Besides the fact that he looks like American actor Daniel Dae Kim, residents may not know much about our former Minister of Education, Ong Ye Kung.
Ong served as Education Minister since 2015, shortly after winning his first general election, and held various positions within the government prior to that.
A few days ago, it was announced that Ong would become the Minister of Transport, taking over long-serving MP Khaw Boon Wan as part of PM Lee’s cabinet reshuffle.
But what many of us don’t know is that Ong actually started his career at the Ministry of Transport.
New Transport Minister Shared How He Started His Career in MOT & is Now the Head of MOT
If you were to look Ong up on Wikipedia, it’d say that he started his career in 1993 at the Ministry of Communications.
This, however, is not the case.
Wikipedia: I’m sorry sir, but we are never wrong.
Well, it looks like you are.
On Tuesday (28 July), the Transport Minster shared a post on Facebook detailing his first day at the Ministry of Transport.
He also revealed one interesting detail.
He said that he actually started his career as a civil servant at the Ministry of Transport, which was known as the Ministry of Communications (MinCom) back then.
Here, according to Wikipedia:
Wikipedia: *coughs*
Ok, fine. I apologise for assuming that you were mistaken.
Wikipedia: Your apology has been begrudgingly accepted and we will soon create a page for it.
Ong said that he spent five years in his first job at the PSA building situated along Alexandra Rd.
He also posted a picture of the desk he used to work at during his tenure at MinCom.
The Sembawang MP says that while the office looks familiar, the “surroundings are now much nicer”.
The new Transport Minister had a long day of briefings on his first day back at MOT, and attended a welcome lunch which was hosted by his predecessor Khaw Boon Wan.
Ong seems to have a liking for the Corpcomms department at the Ministry of Transport.
“There is something about Corpcomms departments. They always bring food,” he wrote.
Ong’s Political Journey
Ong’s path to politics was not a well-paved one.
Imagine it’s your first general election as a PAP member and despite all the history and backing that you have on your side, you end up losing the GRC you’re contesting for the first time in your party’s history.
Well, that’s exactly what happened to Ong when he contested Aljunied GRC in the 2011 general election.
As you know, 2011 was a historic year for Singaporean politics because it was the first time an opposition party captured a GRC.
The Worker’s Party beat out Ong’s team, which was led by then-Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo.
But he didn’t give up.
Five years later, Ong managed to claim a seat in parliament when he contested Sembawang GRC in GE2015, beating out the National Solidarity Party (NSP).
Then, in 2020, Ong successfully retained his seat in Sembawang GRC, leading his team to victory against the NSP with 67.29% of the vote.
Ong said he left the Education Ministry with a “heavy heart”, as he had grown fond of the ministry.
Whether or not you support the men in white, you have to admire Ong for his perseverance.
Now, let’s see how he handles the deluge of complaints the next time there’s an MRT breakdown.
You can read ten facts about Ong Ye Kung here.
Would you be jailed for being half-naked in public? Well, the answer will shock you. Seriously. Watch this to the end and you'll understand:
