SINGAPORE - Labour chief Ng Chee Meng has dismissed speculation about his appearance at a community event in Bukit Batok, and asked that people not “read too much” into it.
When asked if he intends to contest the next general election, the secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) told The Straits Times: “I have been walking about since 2020... I am glad that you are paying attention to what I’ve been doing, but I suggest that you don’t have to read too much into it at the moment.”
He added: “It’s really part and parcel of NTUC’s approach to help working people, residents to cope with things like cost of living.”
Mr Ng was speaking to reporters on April 25 about how NTUC has been supporting professionals, managers and executives.
On April 21, he had uploaded a video to Facebook that showed him interacting with residents at a Hari Raya event in Bukit Batok organised by the FairPrice Group, next to People’s Action Party (PAP) MP Murali Pillai.
Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao noted in an April 25 report that the NTUC secretary-general’s “personal visit to a small-scale community event had sparked some speculation” about his possible political movement.
The newspaper quoted political observers as saying that the fourth-generation leadership still hopes for Mr Ng to be part of the team, and as such may move him to a constituency where he has a higher chance of winning in the next general election.
Mr Ng’s appearance in Bukit Batok could therefore signal that he could be contesting in next-door Jurong GRC, they added. Jurong, which is a five-member group representation constituency, has not had an anchor minister since former senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam stepped down in June 2023 to contest the presidential election.
While they are separate constituencies, both Jurong GRC and Bukit Batok SMC come under Jurong-Clementi Town Council, together with the single seat of Yuhua.
In the 2020 General Election, a PAP team led by Mr Tharman secured 74.61 per cent of the vote in Jurong GRC. Mr Ng had led the PAP team in Sengkang GRC, in a contest won by a Workers’ Party team with 52.12 per cent of the vote.
Other possible constituencies that Mr Ng may be sent to include Ang Mo Kio GRC or Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, said Zaobao, quoting observers.
Former Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Inderjit Singh told the Chinese daily that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is expected to serve in Teck Ghee until 2030, and that in the long run, both Ang Mo Kio and Jurong would need a new anchor minister. Teck Ghee is a ward within Ang Mo Kio GRC.
Before he was moved to Sengkang for GE2020, Mr Ng was an MP in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.
He was minister for education (schools) and second minister for transport from 2016 to 2018, and stepped up to become labour chief in May 2018, taking over from Mr Chan Chun Sing who went on to be trade and industry minister.
Following GE2020, Mr Ng said he would step down from the Cabinet but would continue to fulfil his elected role in NTUC.
The NTUC’s central committee is elected by union delegates at a conference held every four years. The committee then elects from among themselves the president, secretary-general and other principal office bearers.
PM Lee said at the July 2020 Cabinet reshuffle that the Government would continue to work closely with Mr Ng as labour chief, even though he was no longer a member of the Cabinet.
By convention, a Cabinet minister had held NTUC’s secretary-general post for 40 years. This practice began with Mr Lim Chee Onn, who was the first labour chief to be appointed minister in the Prime Minister’s Office in 1980.
