Lawrence Wong is all set to become the fourth Prime Minister of Singapore, find out more about him, his education, and his personal life below
Notably, Lawrence Wong was serving as the Deputy Prime Minister prior to taking up his new Prime Ministerial role.
Who is Lawrence Wong new Singapore PM, bio, age, parents, second wife and education details
JUST IN: 🇸🇬 Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong, who has been in the role since 2004 and is the son of the country's founder Lee Kuan Yew, will step down and be replaced by Lawrence Wong on the 15th of May. pic.twitter.com/97Q6ymeDfx
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) April 15, 2024
The change in leadership comes after incumbent Singapore Prime Minister Mr. Lee announced his retirement on Monday, April 15.
Lawrence Wong becomes fourth Prime Minister of Singapore
Notably, the Deputy Prime Minister stated the following at the multi-ministry COVID-19 task force’s last press conference in November 2023:
I am ready for my next assignment. I am all in, heart and soul”, and added that he has been working very hard towards getting ready for what he called the “biggest responsibility” of his career.
Mr Wong will now officially take over his new role as Singapore’s fourth Prime Minister on May 15, 2024.
Lawrence Wong bio and age
Lawrence Wong is a Singaporean politician all set to become the fourth Prime Minister of Singapore. He was born on December 18, 1972, in Singapore and he is currently 51 years old. Wong was born to a father who worked as a sales manager and a mother who worked as a school teacher. Notably, Mr Wong described himself as having grown up in an “ordinary family” in the Marine Parade HDB estate.
Education
During his childhood, Wong attended the Haig Boys’ Primary School, where his mother also taught. Following which, he attended Tanjong Katong Secondary School during his teens before joining Victoria Junior College.
He then obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, respectively. Aside from that, he also holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Wife
Mr Wong, is currently married to his wife, Loo Tze Lui.
Wong married at the age of 28 but divorced his first wife after three years and has since married Loo Tze Lui, a former banker working in wealth management, and who was on the YMCA Singapore board of directors.
Lawrence Wong civil servant career
Before joining politics, Mr Wong worked as a civil servant for over 14 years, starting out at the Ministry of Trade and Industry in 1997. He eventually moved on to other roles in the finance and health ministries. Notably, he became the principal private secretary to the Prime Minister later in 2005.
By 2008, he joined the Energy Market Authority as the deputy chief executive before becoming the chief executive in 2009. However, just two years later, he stepped down from the post to enter politics. He started out his political career by competing as the youngest amongst the five candidates tipped to form the core of the PAP leadership.
Lawrence Wong political career
Wong began his political career in 2011 as a Member of Parliament in West Coast GRC. Just two weeks after the election, Wong received his first political office as Minister of State for Education and Defense. He later contested the 2015 general election for the new Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, where he got appointed as anchor minister and has served in the role ever since.
Throughout his career, he served in various ranks across various ministries, including the Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth. Following the 2015 elections, he headed the Ministry of National Development, where he stayed until July 2020. By 2020, Wong co-chaired Singapore’s multi-ministry COVID-19 task force with then-Health Minister Gan Kim Yong.
Alongside Mr Gan, and later, the new Health Minister, Ong Ye Kung, Lawrence Wong, led the country’s pandemic response. Notably, many experts agree that Mr. Wong’s steady leadership style during COVID-19, put him in the pole position to take over as the country’s next Deputy Prime Minister in April 2021.
Wong eventually took over as the new deputy PM, after previously serving as the Education Minister, while also holding on to his finance portfolio. He now looks all set to serve in his new role as the head of the country.
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