Jeffrey Siow

Jeffrey Siow Chen Siang (; pinyin: ''Xiāo Zhènxiáng'', born ) is a Singaporean politician and former civil servant. A member of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP), he is the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Brickland ward of Chua Chu Kang Group Representation Constituency (GRC) since 2025.

Siow served as a civil servant within multiple government agencies for 24 years. He previously served as principal private secretary (PPS) to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong between 2017 and 2021, and was serving as second permanent secretary at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) at the time of his resignation. He was the most senior of public servants who stepped down to join politics ahead of the 2025 general election.

Early life and education

Siow grew up in a one-room public housing rental flat in Henderson. He earned a Public Service Commission scholarship and studied economics and urban planning at Cornell University.

Civil service career

Siow became a deputy director at the Civil Service College in 2005 and served until 2009. He then served as a deputy director at the Ministry of Education (MOE) between 2009 and 2011.

From 2012 until 2017, Siow was a director at the Ministry of Transport (MOT). During his tenure, he oversaw projects such as the Bus Contracting Model, the failed Kuala Lumpur–Singapore high-speed rail and the Johor Bahru–Singapore Rapid Transit System, and was part of a team tasked to plan the Thomson–East Coast MRT line.

In 2017, Siow was appointed as principal private secretary (PPS) to then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, a role which he served until 2021. In September that year, he became a member of the board of directors at the Infocomm Media Development Authority, and held this position until 2022. He was the first managing director and chief operating officer of Enterprise Singapore from September 2021 until he stepped down on 31 December 2023.

Siow was appointed as second permanent secretary at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in October 2023, with his tenure beginning on 1 January 2024. He concurrently served as second permanent secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) since September 2024.

Political career

On 2 April 2025, Siow retired from his positions at MOM and MTI. He was the most senior of civil servants to resign ahead of the upcoming general election that year.

Siow was revealed to have joined the People's Action Party (PAP) team contesting Chua Chu Kang Group Representation Constituency (GRC), alongside Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim and neuroscientist Choo Pei Ling. He said to ''The Business Times'' that he viewed politics as "an extension of public service", and told ''The Straits Times'' that while he did not consider joining politics until "recently", he felt "it was just time for imto take a different tack". During nomination day, Gan was transferred to Punggol GRC, with Manpower Minister Tan See Leng transferring from Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC to take his place. Henceforth Siow contested Chua Chu Kang GRC with Tan, Zhulkarnain, and Choo, with the team winning the election with 63.59% of the votes and a majority of 23,512 against the Progress Singapore Party.

Acting Minister for Transport (2025–present)

On 21 May 2025, Siow was appointed as acting Minister for Transport and Senior Minister of State for Finance in the Second Lawrence Wong Cabinet. He succeeded Chee Hong Tat who became Minister for National Development in the former role.

Personal life

Siow is married and has a son and a younger daughter who were born two years apart. He is a football enthusiast and plays the sport during his free time on weekends. He is also interested in science fiction, listing ''The Three-Body Problem'' and authors including Isaac Asimov and Ted Chiang as among his favourites in the genre.

References

{{15th Parliament of Singapore

Living people
Cornell University alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
Place of birth missing (living people)
21st-century Singaporean politicians