Appointment of new Chief Executive for SkillsFuture Singapore

Mr Tan Kok Yam will be appointed Chief Executive (Designate) of SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) on 18 October 2021 and Chief Executive of SSG from 1 November 2021. He will succeed Mr Ong Tze-Ch’in who will assume another senior position in the public service.

Mr Tan has been the Deputy Secretary for Smart Nation and Digital Government Group (SNDGG) since its formation in May 2017. He leads the development of impactful projects under the Smart Nation banner. He has initiated and implemented key changes to enable Government digitalisation; for example, in how the public sector organises itself to make better use of data.

Mr Tan will also be relinquishing his concurrent appointment as the Deputy Secretary overseeing the National Climate Change Secretariat, in the Strategy Group within the Prime Minister’s Office. In this role, he drives the development of our national climate action plans.

Mr Ong was appointed the Chief Executive of SSG and concurrently the Deputy Secretary (SkillsFuture) in MOE in December 2019. Prior to joining SSG, Mr Ong had served in the Ministry of Education, and assumed various key leadership roles in the Singapore Armed Forces, attaining the rank of Brigadier General.

In his tenure at SSG, Mr Ong has played a pivotal role in the development and roll out of the Next Bound of SkillsFuture, to strengthen the skills ecosystem that supports our workforce. Under his leadership, SSG has enhanced the role of enterprises through strategic SkillsFuture Queen Bee partnerships with key industry leaders and widened the adoption of workplace learning through the National Centre of Excellence for Workplace Learning. He led SSG in introducing the top-up of the SkillsFuture Credit and the Additional SkillsFuture Credit (Mid-Career Support).

Both Mr Ong and Mr Tan have, in their respective capacities, contributed to the public sector’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr Ong led SSG’s response, to first introduce the Enhanced Training Support Package and in quick succession, the SGUnited Skills and SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme-Company Training. Mr Tan ensured that digital tools, such as for digital contact tracing, were put to good use to meet changing and urgent public health requirements.

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