Ng Chee Meng is likely to be next Labour Chief: Lianhe Zaobao

Could Ng be following Chan's leadership trajectory?

Jeanette Tan | Jonathan Lim | March 21, 2018, 04:40 PM

You may or may not know that ever since the close of the Budget and Committee of Supply debates, Singapore's Parliament convened again over three days this week — Wednesday, Mar. 21 being the third and final one.

However, if you are like a number of other Singaporeans who are interested in who will likely be leading our country when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong steps down from his post, you're more likely to remember that PM Lee said he will reshuffle his Cabinet after Parliament closes:

And, however, that he said he will not be appointing any new Deputy Prime Ministers in this reshuffle:

Lianhe Zaobao reported on Wednesday that, according to reliable sources, Minister of Education (Schools) and Second Minister for Transport Ng Chee Meng will be taking on the role of Deputy Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

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Zaobao said its sources pointed out on Monday (Jan. 19) that members of NTUC’s Central Committee were notified of the move, and were asked to give their support to Ng being elected as Deputy Secretary-General.

The report also speculates that this will pave the way for Ng to be the next Secretary-General for NTUC -- a post that is currently held by Chan Chun Sing.

The report further speculated that this could mean that current labour chief Chan, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, may be moved to another post in the course of PM Lee's upcoming Cabinet reshuffle.

So, where does this leave us?

Speculation has been rife that Chan is one of the candidates to be Singapore’s next Prime Minister. The other two, as you would know by now, are Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat and Ng's counterpart Ong Ye Kung — Minister for Education (Higher Skills) and Second Minister for Defence.

This also means Ng will leave a gap in the Education ministry, and if Ong is also moved to another portfolio, we may potentially see one or two new ministers take their place.

Would the ministry see just one new Minister at the helm? Possibly, but that would be a good thing for whoever takes it.

Ng is also currently second minister for transport, which means he will likely be shifted out of there to the Prime Minister's Office (since Chan currently occupies that role apart from being Labour Chief). If that's the case, the Ministry of Transport will also be needing a new Second Minister to work with Minister Khaw Boon Wan.

But hey, of course, the next Cabinet reshuffle will perhaps shed more light. And we can look forward to that happening sooner than later.

Top photos via Ng Chee Meng's & Chan Chun Sing's Facebook pages