MOH senior civil servant resigns ahead of GE2025

Jasmin Lau, the Deputy Secretary (Policy) at the Ministry of Health (MOH), has resigned from the ministry, with her last day falling on Apr. 1, 2025.

According to an email seen by The Straits Times, Lau, 42, will be leaving the administrative service, which is the highest tier of civil service in Singapore.

The timing of her resignation has sparked speculation that she might be fielded as a candidate for General Election (GE) 2025, which must be held by November.

ST reported that public service leaders constitute one of the candidate pools for the People's Action Party (PAP).

Upon being selected to run, candidates typically resign from their positions ahead of GE, as public service leaders are not allowed to be involved in political activities while still in office.

Who is Lau?

According to Lau's LinkedIn profile, after graduating from Raffles Junior College, she went on to pursue economics and bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States from 2002 to 2005.

In 2006, she graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a master's degree in technology and policy.

Upon returning to Singapore, Lau joined the Ministry of Finance as a Fiscal Strategy Associate before moving to the Ministry of Manpower as a Senior Assistant Director for Manpower Planning and Foreign Workforce Policy.

In 2011, she began working as the Deputy Director of Strategic Policy Office and the Centre for Strategic Futures at the Public Service Division (PSD).

Two years later, Lau joined MOH, where she oversaw the development and regulation of medical and long term care insurance in Singapore.

ST reported that it was during Lau's tenure at MOH that the ministry launched MediShield Life.

In 2019, Lau left the ministry and became the Executive Director of Singapore Global Network at Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).

Three years later, she returned to MOH as its Deputy Secretary (Policy), where she works to ensure Singapore's healthcare system has enough resources to function, according to PSD.

Addition to her extensive credentials in public service, Lau is also a board member of the Building and Construction Authority and a member of the board of trustees at the Singapore Institute of Technology.

In an interview with PSD published in 2024, Lau shared that she is a mother of two and an avid player of competitive netball and basketball.

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Top images by Zheng Zhangxin & via Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth