Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan announced on June 26 that he is retiring from politics.

Speaking to the media in the evening at Canberra MRT station, Khaw said that he apologised to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in the afternoon for not being able to support him in the next term.

"But it was a decision which he was aware of and has been in the plan for several years," he added.

His decision to retire — and start succession planning — came soon after his bypass surgery in 2010.

"It was a traumatic event, life changing event," he said chuckling.

And while he has been preparing his Sembawang team for his eventual retirement, Khaw said that his Sembawang residents have to get on board.

Khaw said:

"We need the residents of Sembawang to support the team. Then I think we will be able to execute the many plans that the team has  for Sembawang."

On his most memorable highlight of his career, Khaw said that he has had many memories — largely positive ones.

He listed two projects that he had a hand in which were really memorable: The structuring of a healthcare scheme that later came to be known as MediSave, as well as the restructuring of hospitals under the direction of then Health Ministers Goh Chok Tong and Howe Yoon Chong respectively.

"Both projects were exciting for me, but great pressure," said Khaw.

"Any failure is personal failure, but it would reflect on Mr Howe, it would reflect on ESM Goh in terms of their judgement. I knew the responsibility. It was tireless but we were young, full of energy, hardly sleep, neglected everything else, and fortunately, we delivered."

Moving on to his housing and transport portfolios, Khaw said that these were "critical, political" issues which, had he failed at them, would have incurred much damage to the party.

"That was the great pressure on our shoulders. We dare not rest. We just pushed on. Fortunately, with the support of many people, excellent civil servants, we delivered."

If anything, Khaw said, this has shown people that "yes we have had our downs, but we can deliver".

On which ministry — Health, National Development, and Transport — was the toughest for him, Khaw said that he was very fortunate to have enjoyed his work in all of the ministries he helmed.

They were all meaningful, he said, even though these portfolios could be "spiky".

He said he approached the problems as an engineer would, which was to be clear what the problem is, explore the options, weigh the trade-offs, and pay attention to the details.

In his chat with the media, Khaw singled out his fellow Sembawang GRC MP Ong Ye Kung's tribute to him before breaking into tears.

"It's very kind of him to acknowledge the small role I played in his career. But that is the way we ought to behave as supervisors or bosses or managers. Your job is to nurture the young."

You can watch Khaw's speech below: