The PAP’s newly elected Central Executive Committee at the 2018 PAP Conference and Awards Ceremony.
SINGAPORE — The election of the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) new top decision-making body is a “major step forward” for political renewal, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, as he signalled Cabinet changes are afoot “in due course”.
On Friday (Nov 23), the ruling party unveiled its slate of office-bearers on its new Central Executive Committee (CEC), with Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, 57, confirmed as its first assistant secretary-general.
This paves the way for Mr Heng to succeed Mr Lee, 66, as the party’s secretary-general, and prime minister after the next General Election (GE) due by April 2021.
In a post on the PAP’s Facebook page, Mr Lee said the younger political office-holders had been meeting in recent months to discuss who should lead them, and decided on Mr Heng.
Mr Heng, in turn, asked Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing — who was named second assistant secretary-general — to be “his number two”, Mr Lee said.
“Chun Sing has agreed and the younger team has endorsed Swee Keat’s decision,” Mr Lee wrote.
The prime minister said that after the CEC met on Friday, he held a party caucus to brief Members of Parliament (MPs) on the new CEC line-up, as well as on the consensus reached by the younger office-holders on who should lead them.
The MPs endorsed Mr Heng as their next leader and Mr Chan as his deputy, said Mr Lee.
Mr Lee, who has said he would not wish to continue as head of the Government beyond 70 years old, reiterated that the leadership transition is “always a complex and delicate matter”.
He said Mr Heng and Mr Chan have “complementary strengths and make a strong pairing”, having worked with them and watched them grow in their various responsibilities.
“They and the other younger office-holders have gradually come together to work as a team and make the most of the strengths of each team-member,” he wrote.
“I am confident that they will continue to grow in experience and touch, and steadily win the confidence and trust of Singaporeans.”
More at https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/pap-4g-leaders-and-mps-endorse-heng-swee-keat-their-leader-pm-lee
In essence, he praised HSK for everything that CCS isn't......
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/heng-a-man-of-utmost-integrity-says-shanmugam
"We are a Team" echoed by all 4G leechers is worrysome
The constant refrain by the "winners" and "losers" in the 4G race is that they cannot live without one other, that they are battle-hardened in recent years, that they complement one other, that they support one another, that they are doing it for Singapore is all BS, BS,BS. There was nothing spontaneous in the responses from the two new lead clowns in the recently held press conference.
That they were there to issue statements of their own and not to provide any new insights was glaringly obvious. HSK was referring and reading from his notes from the onset, with 80% of the content not even being relevant to the questions posed. CCS tried to do a LKY by reading a prepared statement in Malay; consequently 80% of the reporters did not understand what he was muttering about, wrong pronunciation aside. The ZB reporter wanted HSK to answer in Mandarin for at least one part of his response, which he totally ignored.
Indranee tried to explain away why they took so long to decide. The short answer was that they had to decide between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Vivian's "my hand on heart" comment in support of the "winner" reeks of bovine expulsion of the first degree. And so on, and so forth. "Teamwork" is the new theme in the prostitute press all the way to the erections.
https://www.sammyboy.com/threads/we-are-a-team-echoing-in-all-4g-leechers-are-worrysome.261677/
Singapore’s next prime minister Heng Swee Keat: a safe pair of hands, ‘there’s just one pity’ (said Lee Kuan Yew)
He’s served his country, helmed the finance ministry and is now all set to be the Lion City’s next leader.
But Singapore’s founding father said Heng Swee Keat came up short in just one regard
He is of slight build, his large eyes are framed by wire rim glasses that make them look larger still, and his thick, black hair is swept to the right. In speeches, he is measured and reassuring; in person, sincere.
After an illustrious career in the police force and civil service, Heng Swee Keat entered politics in 2011 and upon election was immediately made education minister. Since then he has helmed the finance ministry, overseen a nationwide engagement exercise and led a committee studying strategies to secure Singapore’s economic future.
Heng can now add one more achievement to the list. On Friday, the 57-year-old was named by the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) as its first assistant secretary general, making him the highest-ranked member of the fourth-generation leadership in the central executive committee (CEC).
Traditionally, this person would be seen as the most likely future prime minister.
Singaporeans had been wondering about current prime minister Lee Hsien Loong’s successor ever since Lee, 66, said after the last general election that he would like to retire before he turned 70.
While several names came up as front runners, it had not been clear who was the primus inter pares – a Latin phrase meaning first among equals – until the party announced on Friday its new CEC line-up.
Besides Heng, two other names had been bandied about as possible future prime ministers – Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing, 49, and Education Minister Ong Ye Kung, 49.
Chan was made second assistant secretary general, and Ong assistant treasurer.
Lee, who is the party’s secretary general, said on Friday that the new committee was a “major step forward in our political renewal”.
In a Facebook post, Lee said leadership transitions were “always a complex and delicate matter”. The younger ministers themselves must decide who would be leader to ensure that whoever was chosen would receive their full support, he said.
“They have reached a consensus that Heng Swee Keat will be their leader. In turn, Heng Swee Keat has asked Chan Chun Sing to be his number two. Chun Sing has agreed, and the younger team has endorsed Swee Keat’s decision. It was therefore natural for the CEC to elect the two of them as first and second assistant secretaries general,” he said.
This was reiterated by Singapore’s younger slate of leaders known as the 4G (fourth generation) leaders, who issued a statement saying: “We will continue to work cohesively as a team, and forge a strong partnership with all Singaporeans. We are united in our purpose of serving Singaporeans to the best of our abilities.”
SAFE PAIR OF HANDS
Typically, CEC posts are stepping stones to the top job. For example, the city state’s second prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, became first assistant secretary general in November 1984, deputy prime minister a month later, then prime minister in November 1990 and party secretary general two years after. He was succeeded as prime minister by Lee Hsien Loong, who became deputy prime minister in November 1990, first assistant secretary general in December 1992, secretary general in December 2003 and prime minister in August 2004.
In Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan’s view, neither Heng nor Chan nor Ong is the “perfect heir apparent” though together they form “an excellent composite fit”.
Ong has been described as too new to politics, having failed to win a seat in the 2011 general election and only joining Parliament in 2015. His hopes took a hit when he was not on a list of recommended candidates for the party’s highest decision-making body circulated to party cadres before the internal election two weeks ago.
Heng is the most experienced, said ambassador-at-large Tommy Koh. “He has done a good job in all his current and previous appointments. [Singapore’s first prime minister] Lee Kuan Yew had once described him as his best principal private secretary.”
The veteran diplomat said he knew Ong best, having worked with him to conclude the Free Trade Agreement between Singapore and the United States. He said Ong was a good strategist and tactician who was charismatic and eloquent. Koh said he did not know Chan well but admired him for rising from a modest background and remaining humble despite extraordinary success.
In addition to working as Lee Kuan Yew’s principal private secretary, Heng – who started his career in the police force – has served as the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and as managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
After joining politics, Heng led the citizen engagement exercise called Our Singapore Conversation, oversaw the Jubilee celebrations and chaired the Committee on the Future Economy.
He is married to Chang Hwee Nee, chief executive of the National Heritage Board, and has two children.
Gillian Koh, from the Institute of Policy Studies at the National University of Singapore, said Heng’s role as central banker and Lee’s principal private secretary had given him vital exposure.
“These are constituencies where you can only stand if you can win the argument or if your country is extremely powerful. Since we are not the latter, any Singaporean in Heng’s position could only be taken seriously by doing the former,” she said.
Heng’s economic background makes him a safe pair of hands, said Terence Lee from Murdoch University, who added that social media seemed abuzz with relief that it was Heng who had emerged as first among equals.
Heng was a “political cleanskin in that he does not usually play the role of an attack dog in parliament”, said Terence Lee, and there was “a degree of dislike for Chan Chun Sing as he comes across as artificial and contrived – he has valorised his humble background one too many times for Singaporeans’ liking”.
Felix Tan, associate lecturer at SIM Global Education, noted: “Heng Swee Keat has been able to reach out to the public with much ease and has a certain air about him that makes people listen.”
He is also popular within the party, having been elected into the central executive committee by PAP cadres three times – in 2014, 2016 and again two weeks ago.
Gillian Koh said tapping on Chan as his Number 2 showed Heng was “comfortable to work with an impressive and determined leader in a deputy”.
So Heng’s only flaw, if one can call it that, is his stature, as Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew described. In his book One Man’s View of the World, he praised Heng but added: “The only pity is that he is not of a big bulk, which makes a difference in a mass rally.”
More at https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2174743/singapores-next-prime-minister-heng-swee-keat-safe-pair-hands
OYK is definitely out of the picture, however I reckon it's still a neck and neck race between Ah Heng and Kee Chiu. Until the very last moment we cannot say for sure who will become PM.
Let's all say a little prayer for Heng's health every now and then. If he suffers another stroke, CCS will almost surely take over and that will mark the beginning of the end of SG.
If Heng Swee Keat is named 4G PM, he will become Raffles’ Institution’s 3rd alumnus to become head of Govt
If Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat indeed becomes Singapore’s next Prime Minister after he is named first assistant secretary-general of the People’s Action Party as expected, he will be Raffles’ Institution’s 3rd alumnus to become head of Government of Singapore.
Singaporean journalist Bhavan Jaipragas made the observation that it will be a “proud moment” for the storied Raffles Institution (RI) if Heng is made 4G PM, since it will have “the honour of having produced three Singapore PMs.” Jaipragas wrote on Twitter, yesterday:
Singapore’s founding PM Lee Kuan Yew, his successor Goh Chok Tong and Heng are all former RI boys. Late elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew attended RI in 1935, while Goh studied at the 195-year-old school from 1955 to 1960. Heng also completed his pre-university education at RI.
Singapore’s current PM Lee Hsien Loong is the only head of Government to have completed his pre-education schooling outside RI. PM Lee studied at Nanyang Primary School and received his secondary education at Catholic High School, before going on to National Junior College.
Founded in 1823, RI is the oldest school in Singapore for pre-tertiary education. It is an independent school, providing secondary education through a boys-only Year 1-4 section and pre-university education through a coeducational Year 5-6 section.
Besides producing 2 out of three PMs (soon to be 3 out of 4 PMs), RI is notable for having produced 94 President’s Scholars, 3 out of 7 Presidents, 4 Speakers of Parliament, 7 out of 20 members of the current Cabinet, 6 Ministers of State and 13 CEOs of government-linked statutory boards and agencies.
It is often cited as Singapore’s “premier school” and has been recognised as “the top feeder school for the Ivy League universities plus Stanford and MIT, as well as the top feeder school for Oxford University.”
http://theindependent.sg/if-heng-swee-keat-is-named-4g-pm-he-will-become-raffles-institutions-3rd-alumnus-to-become-head-of-govt/
Heng ah heng ah, Ah Heng most likely to take over, not the talk cock sing song Kee Chiu!