Chee Hong Tat

Chee Hong Tat 徐芳达;
Party Affiliation	PAP
Current Role	• MP for Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC •
Past Roles	• •
Others	• •
Background
Education	• • • •
Personal Details
Age	51
Others

Chee Hong Tat (Chinese: 徐芳达; pinyin: Xú Fāngdá; born 14 November 1973) is a Singaporean politician and former civil servant who has been serving as the Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Finance since 2024. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Toa Payoh West–Thomson division of Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC since 2015.

He has instructed for the following POFMA direction to be issued while serving the above posts:

• 27-Mar-2024 - Correction Direction issued by Ministry of Transport to Goh Meng Seng for his post on 26-Mar-2024 on S. Iswaran
• 27-Mar-2024 - Correction Direction issued by Ministry of Transport to People’s Power Party for their post on 26-Mar-2024 on S. Iswaran
• 4-Jul-2024 - Correction Direction issued by Ministry of Finance to Kenneth Jeyaretnam for his post on 15-Jun-2024 on high land prices for sale to HDB and Black & White houses.

 wikipedia birth date may be wrong, check again birth date 

For the full list of positions, refer to PARL link.

Early Life and Education

Chee was educated at The Chinese High School and Raffles Junior College. He received an Overseas Merit Scholarship from the Singapore Government to study at the University of California, Berkeley, where he graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science with highest honors in electrical engineering and computer science and a Bachelor of Arts with highest honors in economics.

In 2006, Chee completed a Master of Business Administration at the University of Adelaide, where he was awarded the Newmont Australia Prize for being the Most Outstanding MBA Graduate.

Public Service Career

Chee joined the Singapore Administrative Service in 1998, serving in key roles across the Ministries of Home Affairs, Finance, Transport, and Education. From 2008 to 2011, he was the Principal Private Secretary to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. During this time, he gained public attention for his role in defending Singapore's bilingual education policies, particularly in response to proposals advocating for the return of Chinese dialects. Lee later commended Chee’s work in his book, My Lifelong Challenge: Singapore’s Bilingual Journey.

Chee went on to become the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Energy Market Authority (EMA) from 2011 to 2014. He subsequently served as the Second Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry from 2014 to 2015.

Political career

Chee entered politics in the 2015 general election, contesting as part of a five-member PAP team for Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC, which won with 73.59% of the vote. He was elected MP for the Toa Payoh West–Balestier division. In the 2020 general election, Chee successfully retained his seat in the GRC as part of a four-member PAP team with 67.26% of the vote.

Chee has held several government positions since entering politics. He was appointed Minister of State at the Ministries of Health and Communications and Information in 2015, and was promoted to Senior Minister of State in 2017. He has since served in the Ministries of Trade and Industry, Education, Transport, and Foreign Affairs.

In 2022, Chee was appointed Senior Minister of State for Finance, a role he continued to hold after being appointed to the Labour Movement at the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

Ministerial Appointments

In July 2023, Chee was appointed Acting Minister for Transport following the leave of absence of then-Minister S. Iswaran, who was under investigation for corruption. Chee was formally promoted to Minister for Transport in January 2024 following Iswaran’s resignation. At the same time, Chee was appointed Second Minister for Finance.

In May 2024, Chee was appointed a Director on the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Board of Directors, with his term lasting until May 2027. He was also named Deputy Chairman of the MAS Board in August 2024.

Personal life

Chee is married and has four children.

Controversy

SimplyGo U-turn

• Land Transport Authority (LTA) had initially announced on 9 Jan 2024 to retire the older card-based ticketing system by 1 June, replacing it with SimplyGo, an account-based system processing fare payments at the back end
• public outcry as passengers expressed frustration over the inability to see fare deductions and card balances when tapping out
• an additional $40 million investment will cover new equipment and hardware, as well as maintenance and operating costs. Chee assured the government would bear this expense without impacting bus and train fares
• Full adoption push for SimplyGo a 'judgment error', EZ-Link system to stay until at least 2030

ERP2.0 OBU

• requirement for cars to install a three-piece OBU as part of ERP 2.0 roll-out
• Issues related to the device, including its multiple parts and placement within the vehicle, have caused considerable consternation among motorists
• eventually announced that early adopters who initially installed their processing unit on the passenger side have the option to switch it to the driver’s side at no additional cost

Income-Allianz deal

• proposed sale of Income Insurance to German multinational financial services company Allianz has sparked significant public discontent and raised serious questions about corporate governance within the organization
• Morgan Stanley’s role as the exclusive financial advisor for the transaction was put under scrutiny due to the involvement of Ronald Ong, the Chairman of Income Insurance Limited, who also holds a high-ranking position at Morgan Stanley
• Second Minister for Finance Chee Hong Tat confirmed MAS reviewed and approved Morgan Stanley’s appointment as advisor for the Allianz-Income deal, as the chairman recused himself from the decision-making
• NTUC Secretary General and former People’s Action Party Minister Ng Chee Meng confirmed NTUC expressed its support for the sale of a majority stake in Income Insurance, formerly known as NTUC Income, to the German insurer Allianz, despite many notable public figures, in particular the former Income CEO, expressed their objections
• NTUC deputy secretary-general Desmond Tan said on Oct 16 2024 that the labour movement’s central committee did not know of the insurers’ plan to return $1.85 billion to shareholders before it was made known in Parliament on Oct 14.
• Singapore Management University’s Associate Professor Eugene Tan told ST that “it boggles the mind that NTUC’s central committee did not know of the capital reduction”.

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References

14th Parliament MP  : Ang Wei Neng • Baey Yam Keng • Cheryl Chan Wei Ling • Chan Chun Sing • Chee Hong Tat • Cheng Li Hui • Edward Chia Bing Hui • Chong Kee Hiong • Desmond Choo • Chua Kheng Wee Louis • Eric Chua • Darryl David • Christopher de Souza • Foo Mee Har • Grace Fu Hai Yien • Gan Kim Yong • Gan Siow Huang • Gan Thiam Poh • Gerald Giam • Derrick Goh • He Ting Ru • Heng Chee How • Heng Swee Keat • Shawn Huang Wei Zhong • Indranee Rajah • S Iswaran • Janil Puthucheary • Amy Khor Lean Suan • Koh Poh Koon • Kwek Hian Chuan Henry • Desmond Lee • Lee Hsien Loong • Liang Eng Hwa • Lim Biow Chuan • Jamus Jerome Lim • Sylvia Lim • Lim Wee Kiak • Low Yen Ling • Mariam Jaafar • Masagos Zulkifli Bin Masagos Mohamad • Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman • Mohd Fahmi Bin Aliman • Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap • Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim • Murali Pillai • Nadia Ahmad Samdin • Ng Eng Hen • Ng Ling Ling • Louis Ng Kok Kwang • Rachel Ong • Ong Ye Kung • Joan Pereira • Leon Perera • Denise Phua Lay Peng • Poh Li San • Pritam Singh • Raeesah Khan • Rahayu Mahzam • Saktiandi Supaat • Seah Kian Peng • K Shanmugam • Sharael Taha • Sim Ann • Sitoh Yih Pin • Hany Soh • Sun Xueling • Alvin Tan • Carrie Tan • Tan Chuan-Jin • Dennis Tan Lip Fong • Desmond Tan • Jessica Tan Soon Neo • Tan Kiat How • Tan See Leng • Tan Wu Meng • Patrick Tay Teck Guan • Teo Chee Hean • Josephine Teo • Tharman Shanmugaratnam • Tin Pei Ling • Edwin Tong Chun Fai • Vikram Nair • Vivian Balakrishnan • Wan Rizal • Don Wee • Lawrence Wong • Xie Yao Quan • Alex Yam Ziming • Yeo Wan Ling • Yip Hon Weng • Melvin Yong Yik Chye • Zaqy Mohamad • Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim NCMP  : Leong Mun Wai • Hazel Poa