SINGAPORE – Labour chief Ng Chee Meng will be appointed Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office from July 27.
Announcing this and other cabinet changes at the National Press Centre on July 22, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said jobs and workforce transformation have become a much higher priority for the Government.
“I felt given the concerns about the economic and workforce challenges we face, it was timely for him to return to the Goverment, to return to Cabinet, and contribute not just as Secretary-General of NTUC, but as the Minister in my team,” he added.
“I think he will be able to make a more impactful contribution to tackle the national challenge which we face. So I approached him, and he agreed to do so.”
PM Wong noted that the issue of jobs has come up frequently in Parliament, and that Ng had put forth a motion about artificial intelligence and jobs. He added that Ng had settled in his ward at Jalan Kayu and spent time working hard on the ground there in the past year.
In the 2025 General Election, Ng won the newly carved-out Jalan Kayu single seat with 51.47 per cent of the vote, beating WP fresh face Andre Low in a tight contest.
But three days after the May 3 polls, Ng said in a statement that he had asked PM Wong not to assign him any position in government.
PM Wong said then that he respected Ng’s wishes not to be offered a position in government so that he could focus on his work in NTUC and Jalan Kayu.
But he also added that he looks forward to “having the labour chief being part of the Cabinet before too long”.
The secretary-general of the NTUC has traditionally held a position in the Cabinet, starting with Lim Chee Onn, who was appointed as a minister in the Prime Minister’s Office in 1980.
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