List of past members of the Government of Singapore

An evening view of Parliament House by the Singapore River in November 2007

This is a list of past members of the Government of Singapore. The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to mean the Executive branch of government, which is made up of the President and the Cabinet of Singapore. Although the President acts in his personal discretion in the exercise of certain functions as a check on the Cabinet and Parliament of Singapore, his role is largely ceremonial. It is the Cabinet, composed of the Prime Minister and other Ministers appointed on his advice by the President, that GeneRally directs and controls the Government. The Cabinet is formed by the political party that gains a simple majority in each general election.

Members of Parliament (MPs) May Be appointed as Ministers of State to aid Ministers in the performance of their functions. In addition, the Constitution provides that the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, may appoint Parliamentary Secretaries from among the MPs to assist Ministers in the discharge of their duties and functions. Such office holders are not regarded as members of the Cabinet.

Eleventh Parliament (2 November 2006 to 18 April 2011)

As of 1 April 2009

A Cabinet reshuffle took place effective as of April 2009. Professor S. Jayakumar relinquished his post of Deputy Prime Minister, and was replaced by Teo Chee Hean. Gan Kim Yong was appointed Minister for Manpower after a year as Acting Minister, and Lim Hwee Hua took up the post of Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, becoming the first woman in Singapore to become a full minister.

As of 1 April 2009, the Cabinet of Singapore consisted of the following persons:

Portfolio

Minister

Portrait

Prime Minister

Lee Hsien Loong

Lee Hsien Loong

Deputy Prime Minister
Acting Prime Minister in the Prime Minister's absence
Minister for DeFence
Minister in Charge of the Civil Service

Teo Chee Hean

Teo Chee Hean

Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Home Affairs

Wong Kan Seng

Wong Kan Seng

Senior Minister

Goh Chok Tong

Goh Chok Tong

Senior Minister Co-ordinating Minister for National Security

Shunmugam Jayakumar

Minister Mentor

Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew

Minister for Foreign Affairs

George Yeo Yong-Boon

George Yeo

Minister for Finance

Tharman Shanmugaratnam

Tharman Shanmugaratnam

Minister for National Development

Mah Bow Tan

Mah Bow Tan

Minister for Trade and Industry

Lim Hng Kiang

Lim Hng Kiang

Minister for Health

Khaw Boon Wan

Khaw Boon Wan

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs

Yaacob Ibrahim

Yaacob Ibrahim

Minister for Transport Second Minister for Foreign Affairs

Raymond Lim Siang Keat

Minister for Law Second Minister for Home Affairs

K. Shanmugam

Minister for Manpower

Gan Kim Yong

Gan Kim Yong

Minister for Education Second Minister for Defence

Ng Eng Hen

Ng Eng Hen

Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports

Vivian Balakrishnan

Vivian Balakrishnan

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office

Lim Boon Heng

Lim Boon Heng

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office

Lim Swee Say

Lim Swee Say

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office
Second Minister for Finance
Second Minister for Transport

Lim Hwee Hua

Lim Hwee Hua

Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts

Lui Tuck Yew

The names in bold are the surnames of Chinese persons, and the personal names of Indian and Malay persons (except for Vivian Balakrishnan and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, where they indicate surnames as well).

As of 1 April 2009 (except as indicated otherwise), the following Members of Parliament were appointed as Ministers of State and Parliamentary Secretaries:

Portfolio

Member of Parliament

Senior Ministers of State

Ministry of Law Ministry of Home Affairs

Ho Peng Kee

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Balaji Sadasivan

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Zainul Abidin bin Mohamed Rasheed

Ministry of Education Ministry of Trade and Industry

S. Iswaran

Ministry of National Development Ministry of Education

Grace Fu Hai Yien

Ministers of State

Ministry of Defence

Koo Tsai Kee

Ministry of Manpower Ministry of Trade and Industry

Lee Yi Shyan

Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports

Yu-Foo Yee Shoon

Prime Minister's Office

Heng Chee How

Senior Parliamentary Secretaries

Ministry of Education Ministry of Home Affairs

Masagos Zulkifli

Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources

Amy Khor Lean Suan

Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports Ministry of Transport

Teo Ser Luck

Ministry of Manpower Ministry of Health

Hawazi Daipi

Parliamentary Secretaries

Ministry of National Development

Mohamad Maliki Osman

Ministry of Trade and Industry
Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts

Sam Tan
(with effect from 1 July 2009)

The names in bold are the surnames of Chinese persons, and the personal names of Indian and Malay persons.

As of 1 November 2010

In October 2010, a further "minor adjustment" was announced. Senior Minister S. Jayakumar relinquished his post of Co-ordinating Minister for National Security, which was taken up by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng. In turn, Wong gave up his Home Affairs portfolio in favour of Minister for Law K. Shanmugam. Lui Tuck Yew was promoted to full minister in the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts. Thus, as of 1 November 2010, the Cabinet of Singapore consisted of the persons listed in the table below.

Portfolio

Minister

Portrait

Prime Minister

Lee Hsien Loong

Lee Hsien Loong

Deputy Prime Minister
Acting Prime Minister in the Prime Minister's absence
Minister for Defence
Minister in Charge of the Civil Service

Teo Chee Hean

Teo Chee Hean

Deputy Prime Minister
Co-ordinating Minister for National Security

Wong Kan Seng

Wong Kan Seng

Senior Minister

Goh Chok Tong

Goh Chok Tong

Senior Minister

Shunmugam Jayakumar

Minister Mentor

Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew

Minister for Foreign Affairs

George Yeo Yong-Boon

George Yeo

Minister for Finance

Tharman Shanmugaratnam

Tharman Shanmugaratnam

Minister for National Development

Mah Bow Tan

Mah Bow Tan

Minister for Trade and Industry

Lim Hng Kiang

Lim Hng Kiang

Minister for Health

Khaw Boon Wan

Khaw Boon Wan

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs

Yaacob Ibrahim

Yaacob Ibrahim

Minister for Transport Second Minister for Foreign Affairs

Raymond Lim Siang Keat

Minister for Law Minister for Home Affairs

K. Shanmugam

Minister for Manpower

Gan Kim Yong

Gan Kim Yong

Minister for Education Second Minister for Defence

Ng Eng Hen

Ng Eng Hen

Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports

Vivian Balakrishnan

Vivian Balakrishnan

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office

Lim Boon Heng

Lim Boon Heng

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office

Lim Swee Say

Lim Swee Say

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office
Second Minister for Finance
Second Minister for Transport

Lim Hwee Hua

Lim Hwee Hua

Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts

Lui Tuck Yew

The names in bold are the surnames of Chinese persons, and the personal names of Indian and Malay persons (except for Vivian Balakrishnan and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, where they indicate surnames as well).

As of 1 November 2010 (except as indicated otherwise), the following Members of Parliament were appointed as Ministers of State and Parliamentary Secretaries:

Portfolio

Member of Parliament

Senior Ministers of State

Ministry of Education Ministry of Trade and Industry

S. Iswaran

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Zainul Abidin bin Mohamed Rasheed

Ministry of Law Ministry of Home Affairs

Ho Peng Kee

Ministry of National Development Ministry of Education

Grace Fu Hai Yien

Ministers of State

Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports

Yu-Foo Yee Shoon

Ministry of Defence

Koo Tsai Kee

Ministry of Education Ministry of Home Affairs

Masagos Zulkifli

Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources

Amy Khor Lean Suan

Ministry of Manpower Ministry of Trade and Industry

Lee Yi Shyan

Prime Minister's Office

Heng Chee How

Senior Parliamentary Secretaries

Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports Ministry of Transport

Teo Ser Luck

Ministry of Manpower Ministry of Health

Hawazi Daipi

Ministry of National Development

Mohamad Maliki Osman

Ministry of Trade and Industry Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts

Sam Tan

Parliamentary Secretaries

None

The names in bold are the surnames of Chinese persons, and the personal names of Indian and Malay persons.