SINGAPORE – A senior civil servant overseeing Singapore’s Smart Nation and AI policies has resigned and is set to stand in the next general election.
Ms Goh Hanyan, a director in the Smart Nation Strategy Office and the national AI group for policy and strategy in the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI), will leave the service on April 3, The Straits Times has learnt.
She is the third high-ranking civil servant known to step down ahead of the election so far, following the resignations of deputy secretary Jasmin Lau from the Ministry of Health and Mr Foo Cexiang, a director from the Ministry of Transport.
Ms Goh was involved in shaping Singapore’s refreshed Smart Nation plan, known as Smart Nation 2.0, as well as the coordination and implementation of the Republic’s refreshed National Artificial Intelligence Strategy.
Before her stint at MDDI, she was working on economy and sustainability under the strategy group in the Prime Minister’s Office for just under four years.
She had previously spent about a decade at the Economic Development Board, which included a three-year stint in Washington DC in the United States.
The Straits Times has contacted her for comment.
Her resignation comes ahead of a general election widely expected by mid-year.
The PAP has traditionally tapped public service leaders when sourcing for candidates. Those who are chosen to stand often resign in the lead-up to the election, as they are not allowed to participate in political activities while in service.
In the past, public servants have quit their roles close to the start of the hustings.
In the 2020 General Election, East Coast GRC MP Tan Kiat How, who was then chief executive of the Infocomm Media Development Authority, stepped down from his post on June 20. His resignation was publicly announced five days earlier.
The writ of election was issued on June 23, with July 10 set as Polling Day.
Mr Tan, who is now Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information as well as National Development, was one of the last resignations from the public service that year.
Mr Desmond Tan, who used to be chief executive of the People’s Association, left the public service slightly less than a month before Polling Day.
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