SINGAPORE, April 25 — The leadership transition spanning the next few years is "well underway”, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday, following the announcement of a Cabinet reshuffle which he described as "more extensive than usual” and one that would stretch the younger office-holders.

In a Facebook post, Lee said many younger leaders elected in recent polls will get new or expanded portfolios.

"I have decided to stretch the younger ones, giving many of them two ministries and additional responsibilities,” wrote the Prime Minister.

"The younger ministers will progressively take over more responsibility for governing Singapore,” he added.

The much-anticipated Cabinet reshuffle, which takes effect from May 1, was announced earlier yesterday by the Prime Minister’s Office. The changes will see nearly two-thirds of the ministries helmed by a fourth-generation leader — with the exception of the Defence, Health, Law, Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and Transport portfolios.

Meanwhile, three long-time Cabinet Ministers — Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say, Communications and Information Minister Yaacob Ibrahim and Trade and Industry (Trade) Minister Lim Hng Kiang — will step down but continue as Members of Parliament. This is the highest number of ministers retiring from Cabinet at one go since the 2011 Cabinet reshuffle which saw five ministers stepping aside.

Calling the Cabinet a "live grouping”,  Lee said he has to shift ministers around regularly, appoint new ones from the backbenches, promote some office-holders, and retire others from time to time. "I ask Singaporeans to continue to support us, and work with me and my team to take Singapore forward,”  Lee said.

Ministers on their new roles

Several ministers also took to Facebook to comment on the Cabinet changes.

Labour chief Chan Chun Sing, who will take over the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) from  Lim Hng Kiang and  S Iswaran, said he was greatly privileged to be joining the MTI, having worked with the team on various projects where he was "always impressed” with their deep sense of mission and professionalism.

Chan, who has been secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) since May 2015, said his new post would be an extension of his work in the labour movement in ensuring that Singapore’s "working people can continue to benefit from good jobs and our businesses can have the opportunities to become more competitive”.

"I look forward to working even more closely with the business community and the labour movement to write the next chapter of our country’s economic development,”  Chan said.

Lim Hng Kiang will become special adviser to the MTI while  Iswaran, who will helm the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), will also maintain his links with the ministry as Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations.

Chan will also oversee the Public Service Division, taking over from Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean. Paying tribute to  Teo’s work with the civil service, he said: "I will now build on his foundations and work with the many committed civil servants to keep our civil service… a pillar of our country’s progress, serving our nation and Singaporeans with integrity, dedication and distinction.”

Apart from  Chan, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat and Education Minister (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung are among the frontrunners to succeed  Lee as Prime Minister.

Following the Cabinet reshuffle,  Ong will helm the entire Education Ministry (MOE) from next month. He will also hand over "the Public Service Innovation baton” to  Chan, he wrote on Facebook.

Wishing Chan all the best "as he works to further entrench the innovation culture in the public service”,  Ong said he will still be seeing through a couple of projects. He added: "Over the past year, we’ve made meaningful progress on procurement methods and capabilities, and regulations that allow for innovation.”

Ong also thanked his fellow Education Minister (Schools) Ng Chee Meng, who is set to take over from  Chan as labour chief, for laying the groundwork in general education. "He has made some bold, significant moves,” said  Ong, pointing to the changes to the Primary School Leaving Examination scoring and Direct School Admissions syste, among other examples.

"I will build upon the strong foundation laid by my predecessors, and continue to improve our education system. Education has been, and will continue to be, an uplifting and integrating force in society,”  Ong said. "I look forward to working with our dedicated teachers and staff to achieve this.”

Ong will leave his post as Second Defence Minister.

"My most important ‘thank you’ goes to the Ministry of Defence (Mindef). I am grateful to Minister Ng Eng Hen for the guidance on security policies and the opportunity to be exposed to the world of military diplomacy,”  Ong wrote.

"I leave Mindef with quite a bit of sadness, but I take great comfort in the knowledge that dedicated and competent men and women of the Singapore Armed Forces are keeping Singapore safe and secure.”

Heng said on Facebook that the changes will "strengthen the Cabinet, and enable us to learn and contribute better”. While retaining his finance portfolio,  Heng will take over  Teo as chairman of the National Research Foundation (NRF).

"With technology disrupting and enabling many industries, DPM Teo has been guiding our tea doing research and development, innovation and enterprise very well over the years at the NRF… These are big shoes to fill, but I will do my best,” he said.

"Even as my colleagues and I step up to new positions, and we build our collective strengths as one team, we continue to learn and benefit from the guidance of PM, the DP, our colleagues and the communities we serve.”

Speaking to Singapore reporters in Hanover, Germany where he is leading a delegation attending a trade fair,  Iswaran said he was looking forward to his new MCI appointment.

Adding that he will speak to Dr Yaacob to understand the issues, he said: "It is a challenge in ter of the scope of work… because you do have the telecommunications, information technology and media sectors which are very fast-changing because of convergence. At the same time, the information space is a very important one for effective communication between the government and the general population.” — TODAY