NTUC leadership renewal: Second labour chief in three years

SINGAPORE — Appointed as labour chief in May 2015, the tenure of Mr Chan Chun Sing — who has been touted as among the frontrunners to succeed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong — will be among the shortest in almost five decades.

Mr Chan's appointment three years ago had raised eyebrows among political watchers who noted that the labour movement is not seen as a traditional post for political high-fliers.

The observers had added that the move showed the Government's emphasis on labour issues, with economic restructuring regarded as one of its most important challenges at that time.

Mr Chan's last five predecessors — Mr Devan Nair, Mr Lim Chee Onn, Mr Ong Teng Cheong, Mr Lim Boon Heng and Mr Lim Swee Say — occupied the post for an average of almost nine years each, between 1970 and 2015. Their length of service ranged between four and 13 years.

Mr Lim Boon Heng, now 70, was the longest-serving labour chief to date. He spent 26 years in the labour movement, with the last 13 as its secretary-general. Following his retirement from National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) in 2006, he continued to oversee the movement's network of nine cooperatives.

Mr Lim Swee Say also had a relatively long runway in the NTUC prior to his appointment as secretary-general in 2007, including serving twice as its deputy secretary-general, from 1997 to 1999, as well as from 2005 to 2007.

Mr Chan, 48, who is also a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, is the NTUC's 10th secretary-general since the labour movement was established in 1961. Mr Nair was appointed labour chief twice — once in the first five years of the fledgling movement, and again from 1970 to 1979.

Mr Chan had stepped down as Minister for Social and Family Development in April 2015, before taking over the helm of the NTUC from Mr Lim Swee Say, who became Manpower Minister.

Prospective labour chiefs are typically co-opted into the NTUC's central committee before they can run for union elections.

Mr Chan, for instance, was appointed NTUC deputy secretary-general in end-January 2015, about three months before he took over as labour chief.

NTUC committee members, including the president and secretary-general, must step down when they reach the statutory retirement age of 62 to make way for younger successors.

Mr Chan's likely successor, Minister for Education (Schools) Ng Chee Meng, was one of two new members co-opted on Monday (April 23) into the central committee as deputy secretary-generals.

Mr Ng, 49, is expected to be elected as NTUC's new chief by the central committee later. The former Chief of Defence Force, who held the rank of Lieutenant-General, entered politics after being elected in the General Election (GE) in September 2015.

He was appointed Acting Education Minister (Schools) a month later, before he was made a full minister the following year. Mr Ng is concurrently the Second Minister for Transport.

Senior Minister of State (Trade and Industry, and National Development) Koh Poh Koon, 46, is the other new member co-opted into the labour movement.

Trained as a colorectal surgeon, Dr Koh was elected into Parliament after the 2015 GE, and assumed office in the two ministries in January 2016.

Currently, Mr Heng Chee How is the NTUC deputy secretary-general. He is also a Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office.

The additions to the NTUC leadership were announced ahead of an imminent major Cabinet reshuffle, which will involve almost all ministries.