GE2020: PAP's Khaw Boon Wan announces retirement from politics
SINGAPORE – Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan has announced his retirement from politics.
The MP for Sembawang GRC has been in the public service for 42 years.
He said in a Facebook post on Friday (26 June), a day after celebrating his 43rd wedding anniversary, that “gratitude fills me to the brim”.
“Gratitude to Singaporeans for the many life-changing opportunities, starting from a scholarship, to citizenship and a great career in public service,” he wrote. “Gratitude to the residents of Moulmein and Sembawang who gave me the honour to represent them in Parliament.”
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had posted about Khaw’s retirement on his Facebook moments before the latter, thanking his “dear friend” for his “immense contributions to Singapore”. “In fact, it was Boon Wan who suggested in 2012 that I venture into social media. But for him you might not even be reading this here on my FB Page!”
Lee pointed added that “no task was ever too daunting for Boon Wan”.
“He was in the Ministry of Health when SARS hit us. The hard lessons we learnt from SARS prepared us to deal with COVID-19. Later as the Minister he reformed MediShield and MediSave, and introduced ElderShield, thus keeping healthcare affordable for all Singaporeans,” Lee said.
“As Minister of National Development, he ramped up the HDB building programme, reducing BTO waiting times. As Transport Minister, and later Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure, Boon Wan tackled one of his biggest challenges – the reliability of the MRT system.”
Politically, Lee noted – in an accompanying letter to Khaw – that the latter was instrumental in the People’s Action Party’s “decisive” win in the 2015 General Election (GE). Khaw had led a post-mortem after the party’s “disappointing” show at the 2011 polls, which led to “honest introspection and self-critique” within the party as it set off on a fresh course.
Fortunately, Lee noted, that despite retiring, Khaw has agreed to be available to advise his successors on the issues he has handled as a minister.
“I thank you for all that you have done for Singapore, and wish you a healthy, happy and well-deserved retirement”.
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