Temasek’s Tan Chong Meng succeeds Eddie Teo as chair of the Council of Presidential Advisers

[SINGAPORE] Temasek’s deputy chairman Tan Chong Meng has been appointed as the chairman of the Council of Presidential Advisers as of Tuesday (Jun 2), according to a statement by the Istana.

Tan, who was appointed a council member from June 2024 to June 2030, succeeds Eddie Teo, who retired from the council on Monday.

Teo became chairman on Jan 2, 2019, after joining the council as a member in August 2018.

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam addressed Teo’s retirement in an appreciation letter dated May 15, noting that his over-seven-year tenure as council chair spanned an “exceptionally demanding period for Singapore”, which included the pandemic years.

“During Covid-19, the council considered the government’s requests to draw on past reserves, on an unprecedented scale, to protect lives and livelihoods,” the letter said.

“You guided the council with clarity and calm, ensuring that its advice to the president was principled, careful and anchored in the long-term interests of Singapore.”

Beyond these, the letter added that Teo strengthened the council’s work in “lasting ways” by bringing “care and discipline to its consideration of key discretionary functions – from safeguarding past reserves to upholding the integrity of key public service appointments”.

In addition to Teo’s retirement and Tan’s appointment, the Istana statement also announced several other appointments to the council, effective Tuesday.

These include the appointment of former DBS CEO Piyush Gupta as a member. Gupta, who is also chairman and non-executive, independent director of Keppel, was previously appointed an alternate member in August 2025.

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Other appointments include Chua Sock Koong’s re-appointment as a member, following her prior appointment to the role from June 2020, and before that, an earlier role as alternate member from January 2019 to June 2020. Chua is also senior advisor at Singtel and was formerly its group CEO.

Chairman of Singapore LNG Corp Gan Seow Kee was also appointed as a council member, following his appointment as alternate member from June 2020.

Meanwhile, Tan Ching Yee, former permanent secretary at the Ministry of Finance and chair of the Energy Market Authority board, was appointed as an alternate member.