Wong Kan Seng

Wong attended Rangoon Road Primary School, Outram Secondary School and the Adult Education Board (now the Institute of Technical Education) before graduating from the University of Singapore (now the National University of Singapore) in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours in both history and English.

Wong subsequently completed a Master of Science degree in business studies at the London Business School in 1979 under a postgraduate scholarship conferred by the Singapore Government when he was a civil servant.

Prior to entering politics, Wong had worked in both the Civil Service and the private sector. He worked in the Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Defence, before joining Hewlett Packard in 1981 as a personnel manager and left in 1985 for politics.

Professional career

Wong returned to the private sector after stepping down from the Cabinet.

Wong was appointed Chairman of Singbridge International, a Temasek Holdings unit dealing with the Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, in 2011.

Wong was appointed Non-Executive and Independent Director on the board of directors at the United Overseas Bank (UOB) in 2017 and was subsequently appointed chairman in 2018. He is also holding the positions of chairman of the executive committee and Member of the Board Risk Management Committee, Nominating Committee and Remuneration and Human Capital Committee at UOB.

Wong was appointed as an independent director of CapitaLand in July 2017 and serving as CapitaLand Group chairman by 2021.

As Minister for Home Affairs

In 1994, Wong became Minister for Home Affairs. As Minister for Home Affairs, Wong was in charge of overseeing emergency planning, dealing with internal threats such as cults and terrorists, law and order, and rooting out criminals and illegal immigrants.

2003 SARS outbreak

Wong was then responsible for co-ordinating the inter-ministerial nationwide effort to counter the SARS epidemic.

Certain measures were taken to contain the virus, including mandatory home quarantine measures, health screening at immigration checkpoints, schools and hospitals and public education programs. On 31 May 2003, Singapore was taken off the World Health Organization's list of SARS-affected countries.

Political career

Wong made his political debut in the 1984 Singaporean general election as a candidate for PAP contesting in Kuo Chuan Constituency and won. In 1988, Kuo Chuan Constituency was merged into Toa Payoh GRC and Wong contested the GRC as part of a PAP team. The GRC was uncontested and Wong was elected MP. He then contested in Thomson GRC during the 1991 general election before switching to Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC in the 1997 general election.

Wong had also served as Leader of the House between 1991 and 2007.

Cabinet appointments

Wong was appointed Acting Minister for Community Development in 1986. He was made a full member of the Cabinet as Minister for Community Development by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1987. He was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1988.

Wong was vocal in his capacity as a Cabinet minister when it comes to defending any criticisms of the PAP as being authoritarian, or that the political process was undemocratic with an advantage given to the governing party. He often described the opposition as being disorganised, weak and driven by self-interests."The public has no sympathy for them. Neither do I. Why should I? I mean, they mess it up."On opposition politician J. B. Jeyaretnam's proposal to establish an independent elections commission, Wong remarked, "It is absurd. I think we cannot be more democratic than we are now. We even allow a loser to be in Parliament and make speeches attacking the government. Where could you find such a democracy in other countries?"

During the World Conference on Human Rights held in 1993, Wong argued that democracy was interpreted differently in Singapore. He claimed that its citizens "do not agree that pornography is an acceptable manifestation of free expression or that homosexual relationships are just a matter of lifestyle choice." Wong also believed that excessive emphasis on individual rights over the rights of the community will retard progress.