Ministry of Defence (Singapore)

The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF; Malay: Kementerian Pertahanan; Chinese: 新加坡国防部; Tamil: தற்காப்பு அமைச்சு) is a ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for overseeing the national defence of Singapore.

"Mindef" redirects here. For Bruneian defence ministry, see Ministry of Defence (Brunei).

Ministry of Defence
Agency overview
Formed11 August 1970 (1970-08-11)
Preceding agency
JurisdictionGovernment of Singapore
HeadquartersMINDEF Building, Gombak Drive, Singapore
1°22′17.77″N 103°45′32.62″E
MottoSafeguarding Singapore's Peace
Employees282 (2018)[1]
Annual budget S$16.36 billion
US$12.6 billion (2022)[1]
Ministers responsible
Agency executives
  • Chan Heng Kee,
    Permanent Secretary (Defence)
  • BG Ng Chad-Son,
    Deputy Secretary (Technology)/Future Systems and Technology Architect
  • Elaine Ng,
    Deputy Secretary (Administration)
  • Tan Peng Yam,
    Chief Defence Scientist
  • Teo Eng Dih,
    Deputy Secretary (Policy)
  • BG Mark Tan Ken-Li,
    Defence Cyber Chief
Child agencies
Websitewww.mindef.gov.sg

History
See also: Ministry of Interior and Defence

MINDEF, together with the Ministry of Home Affairs, was created on 11 August 1970 by splitting up the then Ministry of Interior and Defence.

Responsibilities

MINDEF's mission is to "enhance Singapore's peace and security through deterrence and diplomacy, and should these fail, to secure a swift and decisive victory over the aggressor."[2]

It has a policy of Total Defence which consists of Military Defence, Civil Defence, Economic Defence, Social Defence, Psychological Defence and Digital Defence involving the people, public and private sectors of the country.

Organisational structure
See also: Singapore Armed Forces § Organisation

MINDEF oversees a single statutory board, the Defence Science and Technology Agency. The Singapore Armed Forces, which is in charge of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), the Singapore Army and the Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS) is a military component of the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF).[3]

Statutory boards

Ministers

The Ministry is headed by the Minister for Defence, who is appointed as part of the Cabinet of Singapore. The incumbent minister is Ng Eng Hen from the People's Action Party.

Portrait Minister Term start Term end Political party Ref.
Goh Keng Swee 9 August 1965 16 August 1967 People's Action Party
Lim Kim San 17 August 1967 10 August 1970
Goh Keng Swee 11 August 1970 11 February 1979
Howe Yoon Chong 12 February 1979 31 May 1982
Goh Chok Tong 1 June 1982 30 June 1991
Yeo Ning Hong 1 July 1991 1 July 1994
Lee Boon Yang 2 July 1994 1 August 1995
Tony Tan 2 August 1995 1 August 2003
Teo Chee Hean 2 August 2003 20 May 2011
Ng Eng Hen 21 May 2011 Incumbent

See also

References
  1. "Singapore Budget" (PDF).
  2. "About Us: Mission". Ministry of Defence (Singapore). Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
  3. "MINDEF Departments". Singapore Government Directory. Archived from the original on 21 January 2017.
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