The three junior parliamentarians appointed after the July 2020 general election were promoted in the latest change round announced by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Monday (6 June).
Minister of State Tankiat Howe will be promoted to Minister of State on June 13 and will continue with the Ministry of Communications and Information and the Ministry of National Development.
Mr. Tan was one of the four promotions in the latest changes to the Cabinet and other appointments that Treasury Minister Lawrence Wong presided over as Deputy Prime Minister.
The PMO added that parliamentarians Eric Chua and Rahayu Mazam will be promoted to senior parliamentary secretaries.
Chua continues the existing portfolio of Culture, Community, Youth and Ministry of Social and Family Development.
Mr. Rahayu will be newly appointed by the Ministry of Justice and will remain in the Ministry of Health. She abandons her appointment at the Ministry of Communications and Information.
Prior to entering politics in 2020, Mr. Tan was Chief Executive Officer of the Infocomm Media Development Authority as part of the People’s Action Party’s East Coast GRC Slate. He is also the chair of the Government Feedback Unit Reach.
Mr. Chua worked for the Singapore Civil Defense Force and the Ministry of Interior for 17 years and was the director of the SGSecure Program Office before entering politics in 2020.
Trained as a lawyer and specializing in family law, Rahayu is the second MP to work for Jurong GRC since 2015.
Chua and Rahayu are both Vice-Chairs of Reach’s Supervisory Board.
Other political appointments announced on Monday include Minister of State Chi Hong Tat, who will undertake a new portfolio at the Treasury.
He will stay in the Ministry of Transport, leave the labor movement and then return to government full-time.
Minister of State Ko Po Kuhn will also undertake a new portfolio of the Ministry of Sustainability and Water Resources.
He remains in the Ministry of Labor, but abandons his appointment in the Ministry of Health.
Sun Xueling will be appointed Minister of the Interior. She remains in the Ministry of Social and Family Affairs, but she abandons her appointment in the Ministry of Education.
Baey Yam Keng has been appointed Senior Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Sustainability and Resources and will remain in the Ministry of Transport.
