'How I've performed so far is for Singaporeans to decide': Chee Hong Tat on his first year as Transport Minister

It's been a turbulent year for him, but Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat is still chugging along.

As the year comes to an end, he shared his thoughts on his performance thus far in an interview with the media on Tuesday (Dec 3).

Speaking at the Ministry of Transport's headquarters at mTower on Alexandra Road, Chee said: "I think how I've performed so far is for Singaporeans to decide.

"I will do my best… transport is a tough portfolio and there are many challenges. Somebody has to do this job, and since it's been given to me, I'll do my best."

This year, Chee has had to deal with a slew of incidents, whether air, land or sea.

In May, severe turbulence struck Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 while it was flying over Myanmar.

Some passengers were swept off their feet, smashing into the overhead compartments. The incident left one dead and multiple injured.

In June, over 400 tonnes of oil spilled into the waters around Pasir Panjang Terminal after Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima struck the stationary bunker vessel Marine Honour.

Sentosa, East Coast Park, Labrador Nature Reserve, Keppel Bay, and the Southern Islands were affected by the oil spill, leading to temporary beach closures. Workers and volunteers spent over two months cleaning up the areas.

In September, train services along the East-West Line were disrupted after a train's axle box fell onto the tracks at Dover station.

This caused the train to malfunction and derail, causing extensive damage to the tracks. Full train service between Boon Lay and Queenstown was restored six days later.

Recalling his experience as Transport Minister since he took over the role in January, Chee said: "Nobody wants incidents to happen."

When something does happen, however, we have to remember how to deal with it properly, overcome the challenges and make things better, he added.

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Lessons for the future

There were a few things that he bore in mind as he went through these incidents, Chee explained.

"The first is to remain calm, because if you… as the team leader, you are not calm, you won't be able to maintain stability within the team, you won't be able to make decisions that are sound, and there will be repercussions. 

"If you are not calm, the ripples will actually be magnified as you go down the chain of command," he said.

The minister also emphasised the importance of teamwork across different parts of the government, as well as with tripartite partners, operators, workers and industry partners.

"Maintain unity and cohesion so that everyone's focus is on solving the problem, not finger-pointing and blaming each other, which makes things worse," he said.

Chee also thanked former Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan for the "strong foundations and the legacy that he has left behind".

"I told myself, I told my team, we must continue — even though the challenges are tough — to keep up what Khaw Boon Wan has helped to build up," he said.

The silver lining

The third point Chee highlighted was the need to deliver timely updates to the public — something that the Ministry of Transport needs to continue improving on.

"I think this is an ongoing learning process to see how we can do better," he said, adding that the media was helpful in disseminating information to the public so that they can better understand what's happening during incidents such as the East-West Line repairs.

"The public understood, and they were willing to give us that time and the space to do [repairs] safely for everyone," Chee said.

"We were also very touched when we saw members of the public go down to the stations to offer words of encouragement."

The minister stressed the inevitability of incidents like these, despite hopes that they won't happen again.

"Covid-19 was a crisis that we overcame; through the process of communication, building of trust and holding society together… After that, I think we emerged stronger.

"I hope we don't have to deal with another crisis. But if we have to, I hope what we go through can give us that strength, resilience and confidence so that we can overcome together."

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khooyihang@asiaone.com