Heng Swee Keat

Heng Swee Keat is a Singaporean politician. A member of the country's governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has served in the Cabinet as the Minister for Education since May 2011. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Tampines Group Representation Constituency (Tampines GRC) since the 2011 general election.

Prior to his election to Parliament, Heng served as the Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) from 2005 to 2011.

Career
Heng began his career in the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in 1983. He then joined the Singapore Civil Service's Administrative Service in 1997. He served a period at the Ministry of Education, before being appointed the Principal Private Secretary to former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (who was then Senior Minister) in 1997. In 2001, Heng became the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry. He then served as Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore from 2005 to 2011.

In February 2011, Heng was named the Asia-Pacific Central Bank Governor of the Year by the British magazine The Banker.

At the 2011 general election, Heng was a PAP candidate in the Tampines Group Representation Constituency (Tampines GRC). When he was introduced as a candidate, former Prime Minister (and Emeritus Senior Minister) Goh Chok Tong tipped Heng to be a potential minister and core member of Singapore's fourth generation leadership team. Heng was one of five PAP candidates in his constituency in a team led by Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan, which also included Irene Ng, Zulkifli Masagos and Baey Yam Keng. They faced a team from the National Solidarity Party (NSP), led by the party's Secretary General Goh Meng Seng, along with Reno Fong, Syafarin Sarif, Raymond Lim and Gilbert Goh. On polling day (7 May 2011), the PAP team won the contest with 57.22% of the votes. (This represented a drop of 11.29% from the PAP's percentage of the votes in the constituency at the 2006 general election. )

On 18 May 2011, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong appointed Heng to the Cabinet as the Minister for Education.

In August 2012, Heng was tasked to lead a new ministerial committee that will conduct a broad-based review of the Government's policies and direction.

Education
Heng holds a Master of Arts in economics from the University of Cambridge and a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

He completed his pre-university education at Raffles Institution.

Notable appointments

 * Minister for Education (2011–present)
 * Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (2005-2011)
 * Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry (2001-2005)
 * Principal Private Secretary to Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew (1997-2000)

Notable awards

 * Asia-Pacific Central Bank Governor of the Year award from the British banking magazine The Banker (2011)
 * Meritorious Service Medal (Singapore) in 2010
 * Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 2001