Commentary: Will 4G Cabinet appointees' experience in stable times pay off in an unpredictable world?

CNA

22-05-2025

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's first full Cabinet, announced on Wednesday (May 21) offers perhaps what voters wanted in the 2025 General Election: the comfort of familiarity and experience – with a dash of change.
Mr Wong's line-up was noted in part for a record nine new office holders, comprising two acting ministers – Jeffrey Siow and David Neo, who are first-term Members of Parliament (MPs) – and other junior appointments such as ministers of state and senior parliamentary secretaries. But the other way of looking at this is that of Mr Wong's 17 Cabinet picks, 15 previously held political appointments.
The fact that familiar faces staff most of the Cabinet suggests a desire for stability and continuity even though some ministers are taking on new portfolios.
Of course, the question then becomes whether familiarity and experience of serving in a more stable and predictable environment will deliver results for Singaporeans at a time of significant global flux.
A LESS PREDICTABLE ENVIRONMENT
Among the immediate pressures the new government will face is to handle the uncertainties of the tariffs imposed by the United States, the ongoing US-China trade war, and the tensions resulting from heightened US-China competition.
Given Singapore's small size, openness, and indeed dependence on the external environment for its prosperity and security, the country is particularly susceptible to broader shifts and shocks in the world.
The PAP's 4G leaders are highly competent and experienced in operating within a globalised and perhaps less contentious environment. Most of those at the senior minister of state and minister of state level have served in similar roles in the previous administration, despite the fact they have all taken on new portfolios except Murali Pillai.
Even among the newly anointed, Mr Siow and Mr Neo respectively have recent experience in senior roles in the civil service and the Singapore Armed Forces. Three have parliamentary experience, with two backbencher MPs in Desmond Choo and Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim and one former Nominated MP Syed Harun Alhabsyi. The remaining four – Dinesh Vasu Dash, Jasmine Lau, Goh Pei Ming and Goh Hanyan – left senior public service positions not long before standing in GE2025.
Whether the 4G can perform as well in a more contested, less predictable environment where openness to economic exchange and cooperation are treated more suspiciously remains an open question right now.
As the warning to investors goes: past performance is no guarantee of future return.
QUESTIONS ABOUT 4G READINESS IN DIFFICULT PORTFOLIOS
With 13 out of the 17 Cabinet appointments considered to be from the 4G (and perhaps even 5G), there is a clear push to complete the leadership transition that had been somewhat stalled when former Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat took himself out of the succession process in 2021.
Former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's continuing position as Senior Minister, as well as the role of PAP stalwarts in charge of key portfolios such as deputy prime minister, foreign minister, and minister of trade and industry, raise questions about when the fourth generation will fully take charge.
What is the readiness of the 4G PAP leadership to take on the more difficult portfolios for the present time? Global uncertainties mean that leadership at the home affairs and foreign ministries may be especially important.
Given the continuation of Edwin Tong as Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs even as he moves to helm the Ministry of Law suggests that he may be in line to take over the home affairs portfolio as well at some point. Sim Ann's retention at the Foreign Affairs Ministry as senior minister of state may similarly be an indication that she is given the preparation to take over from Vivian Balakrishnan.
However, it may be reasonable to ask why they are not ready to replace the long-serving third generation leaders in these portfolios as this time.
COORDINATING IN A MORE COMPLEX WORLD
A final point to note from the Cabinet appointments is the reversion to three coordinating ministers.
The current administration will have coordinating ministers for national security, public services, and social policies. While these cross-ministry roles are not new, they reinforce that there are an increasing number of issues that overlap the functional and jurisdictional remits traditionally delegated to specific ministries.
A more complex world requires that ministries work together, sometimes in less conventional ways. Coordinating ministers, who are often senior leaders, have the gravitas and political capital to facilitate collaboration among different ministries in ways that force more flexibility into the system and in policy.
Such thinking across the stovepipes of established ministerial jurisdictions may be exactly what Singapore needs right now, although delivery on such fronts remain to be seen.