Why doesn’t Singapore have a full Transport Minister yet?
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SINGAPORE: With the increasing frequency of train disruptions, some are wondering why Singapore has no confirmed full Transport Minister at present. After all, it is undeniably one of the more important portfolios, given how crucial public transport is, as it is used by around 67 per cent of the city-state’s population. And by the 2030s, this figure is expected to grow to 75 per cent.
At the moment, first-term Member of Parliament Jeffrey Siow (Chua Chu Kang) is the Acting Transport Minister. While he’s new to the political arena, he was a longtime civil servant who has done stints in a number of ministries. Aside from serving as Second Permanent Secretary at both the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, he was also a director at the Ministry of Transport (MOT) from 2012 to 2017, where he participated in the team that planned the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL).
Interestingly, after his time at MOT, he served as the principal private secretary to then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, a position that Prime Minister Lawrence Wong also held from 2005 to 2008.
In late March, Mr Siow, 46, the most senior ranking civil servant to contest in the 2025 election, stepped down and was shortly afterwards announced as part of the PAP team at Chua Chu Kang GRC.
Shortly after the ruling People’s Action Party’s decisive win on May 3, PM Wong announced a significant cabinet reshuffle, which saw Mr Siow taking the helm at MOT. Mr Siow was also appointed as Senior Minister of State for Finance.
Mr Siow replaced Chee Hong Tat, who is now the Minister for National Development, at MOT. Mr Chee, in turn, took over from the beleaguered S Iswaran, who resigned from his post at the MOT amid the scandal over corruption charges.
When the Prime Minister announced on May 21 that he was appointing a total of nine new office holders as part of his Cabinet—two backbenchers and seven new MPs— he noted, “That’s one of the highest in recent history, and it’s because of the importance of leadership renewal.”
PM Wong said of Mr Siow, “He is familiar with land transport policies from his past experience as a civil servant. Of course, there’s much more to be done as a minister; he will be stretched and tested, but I’m confident he will be able to step up in this round.”
It is believed that this is a period for Mr Siow and David Neo, the Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), to be tested for their suitability for their portfolios, without the same level of expectation for full confirmed ministers. It is possible that they will be confirmed later on, or moved to other positions as the Government sees fit. This is not, by any means, a new practice, and PM Wong himself served as Acting Minister for the MCCY for almost a year and a half before being promoted to full minister in 2014. Similarly, former Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat was also once the Acting Education Minister.
At the time of the Acting Minister’s appointment, a Reddit user called it, “Jeffrey Siow’s trial by fire in his first term. He must be that good for LW to give him what is traditionally perceived as the most difficult ministry.”
“Unluckiest Transport Minister”?
Earlier this week, after there were not one but two train disruptions, one on the Circle Line and another on the North-South Line on the first two days of the month, a Facebook post wherein Mr Siow was jokingly called “the unluckiest Ministar (sic) of Transport in Singapore history” went viral.
“Take over on 23 May 2025, inherit Chee Hong Tat’s leftover buffet of breakdowns… then kena 9-course degustation in just 3 months. TEL, EWL, NEL, NSL, CCL, LRT — like Michelin tasting menu, every line must present at least one dish. Every week open lid, confirm new surprise inside. Maybe time to stop calling engineers… and start calling Feng Shui masters,” the post on the My Grandfather’s Road Facebook account read.
In a comment, the post author enumerated the train disruptions that have taken place since Mr Siow’s stint as Acting Minister, which they claimed are:
• July 1, 2025 – TEL ~2h disruption
• July 3, 2025 – Bukit Panjang LRT ~3h disruption
• July 8, 2025 – NSL ~1h disruption
• July 19, 2025 – Bukit Panjang LRT ~2h disruption
• August 6, 2025 – EWL ~5h disruption
• August 12, 2025 – NEL ~3h disruption
• August 12, 2025 – SKP LRT ~10h disruption
• August 15, 2025 – SKP LRT ~4h disruption
• August 28, 2025 – DTL ~1h disruption
• September 1, 2025 – CCL ~35–40 min disruption
• September 2, 2025 – NSL ~45 min disruption
In August, after the EWL disruption, Mr Siow issued a statement on his own Facebook account, acknowledging the inconvenience that the disruptions had caused commuters in Singapore.
In his post, which has been widely commented on, he wrote, “I understand commuters’ frustration whenever there is a delay or disruption in train service, because it messes up your day and throws off your plans.
Train delays cannot be eliminated entirely and will happen from time to time. What can improve is how we get information to commuters during a delay, and guide commuters to find alternative routes to their destinations, both onsite and online.”
And while a number of commenters thanked him, many others expressed their disappointment and concern over the disruptions they feel are happening more often than before.
“This is just the high-profile ones reported; the truth is, there are many little breakdowns, stops every day. Just last Thursday, 31/7 9+am, the circle line train I took stalled and got stuck near Kent Ridge station, lights and aircon were off for almost 5 minutes, this is no joke with the train load full of passengers,” a woman wrote.
Another commenter chimed in to say, “There is a limit to how much Singaporeans can take it for train delays, especially during peak hours.
Other countries have higher load compared to us, but their train faults and delays aren’t that frequent.”
A Facebook user appeared to voice out what others were thinking when they wrote: “So does our acting minister have a plan on what to do? If the plan doesn’t work, what happens next?”/TISG