CONVERSATION
NG CHEE MENG Minister for Education (Schools) & Second Minister for Transport; MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC Age: 48 Family: Wife Michelle and two daughters Hobby: Reading, most sports, including football, golf and cycling
JOYFUL MISSION
Education, transport and politics may be relatively new to Ng Chee Meng, but the Minister for Education (Schools) tells Wong Sher Maine that he has been taking it in his stride
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ormer Chief of Defence Force and Ƥ ǡ an interview that had set out to talk about his portfolios. Dz Ǥ ǯ captured by daily experiences, but it is a state of being, an attitude,” said the Minister for Education (Schools) and Second Minister for Transport, during the interview at his Minis ƥ Ǥ His musings build on his revelation that
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December 2016
Dz Ƥ I do.” It is an attitude which has allowed him ǡ ͟͜Ǧ year career in the SAF to enter politics. ǫ fast with his wife most mornings, and she never goes to bed without him at night. “We cannot quite control what happens the rest of the time, but the start and end of day are ours to treasure,” he pointed out. Not-so-pleasant encounters with resi-
dents on the ground? These are mitigated by other instances, like when an elderly man whom he had helped during the meet-thepeople session waited two hours patiently to hand him a box of kueh lapis cake. “How appreciate what our team does?” As a minister, there are portable leadership skills from his time at the SAF which stand him in good stead – “synthesising opportunities to create a direction to lead the organisation forward, creating organisation