Lawrence Wong – the successor who was trusted by Lee Hsien Loong

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his cabinet will resign today, transferring power to his successor Lawrence Wong.

The decision to hand over power was announced by Mr. Lee last month, affirming that Wong and the group of politicians from the fourth generation (4G) leadership of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) in Singapore had `worked hard`.

`I accept this responsibility with humility and a deep awareness of my obligation. I promise to devote myself to my work,` Mr. Wong said on April 15, after Mr. Ly’s announcement.

Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

Mr. Wong, 51 years old, describes himself as coming from a `common family` in the Marine Parade area, southeast Singapore.

As a child, Wong preferred reading to exercise and often went to the library to borrow books on science and guitar.

Wong studied in the US on a scholarship from the Singapore government, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor.

He began his career at Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry in 1997, followed by positions at the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Health.

In 2008, Mr. Wong was deputy executive director of the Singapore Energy Market Authority (EMA), then was promoted to executive director in 2009. In 2011, after 14 years as a civil servant, he decided to move to

In Singapore, civil servants will receive a pension if they work for 15 years.

In 2011, he was elected as a member of the National Assembly, then held a series of positions in ministries such as Secretary of State for Education, National Defense, and leader of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth in 2014. After the general election, Mr.

In January 2020, Mr. Wong and Singapore’s Health Minister Gan Kim Yong co-chaired the Covid-19 response committee.

During this time, Singapore was in the group of countries with the lowest death rate from Covid-19 in the world.

Mr. Lawrence Wong (right) and Mr. Lee Hsien Loong.

In November 2020, Mr. Wong was elected to the PAP central executive board.

In May 2021, Singapore continued to reshuffle the cabinet, Wong became Finance Minister to replace Mr. Heng, the first sign that this politician has the potential to become PAP leader.

After Heng withdrew, the 4G group began the process of finding a new leader.

In April 2022, Mr. Lee announced that Wong would be the 4G leader, after 15 out of 19 officials consulted by Khaw all considered the finance minister as the top choice.

Photo of Mr. Lawrence Wong playing the guitar posted on his personal Facebook in July 2015.

Mr. Ly on April 15 called the leadership transition process an `important moment` and called on Singaporeans to support the successor government to build a brighter future together.

Mr Wong is leading the national `Forward Singapore` effort to chart a `social contract` between government and people on how to address a range of issues, from sustainable development to inequality.

However, he also admitted that he still has much work to do and that the achievements he has achieved so far are all `thanks to standing on the shoulders of giants`.

`So far, Wong has given no indication of his political vision,` said Chong Ja Ian, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore.