Peter Ong

This article is about Singapore civil servant. For the Malaysian entrepreneur, see Ong Kean Swan. For the video game designer, see Peter Ong (game designer).

Peter Ong Boon Kwee (Chinese: 王文辉) is a Singaporean civil servant currently serving as the chairman of Enterprise Singapore. He served as the Head of the Civil Service from 2010 to 2017.

Ong received a Colombo Plan Scholarship for his tertiary education, earning a degree in economics with honours from Lincoln College, University of Adelaide in 1983.^[1] He received his MBA from Stanford University in 1993.^[1]

Ong has previously held the positions of Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Permanent Secretary of National Security and Intelligence Co-ordination, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, and Second-Permanent-Secretary of the Ministry of Defence from 2001 to 2002.^[2] Prior to that, he was an executive vice president of Temasek Holdings from 1998 to 2000. He is also the former chairman of the Board of the Maritime and Port Authority^[1] and the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, 2009-2010.^[3]

Ong currently is on the boards of directors of the Monetary Authority of Singapore,^[4] the National Research Foundation Singapore and AMRO, the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic and Research Office.^[2]

He was the Chairman of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore from 2009 to 2016.^[5][6][7][8] He is also chairman of the board for the Calvary Community Care charity.^[2][9] Since 2010 he has been on the board of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.^[2]

As head of the Civil Service, Ong took a tough stand on corruption, saying that the authorities "will not hesitate to take action against a corrupt officer, no matter how senior he or she might be.»^[10] During the severe smoke and haze conditions in the summer of 2013, Ong ensured that government employees were “haze-ready” and that government operations continued despite the atmospheric conditions.^[11]

Ong is a believer in well-designed programs to achieve government and societal goals,^[12] and recently has been stressing the importance of dealing appropriately with the diversity of peoples’ needs, and multifaceted solutions.^[13][14]

Honours

• In 2010, Ong received the Meritorious Service Medal (Pingat Jasa Gemilang) at the Singapore National Day Awards.^[2]

Foreign honour

•   Malaysia : Honorary Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (P.S.M.) (2012)^[15][2][16]

Notes

1. . Public Service Division, Singapore Government. 2005. Archived from the original on 23 April 2007.
2. . Reuters. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014.
3. (PDF). Singapore Government. 30 August 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
4. "Lim Chee Onn, Peter Ong reappointed to MAS board of directors". The Straits Times. 31 December 2013. from the original on 1 January 2014.
5. "Annual Report 11 (2010/2011)" (PDF). Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore. p. 7. (PDF) from the original on 7 June 2014.
6. "Changes To Board Of Inland Revenue Authority Of Singapore (IRAS)". Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, Singapore Government. 30 August 2010. from the original on 7 June 2014.
7. "Peter Ong reappointed Iras chairman". The Straits Times. 19 August 2013. from the original on 19 August 2013.
8. So, Grace (2016-04-29). "Tan Ching Yee appointed new chairman of IRAS". The Business Times. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
9. "Our Management Team". Calvary Community Care. from the original on 21 August 2013.
10. Chia, Ashley (27 July 2013). "Half of errant civil servants from enforcement units: Study". Today Online. Singapore. from the original on 28 July 2013.
11. Soh, Alvina (29 June 2013). (PDF). Today. Singapore. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
12. Mohandas, Vimita (25 June 2015). "Apply behavioural insights in policy-making: Civil Service head". Channel NewsAsia. from the original on 13 August 2015.
13. Chan, Robin (26 March 2015). "Civil Service head Peter Ong says policy makers must be close to the ground". The Straits Times. from the original on 13 December 2015.
14. Ong, Peter (29 October 2015). "A collective effort to build Singapore's future". from the original on 13 December 2015.
15. "Semakan Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat".
16. . AsiaOne News. 2 June 2012. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014.