Shawn Loh, the civil servant who oversaw Singapore’s last two national budgets, will step down from the public service on 6 April 2025.
The move has triggered speculation that he may be among the new candidates expected to contest in the upcoming general election.
According to The Straits Times, Loh, 38, is resigning from his current role as Director of Security and Resilience Programmes at the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
He is the fifth senior official to exit the public service in recent weeks, amid what some observers view as a pre-election reshuffle.
Loh served as Budget Director for both the 2024 and 2025 budgets. These were the first to include initiatives from the Forward Singapore exercise, which aimed to refresh Singapore’s social compact through public engagement.
He joined MOF in June 2023. During his tenure, he worked on a range of government support programmes, including the Community Development Council (CDC) and SG60 voucher schemes. His team was also involved in inter-ministry transformation efforts and urban planning initiatives.
One such initiative was the Kallang Alive masterplan, focused on the future of the precinct surrounding the Singapore Sports Hub. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong referenced this during his first National Day Rally speech in 2024.
Before joining MOF, Loh held multiple senior roles at the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).
From November 2021 to July 2023, he served as Vice-President overseeing Singapore businesses and industry manpower development.
Loh also has experience in the private sector, having spent over a year at Commonwealth Capital Group from April 2020 to October 2021.
There, he was Group Director for Business Strategy and Innovation, focusing on driving business expansion.
His civil service career began in December 2011 at the Ministry of Education, where he was a planning officer focusing on education policies for children with special needs.
He later held roles in the Ministry of Manpower and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). At MOM, he led a team supporting the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Advisory Panel in implementing reforms.
At PMO, he contributed to population policy and planning as Deputy Director.
Loh’s varied experience across the public and private sectors, coupled with his work on high-impact national policies, makes him a potential candidate in the eyes of political observers.
His resignation follows those of four other senior civil servants.
On 25 March, the government announced the departures of Second Permanent Secretary Jeffrey Siow (Ministries of Manpower and Trade and Industry) and Ms Goh Hanyan, Director in the Smart Nation Strategy Office and national AI policy group.
Earlier, Deputy Secretary (Policy) Jasmin Lau from the Ministry of Health and Director for Private and Future Mobility Foo Cexiang from the Ministry of Transport also stepped down.
The resignations come in the lead-up to a general election that is widely expected to take place by mid-2025. The Electoral Boundaries Review Committee released its report on 11 March, prompting speculation that an election may be imminent.
The People’s Action Party (PAP) has a longstanding practice of recruiting leaders from the civil service for electoral candidacy. Civil servants selected for political roles are required to resign prior to engaging in political activities.
The string of recent departures may signal preparations for new candidates to be fielded in the next election. However, no official announcements have been made regarding Loh’s political intentions.
His career trajectory, which spans strategic roles in policymaking, manpower development, financial planning, and business innovation, aligns with the PAP’s typical profile for potential new candidates.
More clarity is expected in the coming weeks as parties finalise their slates for the anticipated polls.
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