SINGAPORE – Veteran civil servant Pang Kin Keong, who is Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs, will retire from the administrative service on June 1 after 35 years in the public service.
Mr Pang, 59, who joined the civil service in 1993, has served in various appointments, including as principal private secretary to then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, director of the Internal Security Department (ISD), and director in the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
He was appointed Permanent Secretary for Law in 2010, and was also at the Ministry of Transport from 2012 before taking on his post in the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2017.
As Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs, he played a central role in Singapore’s fight against Covid-19, chairing the Homefront Crisis Executive Group (HCEG) that guided the Government’s response to the pandemic, said the Public Service Division (PSD) in a statement announcing his retirement.
Mr Pang is also chairman of the HCEG convened alongside the Homefront Crisis Ministerial Committee (HCMC) to coordinate Singapore’s response to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The HCEG, which comprises senior civil servants, reports to the HCMC.
Minister-in-charge of the Public Service Chan Chun Sing thanked Mr Pang for the lasting impact he made, in particular as chairman of the Homefront Crisis Executive Group and during his time at the Ministry of Home Affairs where he worked with other agencies and the community to make Singapore a safer and more harmonious country.
“I would like to thank Kin Keong for his many years of significant contributions and dedicated service to the public service and to Singapore,” said Mr Chan, who is also Minister for Defence.
At the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mr Pang led efforts to deal with new security threats such as foreign interference and scams, as well as the ministry’s responses in many critical and sensitive operations, said the PSD.
