The Straits Times, 12 February 2011
  8. ^ "Heng Swee Keat has 'potential to be Minister'", The Straits Times, 2 April 2011
  9. ^ 2011 Parliamentary Election Results, Elections Department, 8 October 2013, archived from the original on 6 March 2014
  10. ^ 2006 Parliamentary Election Results, Elections Department, 8 October 2013, archived from the original on 17 January 2018, retrieved 6 March 2014
  11. ^ "Heng Swee Keat to be PAP 1st assistant secretary-general, and next PM: Party sources". TODAYOnline. 22 November 2018.
  12. ^ "PAP's new CEC". PAP.org.sg. 23 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Heng Swee Keat picked as PAP's first assistant secretary-general, indicating he will be next PM". StraitsTimes. 23 November 2018.
  14. ^ "National conversation on common future welcomed: Goh Chok Tong", The Straits Times, 12 August 2012
  15. ^ Nurhidayah (28 September 2015). "Transcript of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's Statement at the Press Conference on the new Cabinet Line-Up on 28 September 2015". Prime Minister‘s Office Singapore.
  16. ^ Anthony_chia (24 April 2018). "Changes to Cabinet and Other Appointments (Apr 2018)". Prime Minister‘s Office Singapore.
  17. ^ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-19/singapore-plans-to-boost-gst-to-9-as-spending-pressures-mount
  18. ^ "COVID-19 Budget: What you need to know about the Resilience Budget measures". CNA. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  19. ^ AW, CHENG WEI (2 March 2015). "Two former First Ladies attend Girl Guides event". The Straits Times. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  20. ^ "Chang Hwee Nee appointed National Heritage Board CEO". 20 March 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  21. ^ "Heng Swee Keat: I protested when I was moved". Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  22. ^ "Heng Swee Keat out of surgery; in ICU after stroke". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  23. ^ "Heng Swee Keat in stable condition: PM Lee". Channel NewsAsia. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  24. ^ hermesauto (26 January 2018). "Singapore's 4G leaders need more time to gain exposure and experience: Analysts". The Straits Times. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  25. ^ a b http://app.psd.gov.sg/data/Press%20Release%20-%20Snr%20Appt%20Changes%20(21%20Feb).doc Archived 23 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Heng Swee Keat.
Government offices
Preceded by Managing Director
of the Monetary Authority of Singapore
2005 – 2011 		Succeeded by
Ravi Menon
Political offices
Preceded by Minister for Education
2011 – 2015 		Succeeded byas Minister for Education (Schools)
Succeeded byas Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills)
Preceded by Minister for Finance
2015 – present 		Incumbent
Preceded by Deputy Prime Minister
2019 – present 		Incumbent
Parliament of Singapore
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Tampines GRC (Tampines Central)
2011 – 2020 		Vacant
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Heng_Swee_Keat&oldid=966369416"