Iswaran resigns; Chee Hong Tat, Grace Fu take over his portfolios

CHEE Hong Tat, who was acting transport minister during former transport minister S Iswaran’s leave of absence, has been appointed minister for transport, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Thursday (Jan 18). He officially replaces Iswaran, who faces 27 charges, mainly for corruption. Chee, who has been promoted to full minister, will also be appointed second minister for Finance.

Meanwhile, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu is taking on Iswaran’s other portfolio to be minister-in-charge of trade relations concurrently.

Their new appointments take effect from Thursday, said the PMO in its statement.

Separately, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that Iswaran wrote to him to resign as a cabinet minister on Jan 16, after the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) had given him formal notice of the charges.

He added that Iswaran was also resigning as Member of Parliament for the West Coast GRC.

The following day, Iswaran also informed PM Lee that he would return all monies received by way of salary as minister and allowances as MP from when the CPIB probe began in July.

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Iswaran also added that he would not seek the return of these monies “if, as I strongly believe, I am acquitted”.

Chee was appointed senior minister of State for Transport on Jul 27, 2020, and took up a concurrent appointment as senior minister of state for finance about two years later.

He was named acting transport minister on Jul 12, 2023, after the CPIB said Iswaran was assisting an investigation, without elaborating.

It was revealed two days later that Iswaran and hotelier-billionaire Ong Beng Seng were both arrested on Jul 11, 2023, by the CPIB and then released on bail.

Last week, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing revealed in a written Parliamentary reply that CPIB had conducted a “robust and thorough” investigation, and that the matter was being reviewed by the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

The investigation had arisen from an unrelated probe that CPIB was conducting in May. In an update to Prime Minister Lee in early July, the anti-graft agency raised the need to interview Iswaran as part of the probe. PM Lee gave his concurrence a day later.

Following his arrest, Iswaran was put on a leave of absence, with his monthly pay cut to S$8,500. However, he continued to receive his MP allowance, as he had not been suspended.

Last September, Parliament resolved to consider his status as an MP only after investigations were complete.