Lai Chung Han

Mr. Lai Chung Han has been Permanent Secretary for Education since April 2019. Prior to that, he was the Second Permanent Secretary of Education and Home Affairs from 2017. Before joining the Ministry of Education, he spent 25 years in the Singapore Armed Forces as a naval officer and was appointed as Chief of Navy in August 2014.

Mr. Lai is a Member of the Board of Trustees of Nanyang Technological University, the National University of Singapore and chairs the National Institute of Education Council. He was previously Director of ST Marine, ST Electronics (Info-Comm Systems) and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, as well as a former member of the Board of Trustees for the Singapore Management University and Board of Governors of Temasek Polytechnic.

Mr. Lai graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) and Master of Arts in Economics from Cambridge University, UK, as well as a Master in Public Administration from the Kennedy School, Harvard University, USA.