APPOINTMENT OF AUDITOR-GENERAL
Mr Chuang Kwong Yong, aged 57 years, will be retiring as Auditor-General with effect from 8 February 2007.
Mr Lim Soo Ping, aged 56 years, will be appointed Auditor-General on the same date, relinquishing his appointment as Deputy Secretary (Information and the Arts), Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts.
Mr Lim Soo Ping
Mr Lim Soo Ping, who had his pre-tertiary education at St. Joseph’s Institution, joined the Public Works Department (PWD) as an Engineer in 1975 after obtaining a BSc with Distinction in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta, Canada, on a Colombo Plan Scholarship. In 1979, he obtained a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from the then University of Singapore. In 1981, he obtained a Post-graduate Diploma in Business Administration from the National University of Singapore (NUS). In 2001, he attended the Advanced Management Programme (AMP) at the Harvard Business School.
From 1983 to 1988, Mr Lim was seconded from PWD to the Ministry of National Development HQ. In 1986, he was appointed Secretary to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Collapse of the Hotel New World. Subsequently, he was also involved in the introduction of new building control measures on structural safety.
In 1988, while in MND, Mr Lim was admitted into the Administrative Service.
Shortly thereafter in 1989, Mr Lim was posted to the Ministry of Home Affairs where he remained until 1996. There he held the appointments of Director (Planning and Review), Director (Operations) and subsequently Deputy Secretary (Policy). Among his achievements in MHA, Mr Lim chaired an inter-agency work group to review the issue of domestic violence. This resulted in the amendment of the Women’s Charter to strengthen the protection for victims of family violence. He also oversaw the project to introduce the current more secure National Identity Card, the enactment/amendment of various legislation including the Computer Misuse Act. He was involved in the crisis management of the hijacking of SQ117 as Secretary of the Executive Group.
In 1997, following a brief stint in the Ministry of National Development, Mr Lim was appointed Deputy Secretary of the then Ministry of Community Development. Among other things, Mr Lim was Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Ageing Population.
From 1999 to 2003, Mr Lim was Deputy Secretary (Policy) in the Public Service Division (PSD), PMO and concurrently Secretary, Public Service Commission (PSC) and Secretary, Legal Service Commission (LSC). In PSD, he built up the corporate processes and infrastructure for organisational excellence and knowledge management. During the SARS crisis in 2003, Mr Lim chaired the Government Services Continuity Taskforce to oversee the formulation and execution of plans by Ministries and agencies to ensure the continuity of public services.
In 2004, Mr Lim joined the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) as Deputy Secretary (Information and the Arts). He was one of the key leaders in the improvement of the Ministry’s programmes and operations. In particular, he initiated and drove fundamental changes to strengthen the professionalism and capacity of the Information Service.
Mr Lim was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) in 1987 and the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 1991.