PUBLISHED ONJune 16, 2025 9:00 PMBYChing Shi JieBreakdowns, delays, and accidents — these issues have plagued Singapore’s rail and bus systems and caused many sleepless nights for former transport ministers.
Now, Jeffrey Siow, 47, a first-time parliamentarian who is helming the Ministry of Transport (MOT), finds himself in a "politically intense" position with significant public interest.
That is because everybody in Singapore "care" about the fortunes of the transportation system here, he said.
Siow was speaking to reporters at the Ministry of Transport's (MOT) headquarters in Queenstown — his first sit-down interview since being appointed to the role on May 21.
The Acting Transport Minister replaces Chee Hong Tat, who is now the Minster for National Development.
Siow was a former second permanent secretary at the Manpower Ministry and Ministry of Trade and Industry, before resigning to contest the General Election on May 3.
He was also a senior civil servant at the Ministry of Transport from 2012 to 2017 where he was involved in planning the Thomson-East Coast MRT line and the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link.
Less than a month into his second stint in the ministry, Siow said that he has hit the ground running by speaking with transport operators, commuters and other stakeholders to reconnect with the transport sector.
He even took the train on his first day as acting minister to the office on May 26.
"I take public transport whenever I can because it's helpful to see things for yourself," said Siow, who revealed he commutes on the North East Line and Circle Line.
"And whenever I see something, LTA is kept a little busy. Yesterday evening, I saw that one of the handrails on the escalator was a bit worn. So, I told them (to) fix it," he added.
"Those little things… I think it's helpful to just do that as much as I can."
Netizens had questioned why a political newcomer like Siow was handed such a high stakes ministry — often viewed as a "hot potato".
His predecessors all had prior political experience before taking on the portfolio.
Asked how his appointment as transport minister came about, Siow said it was not much of a discussion with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
"He explained why he thought I could do the job, and I went back to think about it," he added, who took the offer as a vote of confidence from the prime minister.
Siow also consulted former Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan, who offered his support.
Siow said: "I look at the very positive side, which is that my job is a very meaningful one that matters to all Singaporeans. I enjoy doing a work that matters to people.
"And in the case of transport, when you do something, things are tangible… it's real.
Though technically still "Acting" Minister, Siow, who is also Senior Minister of State for Finance, doesn’t see himself as on probation.
"I like the job. On the policy side, I am comfortable and of course I'm very much starting my political journey," he said.
"I'm very grateful to have the support of a very good team with me and I feel a lot of their love and support."
Over the nearly two-hour interview, Siow laid out his ambitions for the next five years — starting with restoring Singaporeans’ pride in the public transport system.
Citing major cities such as New York and London, Siow said that public transport is very much a part of one's life.
The same holds true for Singapore, where photos of old, non-air-conditioned public buses remain a part of our collective memory and transport heritage.
"People feel pride in Changi (Airport), but the public transport side, I think we can do a lot more," he added.
"We must run it as well as we have run the air and sea systems, so that Singaporeans can take pride in it."
While Siow acknowledges that disruptions will happen "every now and then", he feels that it is important to build resilience to the rail system.
This comes after the rail operator SMRT was fined $3 million for a major six-day disruption on the East-West Line (EWL) in September 2024.
An estimated 500,000 out of 2.8 million train journeys were affected on each day of the disruption.
Siow said that his ministry will continue investing to improve reliability to the rail and bus systems.
To that end, Siow said that public transport fares are expected to rise over time.
Calling it "planned unhappiness", he said: "We know we have to do this.. .because there are people who work in the transport sector whose wages need to rise over time.
"If you say that fares must decline, you are essentially saying that wages must decline."
The Government, he added, remains committed to support lower-income commuters through transport vouchers and fare concessions.
Another "big push" that the ministry is aiming in the next five years is autonomous vehicles.
In January, LTA announced that it would trial self-driving public bus services in Marina Bay and one-north in Buona Vista.
The authority previously said that it will buy six autonomous buses with at least 16 seats and deploy them on bus services 400 and 191.
They will operate alongside existing buses and will be deployed from mid-2026 for an initial period of three years.
Autonomous vehicle trials are currently on-going in FairPrice warehouses in Joo Koon and shuttle bus services at Resorts World Sentosa and Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
Self-driving technology, Siow said, will help address manpower challenges.
"I have no doubt in five years you will be you will see many autonomous vehicles in Singapore, and we will start off probably with fixed routes in HDB estates, taking people to safely, to point to point to where they want to go," he added.
Autonomous vehicles, he said, could also eventually shift how Singaporeans think about car ownership.
"It may make less sense for you to drive your own car," he said. "You can call a car; the car arrives within five minutes. You pay for it on a pay-per use basis. You then get to where you want to go, you don't need to park.
"I think the dynamic will change, and that will have interesting implications for how we think about private vehicles… and the COE system. That's maybe a further bit down the road, but I think it is worth really thinking about it."
For more original AsiaOne articles, visit here.
