Masagos promoted in Cabinet reshuffle

SINGAPORE — New leaders will helm the Manpower as well as the Social and Family Development ministries, and there will be two Malay-Muslim full Ministers for the first time, in the latest round of Cabinet changes announced yesterday (April 8) by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The changes are part of continuing leadership renewal “to build a strong ‘A’ team for Singapore”, Mr Lee said on Facebook.

From today, Mr Masagos Zulkifli, who was Senior Minister of State at the Home Affairs and Foreign ministries, will be promoted to Second Minister at the same ministries. Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin will take over at the Ministry of Social and Family Development from Mr Chan Chun Sing.

Mr Tan will relinquish his Manpower portfolio on May 4, passing the baton to outgoing labour chief Lim Swee Say. Mr Lim, in turn, will step down as secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), to be succeeded by Mr Chan, who was asked to join the NTUC in January and is currently its deputy secretary-general.

Given his impending appointment as labour chief, Mr Chan will become a Minister in Prime Minister’s Office and also give up his post of Second Minister for Defence from today, which has been taken over by Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew.

Following the 2011 General Election, a new Cabinet line-up was unveiled in May that year. Since then, there have been four rounds of changes, including yesterday’s announcements.

On the latest appointments, Mr Lee said Mr Masagos’ promotion and the presence of two Malay full Ministers — Mr Masagos and Communications and Information Minister Yaacob Ibrahim — reflected the “progress of the Malay community”.

Mr Masagos called his promotion “an honour not just for me but for the Singapore Malay-Muslim community”.

The office-holders involved in the Cabinet changes also posted on their Facebook pages, pledging to build on the work of their predecessors.

Mr Lui said he looked forward to renewing his interactions with the Ministry of Defence team. The former Chief of Navy, who will concurrently helm the transport portfolio, also promised to continue paying “particular attention to matters related to public transport”.

Mr Tan said he looked forward to serving at the Ministry of Social and Family Development. “Nurturing a strong and caring society is important as we look out for those who need the additional helping hand,” he said.

Reflecting on his time as Manpower Minister, Mr Tan said he had not realised the extent of the MOM’s reach, which includes retirement adequacy, employment opportunities, workers’ rights, and workplace safety and health.

“Not only are there multiple stakeholders, their respective needs can pull in opposite directions,” he said.

Mr Lim called his time at NTUC the most meaningful period of his working life and said he was “flowing on from NTUC, but not flowing out of tripartism”.

He said Mr Tan had done much to re-tune manpower policies to re-position the economy and re-skill workers, and assured that he would continue to be pro-worker and pro-business as Manpower Minister.

“After all, the two are not (necessarily) in conflict. They are the two sides of a same coin,” he said.

Mr Chan and the labour movement paid tribute to Mr Lim, with NTUC president Diana Chia accepting his resignation tendered on March 30.

Mr Chan called Mr Lim’s eight years as NTUC secretary-general a “labour of love”. Mr Lim ensured the interests of specific groups such as mature workers were protected and believed that a job was the best welfare and full employment the best protection for workers, said Mr Chan. During the 2009 global financial crisis, Mr Lim rallied workers and persuaded employers to cut costs to save jobs. The Government also responded with measures to help businesses to keep jobs, Mr Chan added.

Adding how Mr Lim had coined catchphrases such as “better, betterer, betterest”, and “cheaper, better, faster”, Ms Chia wrote in her letter accepting his resignation: “You used stories to convey your messages, slogans to make your points stick, flip-charts to simplify difficult concepts, laughter to show your humility, and tears to show that you care.”