Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced his new Cabinet on Saturday (Jul 25), 15 days after the People's Action Party (PAP) scored 61.24 per cent of the votes in the 2020 General Election.

PM Lee said that the new Cabinet will have 37 office holders in total – the same number as his previous Cabinet in 2015.

He noted that it is a team with experience and depth, with senior members tempered by the challenges that they have gone through together, and reinforced with younger members.

How Cabinet was assembled

PM Lee explained the decision behind his new Cabinet line-up, saying that it is a team that will lead Singapore through the Covid-19 crisis and also plan for Singapore's future beyond the crisis.

PM's considerations are as follows:

"In assembling this team, I have consulted DPM Heng Swee Keat and my senior colleagues. We sought to balance three things: continuity, exposure and renewal."

On the first consideration of continuity, PM Lee needed experienced ministers "to provide steady hands", and hence, most of the older Ministers are staying on.

They include PM Lee himself, Senior Ministers Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam, and Health Minister Gan Kim Yong.

A second consideration was that PM Lee wanted to rotate the younger Ministers to gain exposure and experience.

He wanted to expose the office holders to different portfolios to gain both breadth and depth in experience, to understand the intricacies of the issues, and to see things from different perspectives.

Third, PM Lee wanted to renew the line-up, and he has done so with seven new political office holders, including a new first-time full Minister.

PM Lee's take on his Ministers

Here, PM Lee provided his quick take on his Ministers in the cabinet line-up, which we quote:

DPM Heng Swee Keat & his new role as a Coordinating Minister

"As Finance Minister he controls the government’s budget, and therefore will have broad oversight of our major priorities and policies.

Heng Swee Keat will also be formally designated as Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies, as he chairs the Future Economy Council as well as the National Research Foundation.

Actually, he was already playing this role in the last term. This just formalises existing arrangements."

SMs Teo Chee Hean & Tharman Shanmugaratnam

"As Senior Ministers, they do not have responsibilities for specific Ministries, but they are invaluable in advising me and the younger Ministers, weighing in with views as needed.

Teo Chee Hean will continue as Coordinating Minister for National Security, and oversee several other issues cutting across the whole of government, including Population and Climate Change.

Tharman Shanmugaratnam will continue as Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and also Chairman of MAS. He also has one more important task and that is chairing our National Jobs Council."

Covid-19 crisis Ministers: Gan Kim Yong, Chan Chun Sing & Josephine Teo

"I have kept on the Ministers who are directly handling the COVID-19 crisis: Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and Ministry of Manpower (MOM)."

On Gan Kim Yong: "Prior to COVID-19, he (Gan) was pushing major reforms of our healthcare system, building new hospitals, improving healthcare financing. He is leading our response to COVID-19, co–chairing the Multi-Ministry Taskforce together with Lawrence Wong. I have asked Gan Kim Yong to stay on at MOH for now, because we are still in the critical phase of our fight."

On Chan Chun Sing: "Chan Chun Sing will also remain at MTI, and S. Iswaran will continue to support him as Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations Getting the economy back on track is our major priority. As we reopen the economy, we need to support viable industries and companies that need help to get back in to operation."

On Josephine Teo: "Josephine Teo joined MOM only two years ago, but has made significant changes to improve job prospects and income security of Singaporeans...MOM will be redoubling its efforts to save jobs, and to retrain our workers to take up new ones. MOM is also involved managing the migrant workers in the dormitories, and getting them safely housed, safely managed and safely working."

Security & central agencies Ministers: Ng Eng Hen, Vivian Balakrishnan, K Shanmugam, & S Iswaran

"The Ministers for the security and central agencies: MINDEF, MFA, MHA, MinLaw and MCI will remain. Ng Eng Hen, Vivian Balakrishnan, K Shanmugam, and S Iswaran all retain their current portfolios."

Lawrence Wong

"Lawrence Wong will be the new Minister for Education, replacing Ong Ye Kung.

He will build on the good work of Ong Ye Kung and previous Education Ministers, and continue improving our education system to bring out the best in every child and student.

He will also focus on lifelong learning for adults, and work with companies to integrate learning with the new demands at our workplaces.

Lawrence Wong will continue to chair the Multi-Ministry Taskforce on Covid-19."

Ong Ye Kung

"Ong Ye Kung will succeed Khaw Boon Wan at the Ministry of Transport.

In the last five years, MOT’s priority was engineering work, especially getting our public transport system in good shape and to improve reliability.

In the next few years, MOT’s emphasis will shift to envisioning and realising Singapore’s post COVID-19 connectivity by land, sea and air.

For land, our public transport system will need to evolve further, to be sustainable, affordable and part of our long-term plan for a green Singapore.

For sea and air, the critical task is to preserve Singapore’s status as a global hub, especially in the post- COVID-19 world. MOT will also be engaged with Malaysia and Indonesia on major bilateral projects like the High Speed Rail and RTS Link, and also sensitive air space and maritime issues.

So we need a very good Minister at the helm, with Cabinet experience and political nous."

Desmond Lee & Indranee Rajah

"Desmond Lee will be appointed Minister for National Development, replacing Lawrence Wong. Desmond Lee has been Second Minister at MND for several years, so he is familiar with the issues".

"He will have support from Indranee Rajah, who will be appointed Second Minister at MND. Indranee Rajah will remain as Second Minister for Finance, as well as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, overseeing NNPTD, and assisting SM Teo Chee Hean on population matters."

Although Desmond Lee is being posted to MND, he will retain a role in the Ministry of Social and Family Development as Minister-in-charge of Social Services Integration".

Masagos Zulkifli

"Masagos Zulkifli will take over from Desmond Lee as the Minister for Social and Family Development.

He has a good understanding of the needs of different segments of our community, and will bring this to bear in his new Ministry. Masagos Zulkifli will be concurrently appointed Second Minister at the Ministry of Health."

Grace Fu

"Grace Fu will move to the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE), previously the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources.

We are renaming the Ministry, to call it the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, to better reflect its future role.

Sustainability has become an increasingly important part of our national agenda. We are planning our climate change defences and managing our carbon footprint."

Maliki Osman & Edwin Tong

"I am promoting Maliki Osman and Edwin Tong to full Ministers.

Maliki Osman will be Second Minister to Vivian Balakrishnan at Foreign Affairs, and to Lawrence Wong at Education. He will also be appointed Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Edwin Tong will be appointed Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, and also concurrently Second Minister for Law, supporting K Shanmugam.

Both Maliki Osman and Edwin Tong have performed well as Senior Ministers of State, and it is time for them to step up and take on more responsibilities."

Tan See Leng

Tan was a new addition to the Marine Parade GRC team that beat a Workers' Party team in the recent general election.

"Tan See Leng has a depth of private sector experience as a medical professional and business entrepreneur.

He will be Second Minister in MTI and MOM, as well as Minister in PMO.

In MTI, he will add a private sector perspective to economic policymaking, to make sure that our policies are effective in helping businesses, and to address problems faced by the private sector. Being also posted to MOM, he will help align our economic and manpower policies to reinforce each other."

PM Lee concluded:

"Tackling COVID-19 and the economic crisis calls for all hands on deck, and my entire leadership team have roles to play. Beyond the crisis, we continue planning for the future, including for leadership succession.

DPM Heng Swee Keat together with Chan Chun Sing and the other younger Ministers are increasingly taking the lead in setting the government’s agenda, and preparing to take over from me and my older colleagues".

PM Lee asked Singaporeans to give him and his team their full support.

Top photo from the Ministry of Communications and Information.