Born and raised in Singapore since 1946, Mr Wong Kan Seng received his Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in 1970 and Business Administration diploma in 1977 from the then University of Singapore (now known as National University of Singapore) and the Master of Business Administration in 1979 from London Business School, sponsored by a Singapore Government scholarship.

Mr Wong began his career in 1964 as a teacher for 3 years before pursuing further studies at the University of Singapore.  On graduation in 1970, he joined the Administrative Service in the then Ministry of Labour briefly before being called up for full-time National Service in the Singapore Armed Forces.  After a year as a national serviceman, he was posted to the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) as an Administrative Officer.  He held appointments as a Department Head of the Republic of Singapore Navy, Director of Manpower Division and Deputy Secretary (MINDEF) till 1981 when he left to join Hewlett Packard, Singapore where he remained till January 1985.

Mr Wong contested and won in the 1984 Parliamentary election as the People's Action Party candidate for the Kuo Chuan Constituency in Toa Payoh.  Since then, he was re-elected as Member of Parliament for the Toa Payoh (1988), Thomson (1991) and Bishan-Toa Payoh (1997, 2001 and 2006) Group Representation Constituencies.

In February 1985, Mr Wong was appointed Minister of State (Home Affairs, briefly) and (Community Development), and (Communications and Information). In the following year, he was appointed the Acting Minister for Community Development and Minister of State (Communications and Information).

In 1987, Mr Wong became the Minister for Community Development, a position he held till 1991.  In that same year, he was appointed as the Leader of the House (Parliament) and held the position till March 2007. He was also concurrently the Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, and became the Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1988.  He is now the Home Affairs Minister (since 1994).

Mr Wong was appointed the Deputy Prime Minister on 1 September 2005.  He also chairs a number of ministerial-level committees which coordinate work across several ministries, for example, on crisis management, on community engagement and on population.  Mr Wong is also the co-Chairman of the Singapore-China Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation and the Suzhou Industrial Park Joint Steering Committee, as well as the Qatar-Singapore High Level Joint Committee.

Mr Wong was the Deputy Chairman of People's Association for 15 years from 1992 to 2006.

Apart from appointments in the Government, Mr Wong is the Adviser of the National Transport Workers' Union since 1985.  He was the Chairman of the Chinese Development Assistance Council from 1992 till 2004.  He is a member of the London Business School's Global Advisory Board since 1999.

Mr Wong has been a member of the People's Action Party's Central Executive Committee since 1987 and was its Second Assistant Secretary-General since 1992.  Mr Wong became its First Assistant Secretary-General since 2004.

For his contributions to the Civil Service and Labour Movement, Mr Wong was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 1976 and the National Trade Union Congress May Day Medal of Honour in 1998.  He received the London Business School Alumni Achievement Award in 2004.

His wife, Ruth, was a teacher for more than 20 years until her retirement.  They have 2 adult sons.

For exercise, Mr Wong works out in the gym. He also enjoys a round of golf. 


Apr 2007

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