DPM Heng hopes to spend time with family, travel, 'not do any work' in first year of retirement

Retiring Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat hopes to spend the next six to 12 months “not doing any work”, before he figures out his next steps.

“I have a very bad work habit, I work long hours. I don’t have much time for myself,” he said.

“I hope to spend time travelling to all my favourite places, to read my favourite books and listen to my music, so that I can slow down. Then I’ll decide what else might be meaningful for me to do.”

The 64-year-old also hopes to spend time with his children and extended family, and continue exercising and taking care of his health.

Plans for his post-politics life have been on the cards for at least a year.

In May 2024, he told Prime Minister Lawrence Wong just after his swearing-in ceremony that he wanted to retire “if the transition goes well for the rest of the year”.

“I had decided on that before that, but I didn’t want to disturb him,” DPM Heng told The Straits Times on May 15.

He does not intend to go back to public life, quipping: “Only if I am absolutely needed. Do you have something in mind?”

But he told ST that he may return to his areas of interest – the future of science, technology and innovation, and the future of Singapore’s economy. Both are areas that he has covered in his work in government.

DPM Heng had announced on Nomination Day, April 23, that he would be retiring from politics after 14 years in the Government, which accounted for nearly a third of his 45 years in public service.

During his career, he was, among other things, a police officer, principal private secretary to then Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, and managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

After being elected as an MP in 2011, he was made education minister immediately. He later helmed the Ministry of Finance, and also chaired the Future Economy Advisory Panel and Future Economy Council, which both look at boosting Singapore’s economic growth.

At the interview with ST held at The Treasury, DPM Heng said he also finds science fascinating, from his time as a student and also as chairman of the National Research Foundation since 2018.

A Singapore Police Force overseas scholarship holder, he had hoped to study engineering in university but was asked by the Public Service Commission to do economics instead.

“I’m glad I’ve done all right... I had never expected myself to enter politics, to be a minister and to be a DPM. At every stage, I just made the best of it and certainly in the process, I have found fulfilment in all that I’ve done,” he said.

“I hope that I’ve made a little contribution to improve the lives of Singaporeans and to improve the chances of success of this little red dot.”

In his retirement, health will be a priority. DPM Heng suffered a stroke in 2016 during a Cabinet meeting.

Asked about his decision to step down as leader of the 4G in 2021 after having been selected in 2018, DPM Heng emphasised the demands of the job, his medical history and the long-term challenges the next prime minister would have to face.

“I decided it would be better for a younger person with a longer runway, better energy to carry through,” he said.

In Singapore’s parliamentary system, each minister has two jobs – making policies, but also engaging the community as an MP, he added.

The job of prime minister would also involve a lot of travel, said DPM Heng.

PM Wong has grown in stature and confidence, and built rapport with Singaporeans, he said.

“The recent election outcome is a testament to that. So I think I can now retire with a very clear conscience and with very strong confidence that Singapore is in very good hands,” DPM Heng added.

While he will be relinquishing his Cabinet roles, he is currently still chairman of the PAP.

DPM Heng said he has not had time to speak to PM Wong, who is the party’s secretary-general, but will discuss the matter with him soon after the new Cabinet is sworn in.

Asked why he has chosen to retire, DPM Heng said that during his 45 years of public service, he had spent very little time on his family and himself.

He said some residents had asked him to retire after his stroke, but he chose to stay on as he felt grateful to be part of a system that had allowed a “kampung boy” like him to study abroad and have a meaningful career.

He was also grateful to the doctors and medical staff who saved his life.

“(But) as you grow older, you begin to have all sorts of small issues,” he said. He attends regular health check-ups every six months and is reminded constantly to take care of his health.

“It makes you realise that life has its limits and you should make the best use of it while you can to spend time with your loved ones, to have some time to explore your interests.”

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.