Appointment of New Chief Executive Officer for the National Environment Agency

Singapore, 17 February 2023 – Mr Wong Kang Jet will be appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Environment Agency (NEA) with effect from 3 April 2023. He succeeds Mr Luke Goh, who will be appointed as Permanent Secretary (Law) and concurrently Second Permanent Secretary (Foreign Affairs) on 3 April 2023.

Contributions of Mr Luke Goh

2 Mr Goh, 47, took on the role of CEO of NEA in February 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under his leadership, NEA rallied to contribute to Singapore’s fight against the pandemic. This included the swift development and rollout of island-wide wastewater testing for COVID-19, ensuring the continuity of critical essential services ranging from decontamination operations, waste and resource collection, cleaning and funerary services, to keeping our wet markets and hawker centres open and safe.

3 NEA also pressed on with initiatives during Mr Goh’s tenure in its continued drive towards sustainability and higher environmental standards. These included the issuance of the first Green Bond by a statutory board to support the vision of Tuas Nexus as an integrated resource recovery, waste treatment and waste-to-energy facility; the expansion of Project Wolbachia to contain dengue outbreaks; and implementation of tray return as a gracious act and practice of good social responsibility in our public eating places. Within NEA, Mr Goh and his leadership team strove to improve staff well-being and strengthen the culture of teamwork, empathy and resilience.

4 For his contributions to public service, Mr Goh was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2019 and the Public Administration Medal (Gold) (COVID-19) in 2022.

Incoming CEO Mr Wong Kang Jet

5 Mr Wong Kang Jet, 43, is currently the Principal Private Secretary to Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat. Prior to his current appointment, he was in Strategy Group, Prime Minister’s Office from 2015 to 2019, first as Director (Social) and subsequently as Director (Strategic Planning & Futures). He was Divisional Director (Finance and Development), Ministry of Education from 2011 to 2015. Mr Wong graduated with a Master’s Degree in Engineering Science from the University of Oxford, St Anne’s College in 2002.

Registration of Appreciation

6 The Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) expresses our deep appreciation to Mr Goh for his leadership and invaluable contributions to NEA and the MSE Family, and welcomes Mr Wong.