Former Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew appointed as next ambassador to China
SINGAPORE — Former Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew has been appointed Ambassador-designate to the People’s Republic of China.
In a Facebook post on Thursday (31 October), President Halimah Yacob said that she presented a letter of credence to Lui. “I am confident that he will carry out his duties well,” she said.
Lui was previously Singapore’s ambassador to Japan from June 2017 till last month. He will take over the China ambassador post from Stanley Loh, who has been Singapore's ambassador to China since March 2012.
The 58-year-old entered politics in the 2006 general election, and was appointed Minister of State for Education that same year. He subsequently became Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts in 2010.
He was then appointed Minister for Transport after the 2011 general election. While he oversaw the construction of the Downtown Line, his tenure was also marked by an increasing frequency of MRT breakdowns, including two major disruptions in December 2011, which affected more than 200,000 commuters.
Besides his Transport Minister post, Lui was also concurrently Second Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2011 to 2012 and Second Minister for Defence in 2015. He stepped down from politics after declining to contest the 2015 general election.
Lui’s previous ambassadorial post has since been taken up by Peter Tan, who was formerly deputy secretary (Southeast Asia & Asean) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Related story:
