1. Lawrence Wong Shyun Tsai was born on 18 December 1972 and is a Singaporean politician, economist and former civil servant who has been the current and the fourth Prime Minister of Singapore since 2024 and Minister for Finance since 2021.
63 Facts About Lawrence Wong
1. 2.
Lawrence Wong was Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong between 2005 and 2008.
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Lawrence Wong served as the chief executive officer of the Energy Market Authority between 2009 and 2011.
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Lawrence Wong made his political debut in the 2011 general election where he contested in West Coast GRC as part of a five-member PAP team and won.
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Lawrence Wong was the co-chair of a multi-ministerial committee set up by the government in January 2020 to manage the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore.
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Lawrence Wong assumed the office of Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore on 13 June 2022, serving alongside Heng Swee Keat.
7.
On 26 November 2022, Lawrence Wong was appointed to the newly-created position of Deputy Secretary-General of the PAP.
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Lawrence Wong was previously Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore from 2023 to 2024 as well as Deputy Chairman between 2021 and 2023.
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Lawrence Wong assumed Chairmanship of the Investment Strategies Committee of GIC from 7 July 2023 while he assumed Chairmanship of the International Advisory Council of the Economic Development Board from 8 July 2023 until his subsequent relinquishment to Gan Kim Yong on 1 June 2024.
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Lawrence Wong was appointed Deputy Chairman of GIC's Board of Directors on 1 October 2023.
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On 15 May 2024, Lawrence Wong was sworn in as the fourth prime minister of Singapore, becoming the first prime minister born after the establishment of modern-day Singapore.
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Lawrence Wong was born to a Hainanese family on 18 December 1972, in the eastern part of Singapore.
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Lawrence Wong's father, who was born in Hainan and later moved to Malaya and finally to Singapore, had worked as a sales executive while his mother was a teacher at his primary school.
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Lawrence Wong attended Haig Boys' Primary School, Tanjong Katong Technical School, and Victoria Junior College before going to university in the United States.
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Lawrence Wong received a Master of Arts in applied economics from the University of Michigan in 1995 and a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University in 2004.
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Lawrence Wong began his career as an economist working in the Ministry of Trade and Industry in August 1997.
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Lawrence Wong described the experience by saying "nothing that I learned in school prepared me for such an assignment" and recounted having to learn on the job.
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Lawrence Wong was posted to the Ministry of Finance in January 2002 and then the Ministry of Health in July 2004, where he served as Director of Healthcare Finance until May 2005.
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Lawrence Wong served as the principal private secretary to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong between May 2005 and August 2008.
20.
In September 2008, Lawrence Wong became deputy chief executive officer of the Energy Market Authority, rising to chief executive officer on 1 January 2009.
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Lawrence Wong entered politics at the 2011 general election when he contested as part of a five-member People's Action Party team in West Coast GRC.
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On 21 May 2011, Lawrence Wong was appointed Minister of State for Defence and Minister of State for Education.
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Lawrence Wong was appointed to the board of directors of the Monetary Authority of Singapore on 10 June 2011.
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Lawrence Wong led a team to bid for the Singapore Botanic Gardens to be recognised as Singapore's first UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Lawrence Wong spearheaded the free museum entry policy for all Singaporeans and permanent residents, to all national museums and heritage institutions from 18 May 2013.
26.
In 2013, Lawrence Wong announced the setting up of a new S$100 million National Youth Fund for youth to champion community and social causes.
27.
On 1 May 2014, Lawrence Wong was promoted to Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Communications and Information.
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Lawrence Wong was a co-opted Member of the 32nd, 33rd and 35th CEC before his win in the election into the 36th PAP Central Executive Committee.
29.
Lawrence Wong was appointed as the Head of the SG50 Programme Office that coordinates the work of five committees for Singapore's Golden Jubilee Year celebrations.
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Lawrence Wong was the co-chair for the SG50 Culture and Community Committee in August 2013.
31.
Lawrence Wong addressed the issue in Parliament, saying that the project was at acceptable cost due to the need for extensive study of the location and technicality involved with the building of the refuse centre in the Civic District.
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Under his charge, Lawrence Wong introduced the S$200 million Cultural Matching Fund, a dollar-for-dollar matching grant for cash donations to arts and heritage charities and Institutions of Public Character in Singapore.
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Lawrence Wong was the Chairman of the Steering Committee for the 2015 Southeast Asian Games.
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Lawrence Wong had announced several key initiatives to get more Singaporeans involved in sports.
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Lawrence Wong chaired the Singapore High Performance Sports Steering Committee, which provides strategic guidance on identifying and nurturing high performing sporting talents.
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Lawrence Wong said that the accomplishments of Singapore athletes at the 2015 Southeast Asian Games indicate that Singapore's investment in sports is paying off.
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On 1 October 2015, Lawrence Wong became the Minister for National Development.
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Lawrence Wong chaired the steering committee for the development of Jurong Lake Gardens.
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On 22 August 2016, Lawrence Wong was appointed Second Minister for Finance, in addition to being Minister for National Development.
40.
On 26 March 2020, while paying tribute to frontline workers helping in Singapore's fight against COVID-19, Lawrence Wong turned emotional and teary-eyed while delivering his address in Parliament.
41.
Lawrence Wong thanked healthcare workers, as well as those working in cleaning, transport and security sectors for providing much-needed services to keep Singapore going during this difficult time.
42.
On 27 July 2020, following a Cabinet reshuffle, Lawrence Wong succeeded Ong Ye Kung as Minister for Education.
43.
On 15 May 2021, following another Cabinet reshuffle, Lawrence Wong relinquished his portfolio as Minister for Education and became Minister for Finance after Heng relinquished his Cabinet portfolio.
44.
In February 2022, Lawrence Wong announced a S$500 million stimulus package due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore.
45.
Lawrence Wong said the government would set aside an additional S$560 million to "help Singaporean citizens deal with the rising cost of living".
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Later in June 2022, Lawrence Wong announced another $1.5 billion support package to provide targeted relief for lower-income and vulnerable groups.
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At Budget 2023, Lawrence Wong announced that the Assurance Package was enhanced from $6.6 billion, announced in 2022, to $9.6 billion.
48.
In September 2023, Lawrence Wong announced an additional $1.1 billion Cost-of-Living Support Package to provide more relief for Singaporean households, especial lower- to middle-income families.
49.
On 14 April 2022, Lawrence Wong was selected as the leader of the PAP's fourth-generation team, succeeding Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who had stepped down as 4G leader on 8 April 2021.
50.
Lawrence Wong received an "overwhelming majority" of support in the consultation process, surpassing that of Ong Ye Kung and Chan Chun Sing, his cabinet colleagues and co-contestants in the 4G leadership race.
51.
Lawrence Wong received 15 out of the 19 votes from the stakeholders polled, and as no candidate is allowed to vote for himself, this meant that only three other individuals did not vote for him as their first choice.
52.
Lawrence Wong's appointment was announced by Prime Minister Lee in a Facebook post the same day.
53.
On 6 June 2022, a Cabinet reshuffle was announced where Lawrence Wong was promoted to Deputy Prime Minister, which further cemented his position as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's successor.
54.
Lawrence Wong had taken over responsibility of the Strategy Group in the Prime Minister's Office from Heng Swee Keat.
55.
On 28 June 2022, Lawrence Wong launched the "Forward Singapore" movement as part of his vision for a society that "benefits many, not a few".
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Lawrence Wong subsequently emerged as Lee's apparent successor to the position of prime minister; the latter's initial plan to step down at the age of 70 had been complicated by Heng's withdrawal.
57.
On 15 April 2024, the Prime Minister's Office issued a press statement confirming that Lawrence Wong would succeed Lee Hsien Loong as prime minister.
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Lawrence Wong became the country's fourth prime minister, as well as the first to be born after Singapore's independence in 1965.
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Lawrence Wong made his first overseas visits as Prime Minister from 11 June to 12 June 2024 where he made his introductory visits to Brunei and Malaysia as Prime Minister.
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Lawrence Wong previously married at the age of 28 but divorced his first wife after three years because of "incompatibility".
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Lawrence Wong has no children and is a Methodist Christian.
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Lawrence Wong's elder brother is an aerospace engineer at DSO National Laboratories.
63.
Lawrence Wong's hobbies include playing the guitar and riding motorcycles.