Mr Masagos Zulkifli was sworn in yesterday as a full Cabinet Minister, following Wednesday’s Cabinet reshuffle announcements.
With his promotion, Mr Masagos will be a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs. He had been Senior Minister of State in both ministries since 2012. The news of his promotion — which means there are two Malay-Muslim full Ministers for the first time — had garnered strong support from the Malay and Muslim community leaders.
Writing on his Facebook page today, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he had witnessed Mr Masagos’ swearing in. “His sincerity, ability and hard work have earned him the respect of colleagues and Singaporeans,” Mr Lee noted.
Foreign Minister K Shanmugam wrote on his Facebook page: “(Mr Masagos’) appointment strengthens our MFA work. The world is shrinking, and our interests around the world, economic, political, have grown. We need to engage many countries actively, much more so than we have had to … Masagos has promoted Singapore at every opportunity, and has been very good for us. We are fortunate at MFA to have Masagos with us. With his promotion, I will now be able to give him even more responsibilities, at MFA.”
Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong congratulated Mr Masagos on his Facebook page. “He is humble, sincere and dedicated. A good addition to the Cabinet team,” he said. “The Cabinet reshuffle will add depth and breadth to those who will lead Singapore forward. Stretching the younger Ministers will strengthen their resilience. Best wishes to them.”
Source: www.todayonline.com
