Teo Ser Luck to focus on starting new business ventures

SINGAPORE — Having spent a good part of his political career helping start-ups, Mr Teo Ser Luck has been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug: The Minister of State for Manpower will be leaving political office on June 30 and will be looking to start new businesses of his own.

Mr Teo, 48, told TODAY: “I’ve several things already planned ... I have ventures, I plan to ... work with existing companies. I’m going into my 50s already. In anything that we do, we should plan early.”

Entering politics in 2006, Mr Teo quickly rose through the ranks in various ministries. Prior to his current appointment at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Mr Teo — who will remain a Member of Parliament for “as long as the residents and party need me” — served in the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and was the patron of the Action Community for Entrepreneurs from 2011 to last year.

The three-term MP at Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC was scouted to join politics from the private sector, where he was general manager of logistics firm DHL Express (Singapore) before he entered politics.

He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary at the then-Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports in 2006, and rose to Senior Parliamentary Secretary at MCYS and the Ministry of Transport in 2008.

During his stint at these ministries, he was involved in Singapore’s bid for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010, and pushed for lifts at overhead bridges and wheelchair access for public buses, among other things.

In 2011, he was appointed Minister of State for Trade and Industry, before assuming his current manpower portfolio in 2015.

Since 2009, he has been the Mayor of the North East District — a post he will hand over to Tampines GRC MP Desmond Choo in about a month’s time.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wrote on Facebook that he had accepted Mr Teo’s request to step down.

Thanking Mr Teo for his contributions, Mr Lee said: “Ser Luck has contributed much in the ministries he served in — Transport, MTI, Manpower — and worked with his fellow mayors on many meaningful projects. I thank him for his contributions and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”

Writing on Facebook, Mr Teo said he was grateful for the chance to serve as an officeholder for over a decade, following 15 years in the private sector.

“I have decided to go back to (the) private sector to continue my journey and also have some time for the family. It’s a decision I have made and thought through for a while. Truly appreciate that PM agreed to my request,” he said.

“I plan to build, create, invest or help start-ups and businesses. Some are tech-related while others will be in products or services which I’m passionate about.”

Speaking to TODAY, Mr Teo said that it was not the first time he had requested to step down from public office, although he declined to share more details.

What is the first thing he plans to do after leaving office? “I want to have time to eat local food,” Mr Teo said in jest.