Chan Chun Sing

Chan Chun Sing (simplified Chinese: 陈振声; traditional Chinese: 陳振聲; pinyin: Chén Zhènshēng; Jyutping: Can4 Zan3-sing1; born 9 October 1969) is a Singaporean politician and former army general. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was appointed as the Minister for Trade and Industry by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The Honourable Chan Chun Sing MP
陈振声
Minister for Trade and Industry
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 May 2018
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Lim Hng Kiang (Trade) S. Iswaran (Industry)
Constituency	Tanjong Pagar GRC
Minister-in-charge of Public Service
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 October 2015
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Position established
Minister in the Prime Minister's Office
In office 9 April 2015 – 30 April 2018 Serving with Josephine Teo
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress
In office 4 May 2015 – 30 April 2018
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Lim Swee Say
Succeeded by	Ng Chee Meng
Deputy Chairman of the People's Association
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 October 2015
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Chairman	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Lim Swee Say
Minister for Social and Family Development
In office 1 November 2012 – 3 May 2015 Acting : 1 November 2012 – 31 August 2013
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Succeeded by	Tan Chuan-Jin
Second Minister for Defence
In office 1 September 2013 – 8 April 2015
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Ng Eng Hen
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Lui Tuck Yew
Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Acting
In office 21 May 2011 – 31 October 2012
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Vivian Balakrishnan
Succeeded by	Position established
Senior Minister of State, Ministry for Defence
In office 1 August 2012 – 31 August 2013
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Ng Eng Hen
Preceded by	Lawrence Wong
Succeeded by	Maliki Osman
Minister of State, Ministry for Information, Communications and the Arts
In office 21 May 2011 – 31 July 2012
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Yaacob Ibrahim
Succeeded by	Lawrence Wong
Party Whip of the People's Action Party
In office 28 September 2015 – 6 June 2019
Deputy	Sam Tan
Secretary-General	Lee Hsien Loong
Succeeded by	Janil Puthucheary
Second Assistant Secretary-General of the People's Action Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 23 November 2018 Serving with Heng Swee Keat (First Assistant Secretary-General)
Secretary-General	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Tharman Shanmugaratnam
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC (Buona Vista)
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 May 2011
Preceded by	Lim Swee Say (1997–2001)
Personal details
Born	9 October 1969 Singapore
Nationality	Singaporean
Political party	People's Action Party
Alma mater	Christ's College, Cambridge MIT Sloan School of Management US Army Command and General Staff College
Military service
Branch/service	Singapore Army
Years of service	1987–2011
Rank	Major-General
Commands	2nd Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment, 10th Singapore Infantry Brigade, 9th Division, Chief Infantry Officer, Chief of Staff – Joint Staff, Chief of Army

Chan Chun Sing
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	陳振聲
Simplified Chinese	陈振声
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Chén Zhènshēng Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Can4 Zan3-sing1
Tamil name
Tamil	சன் சுன் செங் Caṉ Cuṉ Ceṅ

He is the Minister-in-charge of Public Service since October 2015.[1] Prior to entering politics, Chan served in the Singapore Armed Forces, where he rose to the rank of Major-General and served as the Chief of Army from 2010 to 2011.

Chan served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tanjong Pagar GRC for Buona Vista since May 2011. He had also assumed many Cabinet positions ranging from the Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Minister for Social and Family Development to Minister for Culture, Community and Youth from May 2011 to April 2018. He was elected as the People's Action Party Central Executive Committee Second Assistant Secretary-General since November 2018 and Party Whip from September 2015 to June 2019. He previously also served as Deputy Chairman of the People's Association (PA).

Once seen as the frontrunner to become the 4th Prime Minister of Singapore after Lee Hsien Loong,[2] Chan was however appointed Second instead of First Assistant Secretary-General of the PAP (traditionally the First Assistant Secretary-General will succeed the Prime Minister position) in November 2018 which meant that he is unlikely to become the next Prime Minister of Singapore. Heng Swee Keat was instead appointed to the position of First Assistant Secretary-General making him the PM-in-waiting. Traditionally there are two sitting DPMs in the Cabinet of Singapore but only Heng was appointed to be the DPM.[3]

Education

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.[4][5]

In 1988, Chan was awarded a President's Scholarship and Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship to study in the University of Cambridge,[6] 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.[7]

Career

Military career

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),[8] 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.[9]

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).[10]

Early political career

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.[11][12] 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.[13] 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.[14]

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.[15] He was promoted to full Minister in September 2013,[16] 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.[17]

On 1 October 2015, following the 2015 election, Chan is appointed the Deputy Chairman of the People's Association[3] Chan is seen as one of the frontrunners for the top position of the fourth-generation of PAP leaders.[18][19]

Minister for Social and Family Development

Chan has announced three key priorities for his Ministry in the Committee of Supply debate 2014.[20][21] 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.[22]

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.[23]

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.[24]

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.[25]

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office

Chan was a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office[26] 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.[27]

Minister of Trade and Industry

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.[28] He also took over responsibility for the Public Service Division on the same day.[29]

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).[30]

Personal life

Chan grew up in a single-parent household.[5] His mother Kwong Kait Fong was a machine operator and he has a sister Siew Yin.[4] He lived in a 3-room HDB flat in MacPherson (with his mother, grandparents, auntie and sister) until he was 30 years old.[31] Chan is married with a daughter and two sons.[32] He is well-versed in three of the four official languages of Singapore, being fluent in English, Mandarin and Malay.

References

1. hermes (24 November 2018). "Heng Swee Keat picked as 4G leader, with Chan Chun Sing as deputy". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
2. "Is Chan Chun Sing Singapore's next PM?". AsiaOne. 31 December 2011. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
3. "Channel NewsAsia - PM Lee and Singapore's new Cabinet sworn in". www.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
4. "Chun Sing: 'Ridiculous dream' comes true". The Straits Times. 20 August 1988. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
5. "Thanks, Mum". The Straits Times. 8 March 1988. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
6. "'Hardworking' scholars' night of glory". The Straits Times. 27 August 1988. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
7. "Change in Chief of Defence Force and Chief of Army". Ministry of Defence. 15 January 2010. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
8. "5 President's Scholars this year". The Straits Times. 20 August 1988. Archived from the original on 9 November 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
9. "Chan Chun Sing enters US Army college's hall of fame". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 9 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
10. "New chief for Singapore Army". AsiaOne. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 9 December 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
11. Yen, Feng (15 April 2011). "Coming GE is critical for renewal: Ng Eng Hen". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 17 April 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
12. "Ex-Army Chief to contest in Buona Vista". AsiaOne. 3 April 2011. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
13. "MM Lee disappointed with no contest in Tg Pagar". The Straits Times. 27 April 2011. Archived from the original on 28 April 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
14. Seow, Joanna (24 January 2015). "Chan Chun Sing: I'm a very simple person". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
15. "MCYS, MICA to be restructured". AsiaOne. 31 July 2012. Archived from the original on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
16. "Chan Chun Sing becomes full minister in Cabinet promotion". AsiaOne. 28 August 2013. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
17. "Minister Chan Chun Sing joins NTUC, likely to take over as labour chief". The Straits Times. 23 January 2015. Archived from the original on 26 January 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
18. "Who can step up as Singapore's next leader?". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 26 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
19. hermes (4 September 2016). "The next Prime Minister: 6 men to watch". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
20. "Opening Speech at Committee of Supply debate 2014". Ministry of Social and Family Development. 13 March 2014. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
21. "Closing Speech at Committee of Supply debate 2014". Ministry of Social and Family Development. 13 March 2014. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
22. "Launch of Social Service Office". Ministry of Social and Family Development. 15 August 2014. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
23. "Revised Tender Evaluation Process for Commercial Child Care Centres in HDB Premises". Ministry of Social and Family Development. 13 June 2013. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
24. "More support for Non-Anchor Operators". Ministry of Social and Family Development. 24 September 2013. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
25. "Parliament: No change to paid maternity leave for single mums". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
26. Singapore, Prime Minister's Office (3 January 2019). "PMO | Press Statement from the Prime Minister on Changes to Cabinet and Other Appointments". Prime Minister's Office Singapore. Archived from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
27. hermesauto (26 January 2018). "Singapore's 4G leaders need more time to gain exposure and experience: Analysts". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
28. "Incoming NTUC leader Ng Chee Meng says he will listen to workers to chart future direction". The Straits Times. 1 May 2018. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
29. "Changes to Cabinet and Other Appointments (Apr 2018)" (Press release). Singapore. Prime Minister's Office. 24 April 2018. Archived from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
30. "Heng Swee Keat to be PAP 1st assistant secretary-general, and next PM: Party sources". TODAYOnline. 22 November 2018. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
31. "《有话要说2》陈振声部长 – 加长版（上） – 8频道新闻及时事节目". Channel 8 News. Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
32. "Chan Chun Sing: 'I do my best at the task I'm given'". The New Paper. 31 August 2015. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.

External links

• Chan Chun Sing on Prime Minister's Office
• Chan Chun Sing on Parliament of Singapore