Ng Chee Meng moves to front bench in Parliament, takes over Faishal Ibrahim's seat

Ng Chee Meng has moved to the front bench in Parliament as of Tuesday (Aug 4) following his shift to Minister in Prime Minister's Office, per changes to Cabinet announced on July 22 by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

Ng, who is also the secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and MP for Jalan Kayu SMC, has taken over the front-bench seat previously occupied by former Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Faishal Ibrahim.

Associate Professor Faishal stepped down on July 20 following what he described as a lapse of judgment in handling his interactions with a woman.

Ng is seated between the Minister for Energy, Trade and Industry Dr Tan See Leng on his left, and Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo on his right.

His previous seat is now occupied by former Senior Minister of State for Manpower and Health Dr Koh Poh Koon, who stepped down on May 22 for family reasons.

Ng returned to Parliament as a backbencher earlier in July and will be occupying a seat opposite the front bench, next to North West District Mayor Alex Yam.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet reshuffle has also seen other seating changes. Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Zaqy Mohamad and Second Minister for Foreign and Home Affairs Sim Ann have swapped seats, although both remain seated beside each other behind the front bench.

Acting Manpower Minister Jasmin Lau has moved forward by one row to take over Dr Koh's former seat. Likewise, Goh Pei Ming, who was promoted to Senior Minister of State, has also moved forward by one row.

Foo Cexiang and Shawn Loh, who were previously backbenchers, were appointed as Ministers of State in the reshuffle, and have been allocated seats of their own in the third row from the front bench.

Foo will take on his position in the Ministry of Manpower and Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry from Sept 1, while Loh will do so in the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health from January 2027.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com