Ong Ye Kung

Ong Ye Kung (Chinese: 王乙康; pinyin: Wáng Yǐkāng; born 1969)[1] is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Minister for Health since 2021. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Sembawang Central ward of Sembawang GRC since 2015.[3][4] Within the PAP, he holds the position of the party's Central Executive Committee Assistant Treasurer.

The Honourable
Ong Ye Kung
王乙康
Ong in 2018
Minister for Health
Assumed office
15 May 2021
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
Preceded byGan Kim Yong
ConstituencySembawang GRC
Minister for Transport
In office
27 July 2020 – 14 May 2021
Preceded byKhaw Boon Wan
Succeeded byS. Iswaran
Minister for Education
In office
1 May 2018 – 26 July 2020
Second MinisterIndranee Rajah
Preceded byNg Chee Meng
Succeeded byLawrence Wong
Minister for Education
(Higher Education and Skills)
In office
1 October 2015 – 30 April 2018
Acting: 1 October 2015 – 31 October 2016
Serving with Ng Chee Meng (2015–2018)
Preceded byHeng Swee Keat
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Second Minister for Defence
In office
1 November 2016 – 30 April 2018
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterNg Eng Hen
Succeeded byHeng Chee How
(as Senior Minister of State for Defence)
Senior Minister of State for Defence
In office
1 October 2015 – 31 October 2016
Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong
MinisterNg Eng Hen
Succeeded byHimself
(as Second Minister for Defence)
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Sembawang GRC
(Sembawang Central)
Assumed office
11 September 2015
Majority48,341 (34.58%)
Personal details
Born1969 (age 52–53)[1]
Singapore
Political partyPeople's Action Party
Spouse(s)Diana Kuik Sin Leng
RelationsXie Yao Quan (cousin)[2]
Children2
Parents
  • Ong Lian Teng (father)
  • Ng Soo Lung (mother)
EducationMaris Stella High School
Raffles Junior College
Alma materLondon School of Economics (BS)
International Institute for Management Development (MBA)
In this Chinese name, the family name is Ong.

Prior to entering politics, Ong worked in the Ministry of Communications, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore Workforce Development Agency, National Trades Union Congress and Keppel Corporation. He lost in the 2011 general election when he contested as part of a five-member PAP team in Aljunied GRC. In the 2015 general election, he contested again as a PAP candidate in Sembawang GRC and was elected. Before becoming Minister for Health, he was Minister for Education (2015–2018) and Minister for Transport (2020–2021). He is also a co-chair of the multi-ministerial committee set up by the government to manage the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore.

Education

Ong was educated at Maris Stella High School and Raffles Junior College before he went to the London School of Economics, where he completed a Bachelor of Science in economics in 1991. In 1999, he completed a Master of Business Administration at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Career

Civil career

Ong started his career by serving in the Ministry of Communications from 1993 to 1999. From 2000 to 2003, he served as Director of Trade in the Ministry of Trade and Industry. He was also the Deputy Chief Negotiator for the Singapore–United States Free Trade Agreement, which was signed in May 2003. From 2002 to 2004, he was Principal Private Secretary to Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Ong also served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore Workforce Development Agency from 2005 to 2008. Following that, he joined the National Trades Union Congress as Assistant Secretary-General.[5]

Political career

In the 2011 general election, Ong contested in Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) as part of a five-member People's Action Party (PAP) team led by George Yeo.[6] The PAP team lost to the Workers' Party team led by Low Thia Khiang.[7] This was the first time in Singapore's history when the PAP lost a GRC in an election.[8]

Following the 2011 general election, Ong continued to work at the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and became Deputy Secretary-General in June 2011.[9] He was also elected into the NTUC's Central Committee later that year.[10] In 2013, he left the NTUC and became Director of Group Strategy at Keppel Corporation.[11]

In the 2015 general election, Ong joined as part of the five-member PAP team contesting in Sembawang GRC,[12] which was considered 'safer' for him,[13] and the PAP team won with 72% of the vote. Ong then became a Member of Parliament representing the Sembawang Central ward within Sembawang GRC.[12]

On 1 October 2015, Ong was appointed Senior Minister of State for Defence and Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills). On 1 November 2016, he was promoted to Second Minister for Defence while concurrently holding the portfolio of Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) alongside Ng Chee Meng, who was Minister for Education (Schools). In 2017, Ong moved a Bill in Parliament to confer the Singapore University of Social Sciences autonomous status.[14]

On 1 May 2018, the two Education portfolios were merged into a single one; Ong took over the single portfolio as Minister for Education.

On 27 July 2020, Ong relinquished his portfolio as Minister for Education and succeeded Khaw Boon Wan as Minister for Transport.

In the lead-up to the 2020 general election, Ong was widely seen as one of the three leading candidates (along with Heng Swee Keat and Chan Chun Sing) to succeed Lee Hsien Loong as Prime Minister of Singapore.[15] Ong led the PAP team in Sembawang GRC and they won with about 67% of the vote.[16]

On 23 April 2021, Ong was appointed co-chair of the multi-ministerial committee formed on 22 January 2020 to manage the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore. Following a Cabinet reshuffle on 15 May 2021, Ong relinquished his portfolio as Minister for Transport and succeeded Gan Kim Yong as Minister for Health.

Other appointments
  • Board member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (29 Aug 2016 to 31 May 2019)[17]
  • Former Board member of the SMRT Corporation (2006–2014)[18] As an independent director, he was appointed to head an internal investigation into the major train disruptions between 15 and 17 December 2011.[19]
  • Chairman of the Employment and Employability Institute
  • Advisers to the National Transport Workers' Union (NTWU), Singapore Industrial and Services Employees’ Union (SISEU), and Attractions, Resorts & Entertainment Union (AREU)
  • Executive Secretary for the National Transport Workers' Union and the Singapore Manual and Mercantile Workers' Union.

Personal life

Ong's father, Ong Lian Teng, was a Barisan Sosialis politician who was a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Bukit Panjang SMC from 22 October 1963 to 8 August 1965 and then as Member of Parliament from 9 August 1965 till 5 December 1966, when he resigned to protest the "undemocratic acts" of the PAP government. In an interview with The Straits Times in 2011, Ong noted that his father (who died in 2009) had been fully supportive of his decision to become involved in politics as a member of the PAP despite his own past involvement in opposition politics in Singapore.[20]

Ong is married to Diana Kuik Sin Leng, the daughter of real estate magnate Kuik Ah Han.[21][22] They have two daughters.

Ong's maternal cousin, Xie Yao Quan, is also a PAP Member of Parliament representing the Jurong Central ward of Jurong GRC.[2]

References
  1. "MP | Parliament Of Singapore". www.parliament.gov.sg.
  2. Lay, Belmont (30 June 2020). "Ong Ye Kung is cousin of newest PAP candidate Xie Yao Quan". mothership.sg. Archived from the original on 30 August 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  3. "About Ong Ye Kung". facebook. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  4. Ong Ye Kung's page on the PAP website Archived 12 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine says he was 42 in 2011, so it is deduced that he was born around 1969 or 1970.
  5. "ONG YE KUNG" (PDF). Ministry of Health.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. "Aljunied GRC: The battle for 143,148 votes". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  7. "2011 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION RESULTS". Singapore Elections Department. Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  8. "Low expectations". The Economist. 12 May 2011. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  9. It's confirmed: Ong Ye Kung is leaving NTUC Archived 28 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Today, 27 September 2012.
  10. "Nurse Diana Chia is NTUC's first woman president". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 19 December 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  11. "Ong Ye Kung joins Keppel Corp". www.asiaone.com. Archived from the original on 1 January 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  12. Ong Ye Kung, Amrin Amin join PAP's Sembawang GRC team, channelnewsasia.com, 14 August 2015.
  13. Ying, Foo Jie (15 August 2015). "PAP's Ong Ye Kung makes comeback in Sembawang GRC". The New Paper. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  14. "Singapore University of Social Sciences Bill Second Reading Speech by Mr Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills)". Ministry of Education. Archived from the original on 4 March 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  15. 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.
  16. "ELD | 2020 Parliamentary General Election Results".
  17. "Changes to the MAS Board of Directors". Archived from the original on 30 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  18. "Ong Ye Kung retires as SMRT director". Singapore Business Review. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  19. "Ong Ye Kung to head SMRT probe". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  20. Their dads were once PAP adversaries Archived 24 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Straits Times, 22 March 2011.
  21. "Change Announcement of Cessation::Resignation of Executive Director" (PDF). Sim Lian Group. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  22. Tan, Sumiko (15 January 2017). "Lunch With Sumiko: Ong Ye Kung on new ministers' 'collective ambition' for Singapore". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
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