Heng Chee How

Career

In 1991, Heng was awarded the Singapore Police Force Postgraduate Overseas scholarship. He was an Edward S. Mason Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University, where he received his Masters in Public Administration in 1992.

Heng left the Singapore Police Force in 1995 to join the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC). Within the Labour Movement, he held numerous appointments, including being the Chief Executive Officer of the NTUC Club, the Executive Secretary of the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees Union (SISEU), the Executive Secretary of the United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries (UWEEI) and the divisional director overseeing industrial relations, skills development, productivity improvement and employment assistance. Heng was also an elected member of the NTUC Central Committee since 1997, and was appointed Assistant Secretary-General in 1997 and Deputy Secretary-General since 1999.

Politics

Heng first entered political world in 1997 contesting against Low Thia Khiang from the Workers' Party of Singapore (WP) in Hougang Single Member Constituency (Hougang SMC) (1997-2001). He failed in his first attempt against the incumbent but managed to garner a respectable 42% against Low who was then one of the two non-ruling party Members of Parliaments (MPs). His vote then was 5% lower than the previous PAP candidate (Tang Guan Seng) in the 1991 General Elections.

Heng contested in Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency (Jalan Besar GRC) in 2001 as one of 5 team members of the PAP team led by Minister Lee Boon Yang against a Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) team led by Sin Kek Tong. They won winning 74.5% of the votes.

In that same year, he was appointed as the Mayor of Central Singapore District. The post of a Mayor is almost equivalent to a Minister of State but less prestigious. For a first-time Member of Parliament, the leap to the post of Mayor was quite a significant one. When he first entered the Central Singapore CDC, there was less 10 full-time staffs performing limited functions. Today, the Central Singapore CDC is a full-bodied statutory board serving 830,000 residents. He was credited to the development of the roles of the CDCs and the effective (but debatable) dispersion of funds to the needy.

In 2004, he was promoted to Minister of State for Trade and Industry and National Development while retaining his post as a Mayor. He relinquished his portfolio in Ministry of Trade and Industry to take up the portfolio as the Minister of State for National Development and followed by Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office in 2008.

In 2006, Heng represented PAP again as one of 5 team members of almost the same team led by Minister Lee Boon Yang and Minister Yaacob Ibrahim in Jalan Besar GRC against another SDA team composed of Teo Kway Huang Sebastian, Fong Chin Leong, Cheo Chai Chen, Yeo Boon Keng Vincent and Muhamad Ali bin Aman. His team won with 69.3% of the votes during this third campaign.

In 2011, Heng contested in Whampoa Single Member Constituency (Whampoa SMC) which was carved out of Jalan Besar GRC and met up against veteran Ken Sun from the National Solidarity Party. He won convincingly alone this time with 66.11% of the votes and made it to parliament for his third term as MP.

In 2011, he was appointed as the Deputy Leader of the House and promoted to Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Education

Born on 14 July 1961, Heng Chee How received his secondary and pre-university education at Raffles Institution. In 1980, he was awarded the Singapore Police Force Overseas Scholarship to read Economics at Cambridge University. He graduated with Second Class (Upper) Honours in 1983. He spent the next twelve years in the Singapore Police Force, where he held both Command and Staff appointments.

Personal

He is married to Ms Goh Soon Poh, Deputy Secretary (Policy), Ministry of Home Affairs.

Notable appointments

Awards and decorations