Wong Kan Seng

Wong Kan Seng PPA(P)
黄根成
Wong in 2006
5th Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore
In office 1 September 2005 – 20 May 2011 Serving with S. Jayakumar (2004–2009) and Teo Chee Hean (2009–2019)
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Tony Tan Lee Hsien Loong
Succeeded by	Tharman Shanmugaratnam Teo Chee Hean
Coordinating Minister for National Security
In office 1 November 2010 – 20 May 2011
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	S. Jayakumar
Succeeded by	Teo Chee Hean
Minister for Home Affairs
In office 2 January 1994 – 31 October 2010
Prime Minister	Goh Chok Tong Lee Hsien Loong
Second Minister	K. Shanmugam (from 2008)
Preceded by	S. Jayakumar
Succeeded by	K. Shanmugam
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office 13 September 1988 – 1 January 1994
Prime Minister	Lee Kuan Yew Goh Chok Tong
Preceded by	S. Dhanabalan
Succeeded by	S. Jayakumar
Leader of the House
In office 25 February 1987 – 31 March 2007
Prime Minister	Lee Kuan Yew Goh Chok Tong Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	S. Dhanabalan
Succeeded by	Mah Bow Tan
Minister for Community Development
In office 31 December 1986 – 29 June 1991 Acting: 18 February – 31 December 1986
Prime Minister	Lee Kuan Yew Goh Chok Tong
Preceded by	S. Dhanabalan
Succeeded by	Seet Ai Mee
Member of Parliament for Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC (Bishan East)
In office 2 January 1997 – 11 September 2015
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Chong Kee Hiong (PAP)
Member of Parliament for Thomson GRC (Bishan East)
In office 31 August 1991 – 23 December 1996
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Member of Parliament for Kuo Chuan SMC
In office 22 December 1984 – 24 August 1991
Preceded by	Pathmanaban Selvadurai (PAP)
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	Wong Kan Seng (1946-09-08) 8 September 1946 (age 78) Colony of Singapore
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	People's Action Party (1984–2015)
Spouse	Ruth Lee Hong Geok
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Singapore (BA) London Business School (MSc)
Occupation	Business executive politician civil servant teacher[1]

In this Chinese name, the family name is Wong.

Wong Kan Seng PPA(P) (Chinese: 黄根成; pinyin: Huáng Gēnchéng; Jyutping: Wong4 Gan1 Sing4; born 8 September 1946)^[2] is a Singaporean former politician who served as 5th Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 2005 and 2011 and currently is the chairman of UOB Bank and CapitaLand Group since 2017 and 2021 respectively.

As a member of Singapore's governing People's Action Party (PAP), Wong served in the Cabinet as Minister for Community Development between 1987 and 1991, Leader of the House between 1987 and 2007, Minister for Foreign Affairs between 1988 and 1994, Minister for Home Affairs between 1994 and 2010, Deputy Prime Minister between 2005 and 2011, and Coordinating Minister for National Security between 2010 and 2011. He continued to serve as a Member of Parliament on the backbenches until 2015.

As a Member of Parliament, Wong represented the constituency of Kuo Chuan between 1984 and 1988, the Bishan East division of Thomson GRC between 1991 and 1997, and later Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC between 1997 and 2015.

Education

Wong attended Rangoon Road Primary School, Outram Secondary School and the Adult Education Board (now the Institute of Technical Education) before graduating from the University of Singapore (now the National University of Singapore) in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts with honours degree in history and English.

Wong subsequently completed a Master of Science degree in business studies at the London Business School in 1979 under a postgraduate scholarship conferred by the Singapore Government when he was a civil servant.

Political career

Prior to entering politics, Wong had worked in both the Civil Service and the private sector.^[3] He worked in the Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Defence, before joining Hewlett Packard in 1981 as a personnel manager and left in 1985 for politics.^[4]

Wong made his political debut in the 1984 general election as a PAP contesting in Kuo Chuan SMC and won.^[5] He contested in Thomson GRC during the 1991 general election before switching to Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC in the 1997 general election.

Wong was appointed Acting Minister for Community Development in 1986. He was made a full member of the Cabinet as Minister for Community Development by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1987. He was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1988. In 1994, he became Minister for Home Affairs. Wong had also served as Leader of the House between 1991 and 2007.

Wong was vocal in his capacity as a Cabinet minister when it comes to defending any criticisms of the PAP as being authoritarian, or that the political process was undemocratic with an advantage given to the governing party.^[6] He often described the opposition as being disorganised, weak and driven by self-interests.^[7]

"The public has no sympathy for them. Neither do I. Why should I? I mean, they mess it up."^[8]

On opposition politician J. B. Jeyaretnam's proposal to establish an independent elections commission, Wong remarked, "It is absurd. I think we cannot be more democratic than we are now. We even allow a loser to be in Parliament and make speeches attacking the government. Where could you find such a democracy in other countries?"^[9]

During the World Conference on Human Rights held in 1993, Wong argued that democracy was interpreted differently in Singapore. He claims that its citizens "do not agree that pornography is an acceptable manifestation of free expression or that homosexual relationships are just a matter of lifestyle choice." Wong also believe that excessive emphasis on individual rights over the rights of the community will retard progress.^[10]

On 1 September 2005, Wong was appointed Deputy Prime Minister by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, following the retirement of Tony Tan.^[11] On 1 November 2010, Wong was appointed Coordinating Minister for National Security and relinquished his Minister for Home Affairs portfolio.

Wong retired from the Cabinet following the 2011 general election. He remains a Member of Parliament and also the special adviser for economic cooperation to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong until 11 September 2015, when he was finally retired from politics after 31 years.^[12]

Role in the homeland security in Singapore

As Minister for Home Affairs, Wong was in charge of overseeing emergency planning, dealing with internal threats such as cults and terrorists, involved in law and order, and rooting out of criminals and illegal immigrants.^[13]

Mas Selamat escape

On 27 February 2008, alleged Jemaah Islamiyah leader Mas Selamat bin Kastari escaped from Whitley Road Detention Centre, leading to the largest manhunt in Singapore. Wong expressed his regret in Parliament the day after the occurrence.

"This should never have happened. I am sorry that it has."

He revealed that Mas Selamat escaped when he was taken to the toilet before a meeting at the detention centre's family visit room.^[14]

Wong was criticised because news of Mas Selamat's escape was not disseminated to the public until four hours after its occurrence. There were calls for Wong to step down, given the severity of the security lapse.^[15] Mas Selamat was eventually recaptured in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on 1 April 2009, by Malaysian authorities, over a year after his escape.^[16]

2003 SARS outbreak

Wong was then responsible for co-ordinating the inter-ministerial nationwide effort to counter the SARS epidemic.^[13]

Certain measures were taken to contain the virus, including mandatory home quarantine measures, health screening at immigration checkpoints, schools and hospitals and public education programs. On 31 May 2003, Singapore was taken off the World Health Organization's list of SARS-affected countries.

Professional career

Wong returned to the private sector after stepping down from the Cabinet.

Wong was appointed Chairman of Singbridge International, a Temasek Holdings unit dealing with the Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, in 2011.^[17][18]

Wong was appointed Non-Executive and Independent Director on the Board of Directors at the United Overseas Bank (UOB) in 2017 and was subsequently appointed Chairman in 2018. He is also holding the positions of Chairman of the Executive Committee and Member of the Board Risk Management Committee, Nominating Committee and Remuneration and Human Capital Committee at UOB.^[19]

Wong was appointed as an independent director of CapitaLand in July 2017 and serving as CapitaLand Group chairman by 2021.^[20][21]

Personal life

Wong is married to Ruth Lee Hong Geok and they have two children.

References

1. "Cabinet Appointments: Wong Kan Seng". Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
2. "Profile of Wong Kan Seng". Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
3. Emergencies and threats? He's tackled them all", The Straits Times (Singapore), 15 August 2004
4. "Mr Wong Kan Seng, Chairman - Ascendas-Singbridge". www.ascendas-singbridge.com. Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
5. "Former DPM Wong Kan Seng calls it a day after seven terms". Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
6. "Singapore says no climate of fear in city-state". Reuters. 27 May 2005. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
7. "DPM Wong throws down gauntlet to Opposition". Today. 24 March 2011. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
8. Porter, Barry (17 April 1999). "Degrees of freedom in Lion City". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
9. Healy, Tim (30 November 2000). "Conflict in a City of Consent". Asiaweek. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
10. Riding, Alan (20 June 1993). "THE WORLD; Human Rights: The West Gets Some Tough Questions". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
11. "The Cabinet - Mr Wong Kan Seng". Archived from the original on 27 March 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
12. "Wong Kan Seng steps down as MP after seven terms in 2015". Archived from the original on 14 August 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
13. Emergencies and threats? He's tackled them all, The Straits Times (Singapore), 15 August 2004
14. "Official Report for Singapore Parliamentary Debates". 28 February 2008. Archived from the original on 28 June 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
15. Li, Xueying (24 April 2008). "To resign or not, that's the question S'poreans are asking". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
16. "The Straits Times". Archived from the original on 15 May 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
17. "PM NAMES FORMER DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER WONG KAN SENG AS SPECIAL ADVISER". TODAY. 13 September 2011. Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
18. Khoo, Lynette. "Temasek, JTC in tie-up to merge four subsidiaries into two units". The Business Times. Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
19. Boon, Rachael (28 July 2017). "Former deputy prime minister Wong Kan Seng appointed to UOB board". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
20. "Additional Information on Directors Seeking Re-election" (PDF). Singapore Stock Exchange. 1 March 2024.
21. Loh, Dylan (22 March 2021). "Singapore's CapitaLand splits ahead of COVID recovery". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 16 October 2024.

External links

• Official website of Wong Kan Seng
• Wong Kan Seng at parliament.gov.sg

Political offices
Preceded by Tony Tan	Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore 2005 - 2011	Succeeded by Tharman Shanmugaratnam
Preceded by S. Jayakumar	Co-ordinating Minister for National Security 2010-2011	Succeeded by Teo Chee Hean
Preceded by S. Jayakumar	Minister for Home Affairs 1988-1994	Succeeded by S. Jayakumar
Preceded by S. Dhanabalan	Minister for Foreign Affairs 1988-1994	Succeeded by S. Jayakumar
Preceded by S. Dhanabalan	Minister for Community Development 18 February 1986 – 31 August 1991	Succeeded by Seet Ai Mei