Josephine Teo

Josephine Teo Li Min MP (née Yong; born 8 July 1968) is a Singaporean politician. A member of the country's governing People's Action Party (PAP), she is currently the Minister of Manpower and Second Minister of Home Affairs.[1] She is the third woman to be made a full minister in Singapore's history after Lim Hwee Hua and Grace Fu. She has been a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Bishan–Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency from 2006 to 2020, and moved over to Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency.

The Honourable Josephine Teo Li Min MP
杨莉明
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Jalan Besar GRC (Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng)
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 July 2020
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC (Bishan North)
In office 27 April 2006 – 23 June 2020
Minister for Manpower
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 May 2018
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Second Minister	Tan See Leng
Preceded by	Lim Swee Say
Constituency	Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC
Second Minister for Home Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 September 2017
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	K. Shanmugam
Preceded by	Desmond Lee
Minister in Prime Minister's Office
In office 1 May 2017 – 30 April 2018 Serving with Chan Chun Sing
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Second Minister for Manpower
In office 1 May 2017 – 30 April 2018
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Lim Swee Say
Succeeded by	Tan See Leng (since 2020)
Second Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office 1 May 2017 – 10 September 2017
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Vivian Balakrishnan
Preceded by	Office established
Senior Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office
In office 1 October 2015 – 30 April 2017 Serving with Heng Chee How
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Transport
In office 1 September 2013 – 30 April 2017
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Khaw Boon Wan Lui Tuck Yew
Senior Minister of State, Ministry Of Finance
In office 1 September 2013 – 30 September 2015
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Tharman Shanmugaratnam
Succeeded by	Indranee Rajah
Personal details
Born	Josephine Yong Li Min (1968-07-08) 8 July 1968 Singapore
Nationality	Singapore
Political party	People's Action Party
Spouse(s)	Teo Eng Cheong
Children	3
Residence	Singapore
Alma mater	National University of Singapore London School of Economics
Occupation	Politician
Committees	GPCs Education Defence & Foreign Affairs

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Teo.

Career

Teo worked at Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB) from 1992 to 2002. She began her career there in enterprise development, and was later posted to Suzhou, China, as part of EDB's pioneering team there. While on secondment to the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park Pte Ltd, she was responsible for Marketing Resources. Upon her return to Singapore, Teo became the EDB's Head of Human Resources.[2]

From 2002 to 2006, Teo served as the Head of Human Resources at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).[2]

In November 2005, Teo also took on the role of Director of Human Resources at the Administration and Research Unit (ARU) of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

After her election to Parliament in 2006, Teo also took on additional roles within the NTUC and the labour movement. She served as the Executive Secretary of the Singapore Industrial Services Employees' Union (2006–11). At the ARU, she served as the Alignment Director (Youth Development) and Alignment Director (Organisation Development) (2007–11), and as the Centric Director (Staff) (2008–11).[3] She also served as the NTUC's Assistant Secretary-General from 2007 to 2011.[4]

From 2009 to 2011, Teo also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Business China,[5][6] an organisation established to nurture an inclusive bilingual and bi-cultural group of Singaporeans through the use of Chinese language and to develop a cultural and economic bridge between China and the world.[5]

Political career

Teo meeting with The head of government of the City of Buenos Aires, Mauricio Macri in 2012

Teo entered Parliament at the 2006 general election as an MP for the Bishan–Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

During her first term in Parliament, she served as the Chair of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Education, and as a member of the GPC for Defence & Foreign Affairs.[7]

Following the 2011 general election, Teo was appointed a Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport on 18 May 2011, succeeding Ms Lim Hwee Hua in her finance and transport portfolios. Teo was promoted to Senior Minister Of State at the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport on 1 September 2013.

She served as the Senior Minister Of State at the Ministry of Finance until 30 September 2015.[8][9]

She was promoted to full minister and be appointed as Minister in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), and Second Minister in the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1 May 2017.[10] She also oversees the National Population and Talent Division.

Teo later succeeded Mr Lim Swee Say as Manpower Minister on 1 May 2018, being the second female minister to helm a ministry after Grace Fu.[11]

Controversies

In a media interview in October 2016, Teo responded to questions of whether Singaporeans are getting their HDB flats early enough in order to start a family, stating that one "does not need much space to have sex". Teo further added that "In France, in the UK, in the Nordic countries, man meets woman, tonight they can make a baby already."[12] This drew much flak from the public, with many Singaporeans criticizing her for being insensitive and not being able to understand practical considerations such as the high costs of living. Others also accused Teo of trying to promote Western values, ways of life and promiscuity in Singapore.

In May 2017, Teo commenting on the issue of high cost of milk powder in Singapore on her Facebook page, wrote that "milk is milk, however fancy the marketing". She further claimed that she would buy whichever brand of milk powder approved for sale by AVA that was cheapest for her own kids.[13] She was criticised for not knowing that even the cheapest milk powder in Singapore is still much more expensive than other countries in the region.[14] In addition, different babies may require additional supplements, or have certain allergies and preferences to milk powder.

On 26 October 2018, Teo commented that implementing minimum wage in Singapore may instead lead to higher unemployment and that Singapore's income inequality gap is "a problem of success" that is "difficult to overcome". She made these comments at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS)'s 30th anniversary conference, Diversities: New and Old, where IPS's special adviser Professor Tommy Koh pointed out that Singapore's income profile today "looks more like a pear than an olive", with a large number of people "at the bottom", as opposed to the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew's vision of "a Singapore which resembles an olive - very few very rich, very few poor people, and a very large middle income".[15]

On 4th May 2020, controversy over apologizing to migrant workers. [16]

Education

Teo was educated at Dunman High School and Raffles Junior College,[3] before going on to the National University of Singapore where she was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in 1990 and a Bachelor of Social Science (Honours) in 1991. She was awarded several prizes, including the Rachel Meyer Book Prize, which is awarded to the best woman student in the Final Examinations of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.[2] She was then awarded a postgraduate scholarship under the EDB-Glaxo Scholarship Programme and completed a Master of Science (Economics) degree at the London School of Economics in 1992.[2]

Personal life

A Singaporean of Hakka descent, Teo's maiden surname is Yong. She is currently married to a former civil servant Teo Eng Cheong.[17] The couple have three children, two daughters and one son.

References

1. Li, Xueying. "Cabinet reshuffle: PM Lee Hsien Loong says leadership transition well under way, as 4G leaders come to the fore". Straits Times.
2. "Channelnewsasia.com - Singapore General Election". web.archive.org. May 27, 2006.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-02-10. Retrieved 2009-03-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. "Swee Say wins poll by landslide". www.asiaone.com.
5. http://938live.sg/portal/site/938Live/menuitem.43735da1634c4377d21b2910618000a0/?vgnextoid=f7dac866dea91210VgnVCM1000001f0aa8c0RCRD&mcParam=18d2638896593110VgnVCM100000e101000aRCRD%5B%5D
6. "MP Josephine Teo steps down as Business China CEO". Retrieved 22 May 2011.
7. http://www.pap.org.sg/parliamentary_comm.html
8. Ong, Justin. "Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announces Singapore's new Cabinet". CNA.
9. Singapore, CNA. "PM Lee and Singapore's new Cabinet sworn in". CNA.
10. "Cabinet changes: Josephine Teo, Desmond Lee promoted to full ministers". The Straits Times. April 27, 2017.
11. "Cabinet reshuffle: Chan Chun Sing to lead MTI; Heng Swee Keat stays at MOF, Ong Ye Kung to head MOE". CNA.
12. Singapore, ST. "You don't need much space to have sex: Josephine Teo on 'no flat, no child' belief". The Straits Times.
13. Singapore, CNA. "'Milk is milk, however fancy the marketing': Josephine Teo". CNA.
14. Singapore, TOC. "Josephine Teo's comment, "milk is milk, however fancy the marketing" irks parents". TOC.
15. Singapore, CNA. "'Implmenting minimum wage may lead to lower employment': Josephine Teo".
16. https://mustsharenews.com/josephine-teo-migrant-workers-apology/
17. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2009-03-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

• Josephine Teo on Prime Minister's Office
• Josephine Teo on Parliament of Singapore

Political offices
Preceded by Chan Chun Sing	Minister in the Prime Minister's Office 2017–2018 Served alongside: Chan Chun Sing, Desmond Lee	Succeeded by Ng Chee Meng Indranee Rajah
Preceded by Lim Swee Say	Minister for Manpower 2018–present	Incumbent
Parliament of Singapore
Preceded by Davinder Singh	Member of Parliament for Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC (Toa Payoh East) 2006–2011	Succeeded by Zainudin Nordin
Preceded by Zainudin Nordin as MP (Bishan–Toa Payoh North)	Member of Parliament for Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC (Bishan North) 2011–2020	Succeeded by Gan Siow Huang as MP (Marymount SMC)
Preceded by Lily Neo as MP (Jalan Besar)	Member of Parliament for Jalan Besar GRC (Kreta Ayer - Kim Seng) 2020–present	Incumbent