Lawrence Wong picked as leader of Singapore's 4G team

Singapore

FINANCE Minister Lawrence Wong has been chosen to be the leader of Singapore's fourth-generation (4G) team by the Cabinet ministers, and the decision was endorsed by the ruling People's Action Party's (PAP) members of parliament (MPs), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced on Thursday (Apr 14).

He said in a statement: "This decision on succession is a crucial one for Singapore. It will ensure the continuity and stability of leadership that are the hallmarks of our system. The ministers recognise that the right to lead cannot be inherited. Mr Lawrence Wong and his younger team will continue to give their best to Singaporeans, and justify their trust and support."

Wong noted in a post on Facebook shortly after PM Lee's announcement that the right to lead cannot be inherited. He assured Singaporeans that he and the rest of the 4G team will strive to earn the trust and support of every citizen.

"My colleagues in the 4G leadership have stood shoulder to shoulder with each other in the fight against Covid-19. The experience of the past two years has cemented our cohesiveness and strengthened our resolve to steward Singapore safely through this crisis and beyond," said Wong, who is also co-chair of the government's multi-ministry taskforce (MTF) on Covid-19.

With Wong as the clear-cut 4G leader, this paves the way for him to become Singapore's fourth PM after PM Lee steps down.

Former Cabinet minister and PAP chairman Khaw Boon Wan was tasked by PM Lee to start a process involving the ministers, Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng, to gather their personal views in confidence and facilitate a new consensus on a 4G leader.

Neither PM Lee nor the 2 Senior Ministers - Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam - were sought for views on the matter.

Khaw noted that the overwhelming majority of those consulted supported Wong as the 4G leader.

Khaw briefed Cabinet ministers, Tan and Ng on his findings, and all of them endorsed the decision for Wong to lead the team. The chosen candidate was later presented to and endorsed by PAP MPs on Thursday evening.

PM Lee said he will make adjustments to his Cabinet appointments in due course, now that Wong has been picked as the 4G leader.

The 49-year-old Wong was a senior civil servant before joining politics in 2011 - he was previously the chief executive of the Energy Market Authority and the principal private secretary to PM Lee.

He was elected at the May 2011 general election, and re-elected at the subsequent polls in September 2015 and July 2020. He has held top positions in the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Communications and Information, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, the Ministry of National Development and the Ministry of Education.

Besides his role as a co-chair to the MTF, Wong is also the deputy chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

He obtained his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, as well as a Master's degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat asked to step down as leader of the party's 4G team and the designated successor to PM Lee in April last year.