ISD director to take on perm sec role from Oct 1; two other perm secs will see job scope changes
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Mr Tan Chye Hee will be permanent secretary for home affairs development from Oct 1.
PHOTO: PUBLIC SERVICE DIVISION
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SINGAPORE – The director of the Internal Security Department (ISD) is set to take on the role of permanent secretary in the coming months, said the Public Service Division on Aug 29.
Mr Tan Chye Hee will be permanent secretary for home affairs development from Oct 1, as well as the permanent secretary for information and development at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) concurrently.
The 52-year-old is a long-time public servant, having joined the police in 1992 after being awarded a Singapore Police Force (SPF) Overseas Scholarship.
He was appointed to the Administrative Service in 2001.
He had held various appointments in the police, Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) before he was appointed deputy commissioner of investigations and intelligence in the SPF in 2015.
In 2020, he was appointed director of the ISD.
As Mr Tan takes on the new roles, two other permanent secretaries will see changes in their job scope.
Mr Aubeck Kam, the current permanent secretary for home affairs development, will relinquish that position on Oct 1.
The 54-year-old has held that role since November 2022.
However, he will continue to be the permanent secretary for social and family development – a position he has held since April 2022.
Mr Aubeck Kam will relinquish his role as permanent secretary for home affairs development on Oct 1 but stay on as permanent secretary for social and family development.
PHOTO: PUBLIC SERVICE DIVISION
Mr Chng Kai Fong, 46, meanwhile, will be redesignated as the permanent secretary for development at MDDI from Oct 1, on top of his concurrent appointment as the permanent secretary for development, Smart Nation and cyber security in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Permanent secretaries are senior public servants who typically helm ministries, working closely with their respective ministers.
Before his appointment as deputy secretary at the Ministry of Manpower in 2006, Mr Kam had held various appointments in the police and MTI.
In 2010, he was appointed chief executive of the then Media Development Authority, and became permanent secretary at the then Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) in 2012.
In 2016, he was appointed permanent secretary for manpower.
Mr Chng Kai Fong will be redesignated as the permanent secretary of development at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information from Oct 1. He will continue to be permanent secretary of development, Smart Nation and cyber security in the Prime Minister’s Office.
PHOTO: PUBLIC SERVICE DIVISION
Mr Chng, meanwhile, held various roles at the former Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, MHA, the Civil Service College, MTI, and the Communications Group in the PMO.
He had also served a two-year stint in the private sector at Shell Eastern Petroleum.
He was appointed principal private secretary to then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2014 and became managing director at the Economic Development Board in 2017.
In 2021, he was appointed second permanent secretary for the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group (SNDGG) in the PMO.
The following year, he was concurrently appointed second permanent secretary for communications and information, and second permanent secretary for cyber security in the PMO.
In 2023, he was redesignated permanent secretary for development at MCI and for the SNDGG and cyber security in the PMO.
He later relinquished his appointment as permanent secretary for development at the SNDGG, and was redesignated permanent secretary for information and development at MCI.
He later became permanent secretary for information and development at MDDI after MCI was renamed MDDI in July 2024.
