Khaw Boon Wan

Khaw Boon Wan
Khaw Boon Wan
Minister for National Development
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 May 2011
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Mah Bow Tan
Constituency	Sembawang Group Representation Constituency
Minister for Health
In office 12 August 2004 – 20 May 2011
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Lim Hng Kiang
Succeeded by	Gan Kim Yong
Chairman of People's Action Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 June 2011
Deputy	Yaacob Ibrahim
Preceded by	Lim Boon Heng
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Sembawang GRC (Sembawang ward)
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 May 2006
Preceded by	Tony Tan
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC (Moulmein ward)
In office 4 November 2001 – 6 May 2006
Preceded by	Lew Syn Pau (Kreta Ayer-Tanglin GRC: Moulmein ward)
Succeeded by	Lui Tuck Yew
Personal details
Born	(1952-12-08) 8 December 1952 Penang, Federation of Malaya
Nationality	Singaporean
Political party	People's Action Party
Alma mater	University of Newcastle
Religion	Buddhism[1]

Khaw Boon Wan (simplified Chinese: 许文远; traditional Chinese: 許文遠; pinyin: Xǔ Wényuǎn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Khóo Bûn-uán; born 8 December 1952) is a Malaysian-born Singaporean politician. Since 2011, he has been Minister for National Development and the Chairman of the governing People's Action Party (PAP).^[2][3] He was previously the Minister for Health from August 2004 to May 2011. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 2001.

Career

Khaw began his career in the Singapore Civil Service. He worked in the Ministry of Health and served as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National University Hospital, Kandang Kerbau Women's and Children's Hospital, and the Singapore General Hospital.

From 1992 to 1995, Khaw served as the Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. From 1995 to 2001, he served as the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Political career

Khaw has been a Member of Parliament since 2001. He represented Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency (Tanjong Pagar GRC) from 2001 to 2006, and Sembawang GRC since 2006.

Khaw was appointed as Minister for Health in August 2004.

As Minister for Health, Khaw played a key role in combating the SARS epidemic which tested the Singapore's public health resources. He was also noted for his role in handling the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) scandal, and made Gerard Ee the new Chairman of the NKF following the resignation of T. T. Durai. In a parliamentary speech on 9 February 2009, in the context of tackling the rising healthcare costs, he suggested that Singaporeans can consider sending their elderly parents to nursing homes in Johor Bahru in Malaysia, which are more affordable to lower-income Singaporeans. This was quoted by news reports and a public outcry ensued. Khaw subsequently clarified that his statement was quoted out of context by the media and his suggestion was only one of the many choices available to Singaporeans.

Following the 2011 general election, Khaw was appointed the Minister for National Development. In his new appointment, he hopes to make housing affordable and accessible to all Singaporeans.

Since then, Khaw has ramped up the construction of Build-To-Order (BTO) flats, and increased flat supply to address the demand for public housing. In 2012, 27,000 BTO flats were launched for sale, and another 25,000 have been scheduled to be built in 2013.

Khaw also made it his priority to help first-time HDB flat buyers secure a home. To that end, the Housing & Development Board reserved 95% of new BTO flats for these first-timers. In January 2012, Khaw announced that “our goal to help young couples get their first homes is coming true”, and turned his attention to assisting more second-timers. This was achieved by tripling their BTO quota in non-mature estates. He has also stabilised the prices of new flats, ensuring that they are affordable for first-time home buyers.

In January 2013, a seventh round of property cooling measures was introduced to moderate the increase in residential and industrial prices. Khaw assured that some 200,000 new housing units would be constructed by 2016, ensuring Singaporeans that “housing remained affordable to Singaporeans”.

Khaw maintains a “Housing Matters” blog which he uses to shares thoughts, ideas and plans on national development policies.

Education

Khaw received his secondary education in Chung Ling High School and Anglo Chinese School in Penang, Malaysia. He later attended the University of Newcastle in Australia on a Colombo Plan Scholarship and graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Commerce.

Personal life

Khaw is married with three daughters, and is known to be a devout Buddhist.

References

External links

• Profile of Khaw Boon Wan at cabinet.gov.sg
• Profile of Khaw Boon Wan at parliament.gov.sg
• [2]

v t e Current members of the Cabinet of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Deputy Prime Ministers Teo Chee Hean National Security/Home Affairs/Civil Service Tharman Shanmugaratnam Finance Cabinet Ministers Ng Eng Hen Defence Heng Swee Keat Education Vivian Balakrishnan Environment and Water Resources K. Shanmugam Foreign Affairs/Law Gan Kim Yong Health Yaacob Ibrahim Communications and Information/Muslim Affairs Khaw Boon Wan National Development Lim Hng Kiang Trade and Industry Lui Tuck Yew Transport Lim Swee Say Prime Minister's Office S. Iswaran Prime Minister's Office Grace Fu Hai Yien Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing Social and Family Development Acting Cabinet Ministers Tan Chuan-Jin Manpower Lawrence Wong Culture, Community and Youth As of 1 September 2013