Here is the low down.
1) Wong Kan Seng is married to Ruth who is old man’s
niece and therefore cousin-in-law of the PM. Ruth and Lee Hsien
Loong are 1st cousins. He is the least educated member
of the cabinet. A former school teacher who went on to become
Personnel Manager was pulled in by the old man.
2) Ministry of Home Affairs has been in the hands of the family
from the day one as soon as PAP got into power except for 6 years
when Jayakumar ran it. Chua Sian Chin is related to the family by
marriage. Chua is best remembered as the silent minister in
Parliament and the man who kept the Cold Store Gang under Cold
Store.
3) When 9/11 occurred and it became evident that FBI was not
talking to CIA, and CIA was not talking to god knows who. Countries
around the world decided to have central coordinating agency for
Intelligence and Singapore did likewise. What was deemed practical
then has resulted in all Intelligence Assets of state coming under
one umbrella. Who heads this is King. Jayakumar’s political acumen
is as big as a biscuit but everyone else knows the value. Home
Affairs is now less powerful as the reporting lines no longer stop
with the Minister.
4) A number of other things began to take shape in PMO in recent
years. The Horizan scanning under the head of civil service is now
in PMO. The Population secretariat under a former director of ISD
was created in PMO and now the talent arm.
In terms of political capital and in priority, here is the
list
1) National Security Coordination Secretariat – PMO includes
ISD, MSD, SID and all other minor intelligence support
functions
2) National Population Secretariat – PMO
3) People Association
4) PAP
5) Singapore Press Holdings
Get the picture!
Welcome to the real world of politics.
Taken from Temasek Review
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/10/30/wong-kan-seng-latest-post-is-it-a-promotion-or-demotion/