Masagos Zulkifli

The Honourable
Masagos Zulkifli
MP

Masagos at a working lunch hosted by United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in The Pentagon in October 2006
Minister for the Environment and Water Resources
Assumed office
1 October 2015
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by Vivian Balakrishnan
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Tampines GRC
(Tampines West)
Assumed office
6 May 2006
Minister in Prime Minister's Office
In office
9 April 2015 – 30 September 2015
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Second Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office
9 April 2015 – 30 September 2015
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Minister K Shanmugam
Second Minister for Home Affairs
In office
9 April 2015 – 30 September 2015
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Minister Teo Chee Hean
Personal details
Born (1963-04-16) 16 April 1963
Political party People's Action Party
Alma mater Nanyang Technological University
National University of Singapore
University of Southern California
Religion Islam

Masagos Zulkifli bin Masagos Mohamad (born 16 April 1963) is a Singaporean politician. A member of the country's governing People's Action Party (PAP), he is Singapore's Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, a post which he has been serving since October 2015. He has also served as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 2006, representing the ward of Tampines West in Tampines Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

Early life, education and career

Masagos was born on 16 April 1963 and had his early education at Bukit Panjang Government High School and National Junior College. Subsequently, he graduated in 1988 with a Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) degree from Nanyang Technological University with First Class Honours, majoring in electrical and electronic engineering, and in 1994 with a Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Electrical Engineering from the National University of Singapore. His first job was with Singapore Telecommunications Limited (now Singtel) in 1988; a SingTel Postgraduate Scholarship enabled him to take a Masters of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from the University of Southern California in 1995. He was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of SingTel Global Offices.[1]

Political career

Masagos left the private sector for politics in 2006, after being elected as one of the five Members of Parliament representing the Tampines Group Representation Constituency in the general election that year.[2] He was appointed Senior Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education on 2 June 2006, and concurrently Senior Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs on 1 April 2008. He was promoted to Minister of State in these ministries with effect from 1 November 2010.[1]

Masagos (back, second from left), then Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education, at a working lunch hosted by United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in The Pentagon on 17 October 2006. With him are (left to right) the Defence Attaché in Singapore's U.S. Embassy Brig.-Gen. Richard Keng Yong Lim, Singapore's Ambassador to the U.S. Chan Heng Chee, and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

Masagos was re-elected in the 2011 general election, and on 21 May 2011 appointed Minister of State for Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs. On 1 August 2012 he was promoted to Senior Minister of State in these ministries.[1]

As of 9 April 2015, Masagos was appointed a full Minister in the Prime Minister's Office. This was the first time there were two full ministers of Malay descent in the Cabinet, the other being Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim. Masagos was also promoted to Second Minister for Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs.[3] Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Masagos' elevation to full minister reflected the "progress of the Malay community".[4] Masagos himself said he was honoured to have been appointed and that "[h]aving two Malay full ministers in the Cabinet for the first time in our nation's history reflects the [Government's] trust and recognition of the good progress made by the Malay-Muslim community".[5]

On 28 September 2015, it was announced that Masagos will be the Minister for Environment and Water Resources from 1 October 2015.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mr MASAGOS Zulkifli, Prime Minister's Office (Singapore), 10 April 2015, archived from the original on 10 April 2015.
  2. ↑ Current MPs, Channel NewsAsia, retrieved 11 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Press Statement from the Prime Minister on Changes to Cabinet and Other Appointments, Prime Minister's Office, 8 April 2015, archived from the original on 10 April 2015; Fiona Chan (9 April 2015), "Masagos promoted to full minister in Cabinet changes: Chun Sing to be labour chief in May, Swee Say to helm Manpower", The Straits Times, p. A1.
  4. ↑ Neo Chai Chin (9 April 2015), "Masagos promoted in Cabinet reshuffle: Presence for the first time of two Malay-Muslim full Ministers in Cabinet 'shows progress of community'", Today, pp. 1–2, archived from the original on 10 April 2015.
  5. ↑ Siau Ming En; Neo Chai Chin (9 April 2015), "Promotion hailed as sign of Malay community's progress: It dispels perception that there can be only one Malay minister at any one time", Today, p. 2, archived from the original on 10 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announces Singapore's new Cabinet". Channel NewsAsia. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
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Political offices
Preceded by
Vivian Balakrishnan		 Minister for the Environment and Water Resources
2015 – present 		Incumbent
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