Grace Fu

Grace Fu Hai Yien DCMG MP (Chinese: 傅海燕; pinyin: Fù Hǎiyàn; born 29 March 1964) is a Singaporean politician. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), She was appointed as the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. She has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Yuhua SMC after the 2020 Singaporean general election. She was elected as the People's Action Party Central Executive Committee Organising Secretary.

The Honourable Grace Fu Hai Yien DCMG MP
傅海燕
Grace Fu speaking to reporters at the launch of the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics' Million Deeds Challenge on 26 April 2009.
Minister for Sustainability and the Environment
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 July 2020
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Masagos Zulkifli (as Minister for the Environment and Water Resources)
Constituency	Yuhua SMC
Minister for Culture, Community and Youth
In office 1 October 2015 – 26 July 2020
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Preceded by	Lawrence Wong
Succeeded by	Edwin Tong
Leader of the House
In office 1 October 2015 – 23 June 2020
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Deputy	Desmond Lee
Preceded by	Ng Eng Hen
Succeeded by	Indranee Rajah
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Yuhua SMC
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 May 2011
Preceded by	Yu-Foo Yee Shoon (1984–1997)
Minister in the Prime Minister's Office
In office 1 August 2012 – 30 September 2015
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Second Minister for the Environment and Water Resources
In office 1 August 2012 – 30 September 2015
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Vivian Balakrishnan
Second Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office 1 August 2012 – 30 September 2015
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	K. Shanmugam
Senior Minister of State, Ministry for Information, Communications and the Arts
In office 21 May 2011 – 30 July 2012
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Minister	Yaacob Ibrahim
Senior Minister of State, Ministry for the Environment and Water Resources
In office 21 May 2011 – 30 July 2012
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Senior Minister of State, Ministry for Education
In office 1 April 2008 – 20 May 2011
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Senior Minister of State, Ministry for National Development
In office 1 April 2008 – 20 May 2011
Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Jurong GRC (Yuhua)
In office 27 April 2006 – 18 April 2011
Preceded by	Yu-Foo Yee Shoon
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	29 March 1964[1] Singapore, Malaysia
Political party	People's Action Party
Spouse(s)	Ivan Lee

She is also appointed as the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth from 1 October 2015 to 26 July 2020. She has served as Leader of the House from 1 October 2015 to 23 June 2020.

Early career

Fu began her career with Overseas Union Bank (OUB) as an auditor from 1985 to 1988. She then joined the Haw Par Group, where she worked in corporate planning, financial control and business development from 1991 to 1995.

In October 1995, Fu joined the PSA Corporation as an Assistant Director (Finance). She took on additional responsibilities as Vice-President (Marketing) and assumed the position of Financial Controller of the PSA Corporation in October 1998. She was promoted to the position of Executive Vice-President (Finance) in January 1999. In April 2003, Fu was appointed chief executive officer of Singapore Terminals. In 2004, she became the chief executive officer of PSA South East Asia and Japan, where she was responsible for the business performance of PSA's flagship terminals in Singapore, Thailand, Brunei and Japan.

Fu has been a non-practising member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore since 1992.[2]

Political career

Fu was one of 24 new PAP candidates formally introduced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong ahead of the 2006 general election. She was elected in June 2006 as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Jurong Group Representation Constituency (Jurong GRC). On 1 August 2006, Fu was appointed a Minister of State for the Ministry of National Development

On 1 April 2008, Fu was promoted to Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of National Development.

At the 2011 general election, Fu was elected as the MP for the Yuhua Single Member Constituency. She defeated the Singapore Democratic Party's candidate Teo Soh Lung by 14,093 votes (66.9%) to 6,986 (33.1%). Following the election, Fu was appointed Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts and the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources.

In January 2012 Fu expressed concerns over the planned 36–37% income cuts for ministers, saying that if ministerial pay was further reduced in the future, it would "make it harder for anyone considering political office".[3][4][5][6][7] Her comments contributed to the ongoing public debate over compensation and motivation of public officials, and were subject to criticism from Internet users in Singapore. Others defended her remark as fair, supporting her position that loss of privacy and public scrutiny adds a large personal cost to public positions not found in the private sector.[8][9]

On 31 July 2012, Fu was promoted to a full Minister. She is the second woman in Singapore's history, after Lim Hwee Hua, to hold this status. She was Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Second Minister for the Environment and Water Resources and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2015.[10] Since 2015, She has been the Minister for Culture, Community & Youth, and was the first female minister to helm a ministry.

In 2018, Fu appeared in the seventh episode of television drama dialect series Eat Already? 4 as herself promoting the ActiveSG.[11]

Education

Fu was educated in Nanyang Girls' High School and Hwa Chong Junior College, before going on to the National University of Singapore where she completed a Bachelor of Accountancy (Honours) in 1985 and a Master of Business Administration in 1991.

Personal life

Fu is married to technopreneur Dr Ivan Lee and the couple has three sons.[12][13] Her grandmother, Liew Yuen Sien, was the principal of Nanyang Girls' High School. Her father, James Fu, was previously a leftist journalist who eventually became press secretary to then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.[14][15] Her mother was a nurse.[16]

References

1. "Member's CV – Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien". Parliament of Singapore. Archived from the original on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
2. MP Profile – Grace Fu Archived 9 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine, pap.org.sg, retrieved 13 March 2012.
3. Nie, Ho Yeen. "Grace Fu criticised over Facebook comments on pay review". Channel News Asia. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
4. Chan, Rachel (6 January 2012). "Furore over minister's pay-cut post". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 9 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
5. Wong, Alicia (6 January 2012). "Grace Fu clarifies Facebook post on ministerial pay". TodayOnline. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012.
6. Seah, Chiang Nee (7 January 2012). "PAP mood turns sour over pay cuts". The Star. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012.
7. Shamim, Adam; Lim, Weiyi (5 January 2012). "Singapore's Lee Fights Voter Grievances by Accepting Pay Cut". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012.
8. Mokhtar, Faris (6 January 2012). "Public misunderstood my comments: Grace Fu". Yahoo! News SG. Archived from the original on 9 January 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
9. Kong, Loh Chee (5 January 2011). "Deep cuts proposed to pay of political leaders". TodayOnline. Archived from the original on 9 January 2012.
10. "Singapore reshuffles Cabinet". Channel News Asia. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
11. govsingapore (23 March 2018), 《吃饱没？4》 第七集 "Eat Already? 4" Episode 7, archived from the original on 20 September 2020, retrieved 7 October 2018
12. Heng, Janice (8 March 2015). "When a woman outshines her man". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
13. A Chat with Grace Fu Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, pap.org.sg, 10 June 2006.
14. George, Cherian (1 April 2012). Freedom from the Press: Journalism and State Power in Singapore. NUS Press. p. 103. ISBN 9789971695941. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
15. Toh, Elgin (24 March 2015). "First among equals: Mr Lee Kuan Yew led a tiny island nation from Third World to First". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
16. Chang, Rachel (12 August 2012). "Grace Fu: Steely leader sticks to her convictions". The Straits Times.

External links

• Grace Fu on Prime Minister's Office
• Grace Fu on Parliament of Singapore
• Grace Fu on Facebook