PM Lee lauds late Richard Magnus as 'humble, principled, warm-hearted' top public servant

SINGAPORE — Attending the wake of Richard Magnus along with other politicians, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday (March 15) lauded the former Public Transport Council (PTC) chairman as a humble, principled and warm-hearted top public servant who "poured his heart and soul" into his various roles.

Magnus, also a retired senior judge, died on Monday, aged 77.

PM Lee and his wife, Madam Ho Ching, attended the wake on Tuesday evening, which was held at Magnus' home along Hillcrest Road in Bukit Timah. He spent some time at the entrance shaking hands and exchanging a few words with Magnus' son, Keith, before heading into the house. 

Mr Lee wrote in a Facebook post earlier in the day that he was "deeply saddened by the passing of Mr Richard Magnus". 

"He was a colleague and friend for over 40 years, ever since we served together in the Ministry of Defence in the early 1980s, he as director legal services and I in the general staff."  

Mr Lee added that Magnus had accepted many public service responsibilities and "poured his heart and soul into them".

Most recently, he chaired the PTC where he led major reviews of the public transport fare formula and expanded public transport concession schemes. 

"He reassured the public that fare increases would be fair and justified, and that public transport would always remain affordable," Mr Lee said. 

He added that Magnus stewarded Singapore's national institutions in his many different roles. 

"He was principled, humble and warm-hearted, and touched the lives and hearts of countless Singaporeans." 

Magnus took over from Mr Gerard Ee as chairman of PTC on May 1 in 2014, having served on the council since 2012.

Magnus' career in the public service spanned five decades. Before joining PTC, he was a board director of the Land Transport Authority.

He had also led a four-member Committee of Inquiry that looked into the massive SingHealth cyber attack that occurred in mid-2018 where hackers stole the personal data of 1.5 million SingHealth patients as well as the outpatient medical records of 160,000 of them, including that of Prime Minister Lee.

Magnus served as Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador to the Republic of Finland and was the founding chairman of Temasek Foundation Cares and deputy chairman of Temasek Foundation, the philanthropic arm of state investor Temasek Holdings.

He was recently conferred the Distinguished Service Order for the 2021 National Day Awards. Before that, he was bestowed the Public Service Star Medal in 2015, the Meritorious Service Medal in 2009, and the Public Administration Medal (Gold) (Bar) in 2003.

Other political office-holders who attended Magnus' wake on Tuesday offered TODAY their thoughts about his contribution to the nation.

Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, said that he had worked with Magnus when the latter was the director of legal services at the Ministry of Defence and in many other of his appointments after that. 

"He always gave us very good advice, not just from the legal point of view, but also on what should be done, what's right, what's wrong and what's moral," Mr Teo added. 

"He was always dependable and fair, and a true patriot who served Singapore in many difficult appointments and groundbreaking appointments, and did well in all of them. We owe him a great debt." 

Leader of the House Indranee Rajah told TODAY that she was "tremendously shocked" when she learnt of Magnus' death on Monday, because he was "still relatively young". 

Ms Indranee, who is also a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, said that she first knew him when she was "very small" as they attended the same church, and then knew him in the legal sphere when she became a lawyer, before finally in the public service as he served different roles. 

"He was someone you could say was much loved. People have a lot of respect and admiration for him," she added.

"My heart goes out to his family because it was so sudden, but I think they see what he's done in his life, the purpose and the things he has fulfilled, all of those will live on." 

Mr Melvin Yong, Member of Parliament for Radin Mas and executive secretary at the National Transport Workers' Union (NTWU), said as he attended the wake that Magnus had a "very apparent" concern for transport workers. 

After taking over as the chairman of PTC, Magnus invited the NTWU to be represented on the council, Mr Yong said. This resulted in a "very close working relationship" between him and Magnus. 

"He was very humble and always asking us about the concerns of the workers on the ground itself."  

Magnus' death had been sudden and unexpected, Mr Yong added.

"We were looking at the calendar and talking about the meetings (with Magnus that) were coming up." 

Others in the political sphere here who attended the wake on Tuesday included Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, Transport Minister S Iswaran, Mr Edwin Tong, who is Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, and Mr Tan Kiat How, Minister of State for National Development.