Is retiring Chief of Defence Force Melvyn Ong getting ready to join politics?

SINGAPORE: Rumours that the ruling celebration could area Chief of Defence Power (CDF) Melvyn Ong Su Kiat within the subsequent election are swirling on WhatsApp and Telegram discussion groups after the Ministry of Defence’s (MINDEF) introduced yesterday (22 Feb) that he’ll step down from his publish on 24 March.

MINDEF stated that the Lieutenant-Common will proceed to serve in public service, following his retirement from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

Whereas the precise nature of LG Ong’s public service and his post-SAF plans stay unclear, the announcement has triggered questions on whether or not the 47-year-old is making ready to affix politics, in time for the following Common Election.

If he does run, LG Ong is not going to be the primary ex-CDF who rode into politics below the Folks’s Motion Social gathering (PAP) banner. His predecessor Ng Chee Meng was fielded as a contemporary face within the 2015 normal election, which happened lower than a month after he retired from the military.

Mr Ng was put in a six-member staff below the management of then-Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and coasted to victory and into Parliament. He then grew to become one among a uncommon few in Singapore’s historical past to be appointed as cupboard minister as quickly as he joined Parliament.

As a part of the PAP’s fourth-generation (4G) cohort of leaders, Mr Ng was made Minister of Training (Colleges) and Second Minister for Transport shortly after the election in 2015. In 2015, he was appointed a Minister within the Prime Minister’s Workplace and was elected Secretary-Common of Authorities-linked labour motion, NTUC.

In his second election, Mr Ng was recognized because the chief of the PAP staff contesting the newly-carved out Sengkang GRC. In a surprising upset, Mr Ng and his staff misplaced to the Employees’ Social gathering (WP).

Though he was voted out of political workplace and misplaced his ministerial place, Mr Ng stays energetic as a PAP department chairmen in Sengkang and has discretion over how taxpayer funds are disbursed within the opposition-held ward.

He was additionally appointed to proceed as labour chief, regardless of dropping the election, in a transfer that was opposite to the norm – a transfer that indicators that he shall be a part of the PAP’s slate within the subsequent election.

The following election have to be held no later than 23 November 2025 however analysts have predicted that it’s going to happen earlier, maybe as early as June subsequent 12 months. And this time, Mr Ng could have a fellow former CDF as a part of his celebration within the type of the retiring LG-Ong.

Hypothesis can also be rife that within the interim interval, between his retirement from the SAF and the following election, LG Ong could discover a publish for himself inside a government-linked entity.

It’s noteworthy that each single one out of the 9 former CDFs that precede LG Ong had key roles in authorities ministries, statutory boards, and corporations which might be recognized to have shut ties to the institution, after they left the Forces.

CDF function = springboard for achievement?

Among the higher recognized ex-CDFs are Ng Yat Chung and Desmond Kuek.

Ng joined Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek, after his departure from the military, earlier than he was finally made CEO of Neptune Orient Strains (NOL). He infamously ran NOL aground and was blamed for his failure to enhance the corporate’s efficiency throughout his tenure as chief government regardless of incomes tens of millions from the highest function.

Temasek bought all of its shares in NOL to France’s CMA CGM, which managed to show the corporate round and publish a $26 million internet revenue inside mere months.

Regardless of this, Ng was subsequently made chief government of Singapore Press Holdings – the mainstream media conglomerate that has well-known ties to the Authorities.

Ng’s direct successor Desmond Quek briefly served as everlasting secretary in a Authorities ministry for a 12 months and a half after he left the Forces. The very subsequent day after he resigned from his publish as Everlasting Secretary, Kuek began his new job as President and Group CEO of SMRT Company Restricted.

Kuek’s tenure at SMRT was marked by varied controversies – from the deaths of two trainees who had been struck by an oncoming practice, to the unprecedented flooding of an MRT tunnel and a collision between two trains that injured over 30 people, in addition to numerous practice service breakdowns.

Kuek was additionally straight accountable as group CEO for promoting SMRT to Temasek on 29 September 2016, virtually precisely 4 years since he took over as chief government, successfully privatising the company.

He stepped down from his publish as president and group CEO of SMRT after years of brickbats from the general public, and after incomes near 10 million within the 5 and a half years he led the transport group.

Though SMRT stated that it carried out a world search to search out the following SMRT head honcho, they finally ended up giving the job to a different CDF – Neo Kian Hong, the very man who had succeeded Kuek as CDF.

This swapping of chairs will not be new. The very first CDF Winston Choo joined the Ministry of Overseas Affairs (MFA) after retiring from army service and served as Singapore’s Excessive Commissioner to Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and South Africa.

His final public service function was as Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador to Israel – a job he held from 2005 to 2021, when he was succeeded by one other ex-CDF Lim Chuan Poh.

Lim served as Everlasting Secretary for Training and Chairman of A*STAR, a Authorities statutory board, previous to his appointment as a diplomat. He’s additionally Chairman of the Nationwide Infocomm Safety Committee and Chairman of Governing Board of NTU’s Lee Kong Chian College of Medication.

The final three former CDFs finally made it to the non-public sector however not earlier than they bounced across the institution.

Singapore’s second CDF, the late Ng Jui Peng, was made deputy chairman of the Central Provident Fund Board after he left the SAF. He additionally held key roles at ST Engineering earlier than he grew to become an entrepreneur.

His successor Bey Soo Khiang was with Singapore’s flag service airline Singapore Airways for greater than a decade after leaving the army, earlier than he landed the Vice-Chairman publish at Indonesian multinational firm Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) in 2011.

LG Ong’s direct predecessor Perry Lim can also be a serious determine at RGE. He was made managing director of the manufacturing big after holding roles inside the Ministry of Training.

With such a steadfast historical past of former CDFs happening to play key roles within the institution, it’s no shock that every one eyes at the moment are on LG Ong and the way he figures within the PAP’s technique for the following election.

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