SINGAPORE: The Health Promotion Board (HPB) will get a new chairman on Apr 1, with the appointment of Sembcorp Industries’ CEO Wong Kim Yin.
Mr Wong succeeds Mr Philip Lee, who will retire from the board on Mar 31, HPB and the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Monday (Mar 25).
Mr Wong has been a member of the HPB board since October 2023.
He is also the vice chair of the World Energy Council’s Asia network and was previously chairman of SkillsFuture Singapore.
Other boards he serves on include that of the National Research Foundation, DSO National Laboratories and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore.
“As chairman of HPB, Mr Wong will provide effective leadership to the Board and management as the organisation furthers its health promotion efforts, in line with the Healthier SG national initiative,” said MOH and HPB.
“He will play a key role in shaping HPB’s strategies in disease prevention, strengthening healthy ecosystems collaboratively with healthcare clusters and other government agencies, and delivering more impactful health initiatives driven by precision public health capabilities.”
Mr Wong’s term as HPB chairman will be from Apr 1, 2024, to Mar 31, 2027.
Mr Lee, the outgoing chairman, was “instrumental” in the agency’s progress on many fronts, said HPB and MOH.
After he became chairman in April 2017, he oversaw HPB’s efforts in the war on diabetes campaign and the expansion of healthy living options in Singapore, including the rollout of the Nutri-Grade requirements.
HPB also improved the Healthy 365 mobile application, which supports people in adopting healthier lifestyles, and created initiatives such as the National Steps Challenge.
“Mr Lee’s chairmanship also saw HPB take on an integral role under Healthier SG. To support this transformation of the healthcare sector, HPB enhanced its preventive health initiatives and partnerships, further expanding its health and social ecosystem to enable easier and wider access to healthy lifestyle programmes among residents,” said MOH and HPB.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Lee helped to navigate the agency through various challenges.
“With his support, HPB persevered with its preventive health mandate to support Singaporeans’ health and wellbeing, while taking on pandemic-related functions to safeguard public health, including quarantine, testing and vaccination operations,” said MOH and HPB.
