Leaving legal practice, loss of privacy top considerations before taking up political office: Edwin Tong
MP Edwin Tong had discussed the matter with his family before coming to a decision.
SINGAPORE – Backbencher Edwin Tong, who will join the law and health ministries as Senior Minister of State in July, said he took some time to consider the move to join the Government, as it entails leaving legal practice as well as the loss of privacy for him and his family.
Speaking to TODAY, the 48-year-old partner at Allen & Gledhill said he was asked to take up political office last year.
“I thought about it very carefully because it’s a decision that affects not just myself and giving up my practice which I’ve done for 25 years but also my family – many of my family members will also be impacted by this because there’s going to be a lot more scrutiny, less privacy and so on,” he said on Tuesday (April 24).
The senior counsel had discussed the matter with his family before coming to a decision. Mr Tong, who has been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 2011, said they asked if he would miss legal practice, and wanted to be sure that the appointments were “not something that would put on too much stress” on him.
The family also discussed the potential for new challenges, and a new platform to serve the country.
He will take up his new roles only on July 1 as he has to spend the next one to two months wrapping up his legal practice, and handing over the pending cases to his colleagues. As a transition arrangement, Senior Minister of State for Law Indranee Rajah will become Second Minister for Law from May 1 till June 30.
While Mr Tong noted that his new role would put him in the “same environment”, it would be an opportunity for him to do something different.
Mr Tong said: “I also see it as a personal challenge for myself because having spent a quarter of a century in the practice of law, I feel ready now for a new challenge perhaps on a different platform but also delivering services to Singaporeans.”
When asked what he will miss most about his current job, he added: “(Legal) practice is multi-dimensional but at the end of the day, I’ll miss the lawyers that I work with at my firm the most.”
Mr Tong was called to the Singapore Bar in 1995, and his areas of practice include corporate and commercial disputes, and international arbitration. He also represented City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee in one of the longest-running trials in Singapore’s legal history.
He was MP for Moulmein-Kallang GRC till 2015, before he was elected MP for Marine Parade GRC. He is also the deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs and Law. More recently, Mr Tong was part of the 10-member Select Committee studying deliberate online falsehoods.
While his other post with the Ministry of Health will be in a new sector, Mr Tong said he was excited to take up the challenge.
He added: “Once you decide to serve in public service, you should be prepared to serve in anything. Health is something that interests me and I think partly because it also affects every Singaporean at some stage in their life, so I’m glad to be in a position where I can have a chance to make a big impact.”
While reiterating that stepping up from the backbench would be a challenge, he is ready to get down to work.
“There’s a lot of work to be done. The new fourth-generation leadership needs a lot of support, and I’m happy to provide it,” said Mr Tong.
The decision to promote Mr Tong and other backbenchers has surprised some political analysts.
While former MP Sin Boon Ann was surprised that Mr Tong decided to step up to public service, he did not think that the promotion to Senior Minister of State was unprecedented as the lawyer is a senior member of the Bar.
His appointment would also commensurate – to some extent – to his position as senior counsel at Allen & Gledhill, added Mr Sin, a consultant at Drew & Napier. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KELLY NG
