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SINGAPORE: The Executive Director of the National Environment Agency (NEA), Tan Meng Dui, will be appointed as the new Executive Director of the Housing and Development Board (HDB) on February 26 next year, succeeding Dr. Cheong Koon. Hean, who will resign from his position on January 1.
Fong Chun Wah, current deputy executive director (building) of HDB, will be appointed interim director general of HDB from January 1 to February 25, HDB and the Ministry of National Development (MND) said in a press release on Monday (30 of November).
Luke Goh, currently Undersecretary of Commerce at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MTI), will assume the role of CEO of NEA effective February 26.
PUSHING FOR A SUSTAINABLE LIFE, DIGITAL INITIATIVES
Dr. Cheong has been the CEO of HDB since 2010.
“Dr. Cheong has been instrumental in formulating and reviewing housing policies and construction programs, in meeting the changing housing needs and aspirations of Singaporeans and promoting community ties in different demographic groups in society,” said HDB and MND.
He also led initiatives to expand housing options to low-income households and improved housing grants for first-time homeowners, the agencies added.
“Under his leadership, HDB enhanced its ability to meet the strong demand for housing while ensuring the quality and sustainability of developments,” said HDB and MND.
Dr. Cheong “led HDB towards new approaches” to providing sustainable homes, with a focus on building strong communities.
“She has pushed for higher quality design and embraced new construction technologies that have significantly improved the quality of HDB developments,” the agencies said.
“Under his leadership, next-generation public housing projects have taken shape, raising HDB’s standard of living.”
“MND would like to thank Dr. Cheong for her invaluable contributions to public service. We welcome Mr. Tan to his new appointment at HDB, “they added.
MR TAN LED INITIATIVES TO FIGHT HAZE, DENGUE, COVID-19
Tan has been CEO of NEA since October 2018.
“Under his leadership, NEA made significant progress in reviewing key policies, building new capacities, and implementing new programs to ensure Singapore’s environment is kept clean and sustainable,” said the Ministry of Sustainability and Environment. Environment (MSE).
During Mr. Tan’s tenure, several key policy reviews, infrastructure developments, and regulatory changes were implemented.
These included the review and improvement of the management model for new street vendor centers, the development of infrastructure to facilitate recycling, the launch of the Tuas Nexus development, and the implementation of the first No Smoking Zone on Orchard Road.
“Under Tan’s leadership, NEA led the national response to the haze episode in 2019 and managed the historic dengue outbreak in 2020,” said MSE.
He was instrumental in playing a “pivotal role” in NEA’s response to Singapore’s fight against COVID-19, including overseeing disinfection efforts and public advisories on disinfection methods and disinfectants.
He spearheaded the SG Clean campaign in February of this year and was “deeply involved” in planning and executing safe distancing management efforts.
“He also oversaw the rapid growth of a sewage-based surveillance capacity to assess COVID-19 transmission in foreign worker dormitories and the development of a national strategy for sewage testing for disease surveillance within the community.” MSE said.
MSE expressed “deep appreciation” for Mr. Tan’s contributions to NEA and welcomed Mr. Goh to his role.
Luke Goh will take over as CEO of NEA in February 2020 (Photo: MSE).
Prior to his current position as Under Secretary (Commerce) at MTI, Mr. Goh was Senior Director of the Public Service Division and, at the same time, was Director of the Institute at the Institute of Governance and Policy of the College of Civil Service.
He also held positions in the Ministry of Health and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
