Singapore transport minister Lui to step down

In a letter dated 11 August to Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, Lui said that he will not stand for re-election in Singapore’s coming General Election, where the polling date is yet to be confirmed.

Lui, who took on positions as chief executive of MPA in 2003 and later as ceo of the Housing and Development Board, then entered parliament in 2006 before his appointment as minister for transport and second minister for foreign affairs in 2011.

He subsequently relinquish the latter position, and in 2015 was named second minister for defence, an appointment he held with his transport portfolio.

During his time in the transport ministry’s office, Singapore suffered a series of network disruptions to the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), an island-wide railway system. The ministry has embarked on major upgrades and strengthened maintenance practices to progressively deal with the problems.

Lui said in his letter that the upcoming General Election “provides an opportunity for me to step back from politics without causing any major disruption to government at the end of its term.”