Leong Mun Wai named Progress Singapore Party's new secretary-general, Hazel Poa vice-chair to Tan Cheng Bock

SINGAPORE — Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leong Mun Wai, 64, has been named Progress Singapore Party's (PSP) new secretary-general, taking over from Mr Francis Yuen, 73, who has stepped down from the party's central executive committee (CEC) altogether. 

Fellow NCMP Hazel Poa, 52, was named vice-chairman of the party, after the CEC held a vote on Monday (April 3). 

In response to TODAY's queries, a PSP spokesperson said: "After two years of experience as NCMPs, both Mr Leong and Ms Poa feel ready to take on additional responsibilities in the party."

The spokesperson added that Mr Leong will be aided by two assistant secretary-generals, Mr Nadarajah Loganathan, 60, and Dr Ang Yong Guan, 68, "who will share his load".

"As the secretary-general, Mr Leong will lead the charge for the operations of the party. He will still work closely with the chairman to continue bringing the party to greater heights."

Experts that TODAY spoke to on Tuesday said that there could be a number of reasons for the changes but they believe the key issue is PSP getting ready for the next General Election (GE).

"We do have to understand that ...it's not going to be too long in the future that there will be a GE to be called," said Dr Felix Tan, a political analyst at Nanyang Technological University.

"By putting them in party positions, it will allow them to attract talents to the party and maintain its influence or galvanise party members to do more in the next election," he added.

The next GE must be held by November 2025.

The party told TODAY that Mr Yuen has left his leadership position as he has taken on a new job that will require him to travel frequently, leaving him with little time to attend to party matters. 

The reappointment of Mr Leong and Ms Poa into PSP's CEC comes after they both stepped down from their leadership positions in 2020.

At the time, the party said the CEC had decided that the pair should be "relieved of internal party responsibilities so that they can focus on their parliamentary duties as NCMPs".

Before his entry into politics, Mr Leong started his career in 1986 with sovereign wealth fund GIC. He then went on to work with global investment banks in Tokyo, London and Hong Kong before returning to Singapore where he was managing director of OCBC Securities.

Mr Leong has been making headlines since becoming NCMP in 2020 for his confrontational exchanges with People's Action Party ministers in Parliament over issues such as Singapore's immigration policy, housing policy and the management of the national reserves. 

Most recently, he made the news for having a heated argument with Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam about the ongoing investigation into fellow PSP member Lee Hsien Yang and on why the individuals in the Keppel Offshore and Marine (O&M) bribery case were not named.

Dr Gillian Koh, deputy director of research at the Institute of Policy Studies, National University of Singapore, believes that the appointment is "the party signalling its confidence" in Mr Leong in his performance as NCMP.

"In a way, he has to draw the PAP (People's Action Party) front bench out and look good while making his political adversaries look the opposite way," she said.

"He is aiming to provide what he perceives the 'political market' wants – a check and balance on the dominant PAP. It is up to us to decide if he is qualified in actual fact of competence, knowledge, quality of debate to do so."

At the same meeting on Monday, PSP also co-opted two more members, Mr Lim Cher Hong and Mr Muhammad Taufik Supan into its CEC.

PSP'S NEW CEC OFFICE BEARERS

Chairman: Dr Tan Cheng Bock
Vice-Chairman: Ms Hazel Poa
Secretary-General: Mr Leong Mun Wai
First Assistant Secretary-General: Mr Nadarajah Loganathan
Second Assistant Secretary-General: Dr Ang Yong Guan
Treasurer: Ms Peggie Chua
Assistant Treasurer: Mr Lim Cher Hong

The other CEC members are: Mr A'bas Kasmani, Mr Harish Pillay, Mr Khoo Poh Tiong Jeffrey, Mr Muhammad Taufik Supan, Mr Phang Yew Huat, Ms Tan Chika and Ms Wendy Low Wei Ling.

When asked if Mr Leong's appointment would mean a new leadership direction, Associate Professor Eugene Tan of Singapore Management University said: "To all intents and purposes, for better or worse, Mr Leong is the face of the PSP now, with Dr Tan receding more and more into the background as a party elder.

"My sense is that, in day-to-day matters, Mr Leong calls the shots with Dr Tan exerting strong moral suasion over the party’s CEC. Key party matters will probably require Dr Tan’s endorsement."