Chee stepped down as chair of the MAS Equities Market Review Group on Nov 19, after the group published its final report. He is now on to his next assignment, as the lead of the brand new Growth Capital Workgroup, which, as its name suggests, has been tasked with devising strategies to help support the financing needs of companies at various growth stages.
At this point, you might be wondering just how Chee does it. But he isn’t the only minister involved in multiple task forces or workgroups. Gan, who chairs the MAS, touted his reputation as the “task force man” to voters during last year’s general election. Gan co-chaired the Multi-Ministry Taskforce that oversaw the Covid-19 response with Wong and Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.
Cynics will question whether we need so many government committees. Must we set up a committee every time there’s a national crisis? That’s a fair question to ask, though it’s worth noting that local task forces do have a decent track record when it comes to producing results.
For one, Singapore’s relatively low fatality rates from the Covid-19 pandemic are a testament to the Multi-Ministry Taskforce’s ability to cut through red tape and take decisive action to shut down viral clusters before they spiralled out of control.
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The uplift in the domestic stock market is also partly due to the work of Chee’s Equities Market Review Group, whose recommendations helped inject new life into a once sluggish market.
We do need to ask a more important question: why couldn’t existing regulatory bodies or agencies devise these solutions by themselves? Is the solution to bureaucracy more bureaucracy? After all, every new task force or workgroup created means more staffing responsibilities and approving channels sprouting up.
The problems that Singapore will face in the coming years are only going to get more complex. Challenges such as AI disruption are complex and can evolve rapidly. In fact, the nation has already set up another committee just for AI. Wong announced in Budget 2026 that he will be chairing a newly created National AI Council to— you guessed it —oversee the AI agenda.
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Singaporeans should be thankful that their prime minister is taking an active interest in AI and how it can affect our livelihoods, but now is the time for each and every one of us to step up and fulfil our responsibilities.
Companies and regulatory bodies need to do better, and that starts by thinking about the big picture. Don’t just focus on near-term KPIs. Focus your energies on trying to leave the system in a better place. You will be amazed at just how much agency you already have in trying to make change. This is a win-win proposition.
Task forces and workgroups can only go so far. It’s time we break down the silos ourselves and start solving our own problems.
