Here’s a list of S’porean civil servants that could make their political debut in GE2025
In the lead-up to Singapore’s 2025 General Election, several senior civil servants have resigned from their positions in recent weeks, sparking speculation about their potential candidacy.
It’s no secret that political parties often tap into the public service for new candidates—but who has resigned so far and what are their backgrounds?
Here’s a breakdown:
| Civil servants who have resigned | Background and career history |
| Jasmin Lau | Jasmin Lau is currently the Deputy Secretary (Policy) at the Ministry of Health (MOH).
She has spent much of her career in healthcare, serving in MOH from 2013 to 2019. It was during this time that the ministry launched MediShield Life, a basic national health insurance scheme for large medical bills. She returned to MOH in 2021 after a short stint at the Economic Development Board (EDB). Her other stints were at the Public Service Division, the Manpower Ministry and Finance Ministry. In her current role, she oversees manpower, financing and regulatory measures in the healthcare system. As a deputy secretary, Lau is also among the highest-ranked civil servants in MOH. |
| Dinesh Vasu Dash | Dinesh Vasu Dash is the chief executive of the Agency for Integrated Care, which is under the health ministry.
He has served in the Singapore Armed Forces for over twenty years and left as a brigadier-general to join MOH. At MOH, he was appointed as the group director of the MOH’s crisis strategy and operations group during COVID-19, and was behind the push to vaccinate Singaporeans against the virus, for which he received the Public Service Star (COVID-19) award in 2024. |
| Goh Hanyan | Goh Hanyan is a director in the Smart Nation Strategy Office and the national AI group for policy and strategy in the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI).
She was involved in Singapore’s refreshed Smart Nation plan (Smart Nation 2.0), as well as the coordination and implementation of the city-state’s refreshed National Artificial Intelligence Strategy. Before joining MDDI, she spent about four years shaping economic and sustainability policies as part of the Strategy Group in the Prime Minister’s Office. Prior to that, she worked for a decade at the EDB. |
| Foo Cexiang | Foo Cexiang is the director of the private and future mobility division at the Ministry of Transport (MOT).
Previously, he was MOT’s director of futures and transformation. Foo has been in the service for more than a decade. He started his career at JTC Corporation and has had stints at the Ministry of Education, as well as the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Trade and Industry. |
| Shawn Loh | Shawn Loh is the director of security and resilience programmes at the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
Loh joined MOF in 2023 and was the Budget director for 2024 and 2025. He also worked on programmes including the CDC and SG60 voucher schemes in the ministry. Prior to this, he’s had stints at EDB, MOE and MOM, and he also oversaw population policy and planning during a stint at the Prime Minister’s Office in its strategy group. |
According to media reports, these civil servants are all slated to leave their jobs in the first few days of April.
In addition to the resignations, two permanent secretaries are also preparing to retire after decades of service and might make their way into politics.
These individuals are:
- Jeffrey Siow, from the Ministries of Manpower and Trade and Industry, and
- Tan Ching Yee, from the Ministry of Finance.
It’s still uncertain whether all of these civil servants will stand in GE2025, but if they do, their representation is more or less in line with past elections.
According to CNA, five of the 27 new faces (or roughly 19%) fielded by the PAP in GE2020 were from the public service, excluding those from the Singapore Armed Forces.
In GE2015, four out of 24 candidates (17%) came from public service, while in GE2011, the proportion was slightly higher, with seven out of 24 (29%) coming from the public sector.
Historically, public servants have predominantly joined the PAP, although the opposition has also fielded candidates from the public service, albeit in smaller numbers.
This includes former Workers’ Party MP Leon Perera, who started out as an NCMP after the 2015 General Election—he was an assistant head at EDB’s enterprise development division.
But what’s next for these public servants if they are not elected?
Transitioning into politics—whether coming from the public sector or not—is not an easy feat.
- Read other articles we’ve written on GE2025 here.
- Read other articles we’ve written on Singapore’s current affairs here.
Also Read: The road to GE2025: Will PAP continue to be the “sure win” option?
Featured Image Credit: Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth/ Foo Cexiang via LinkedIn/ Goh Hanyan via LinkedIn/ Public Service Division
Why Singaporean Muslim fashion brand Naezily has shut down its business for good after 5 yrs
After five years in business, Muslim fashion brand Naezily will close its business and shutter its retail outlet at Nordcom II, 2 Gambas Crescent.
The founder of the business, Miza Nazili Ghazali, announced the closure through a video on the brand’s official Instagram and her personal account on March 4.
“It’s with a heavy heart that I announce the end of a journey I never imagined would come to an end this early,” she said.
In the video, Miza shared that the closure was a result of her decision to prioritise her mental health and devote more time to her other ventures—apart from Naezily, the 31-year-old also runs four other businesses, including multi-million-dollar health supplement company, Shortcutx.
Managing multiple businesses has been incredibly rewarding, but the reality is, there’s only so much one person can do in a single day… after much weighing of options, I’ve decided to fully focus on what matters most.
Founder of Naezily, Miza Nazili Ghazali
Naezily was founded in 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic—Miza started the brand with just S$600 in hand.
Since then, it has launched over 12 collections and collaborated with notable celebrities, including Malaysian actress Nora Danish and Taufik Batisah, Singapore’s first Idol winner.
In 2021, the brand expanded to Malaysia, setting up an outlet in Selangor, Malaysia; however, the store was closed three years later, in 2024.
- Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean startups here.
Also Read: F&B to fashion: This 29-year-old has helmed 5 businesses, and one is a multi-million venture
Featured Image Credit: Miza Nazili Ghazali via Instagram
Why Brisbane & Gold Coast should be M’sian travellers’ top Aussie destinations in 2025
[This is a sponsored article with Singapore Airlines.]
Just last year, The New York Times featured Brisbane in their list of 52 places to visit in 2024.
And about a month later, the Washington Post likewise also featured Brisbane in their own list, titled “Where to go in 2025, without crowds.”
For two big names in the media industry to simultaneously look at Queensland’s capital city and recommend it, surely, there must be something to it.
Here are some of the highlights of what Brisbane has to offer.
Favouring the bold
Brisbane is commonly overlooked as just a gateway city to the popular Gold Coast.
But you’d be missing out if you disregard it as a tourist destination, especially since there have been quite a few recent developments in the area.
Launched in late August last year, one such example is the Queen’s Wharf, a residential and entertainment precinct that was eight years in the making.
It’s located in the Brisbane central business district (CBD), the birthplace of the city’s European settlement nearly 200 years ago and home to indigenous Australians for even longer.
In line with such a history, the Queen’s Wharf houses 12 state-owned heritage sites. This includes the Commissariat Store, a history museum built in 1828, which makes it the oldest occupied building in Queensland.
The plan for some of these once neglected locations is to restore and repurpose them to suit modern needs, combining culture with dining and retail.
Four luxury hotels additionally line the area, and it is also adorned with various parks and greenspaces, a welcome respite from the glare of an LED screen.
The newly opened Star Brisbane in particular is also home to the Sky Deck, a rooftop runway seemingly suspended 250 metres high.
It features a glass walkway overlooking the city as well as Southbank Parklands, providing guests with quite the vantage point for an aerial view.
It goes without saying, of course, that food is also a major highlight. The Queen’s Wharf features a plethora of Asian and European eateries, of which the lineup can be viewed here.
But outside of the Queen’s Wharf, there’s also Howard Smith Wharves, where visitors can dine under the city’s iconic Story Bridge.
Regarded as one of the hottest dining spots for locals and visitors alike, it features restaurants, bars, and breweries, all of which can be booked online.
There’s also Eat Street Northshore, a street food hub decorated with fairy lights and features over 70 stalls alongside five themed bars. Local talents can serenade you here as well while you feast.
If animals are more your thing, then 75 minutes by ferry from Brisbane is Tangalooma Island Resort.
There, visitors have the opportunity to handfeed wild bottlenose dolphins. There’s one particular family of dolphins that visits the area regularly, so much so that the resort has even crafted a family tree of them.
Not something that you’d find yourself experiencing everyday, let alone with the backdrop of a sunset.
Another highlight is their Desert Safari experience, where visitors will have the opportunity to toboggan down Moreton Island’s dunes at a claimed top speed of 40km per hour.
For something more relaxed, there’s the whale watching cruises. It’s a staple offering of the resort’s since 1987, where lunch is also included as part of the package.
From capital to coast
If the coast is more your style or you’d like to escape the city for a bit, then an hour south of Brisbane lies the popular Gold Coast.
Whale watching is available here too, on a seasonal basis between June to early November when humpbacks are known to migrate.
Other nature experiences include the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary’s Astra Lumina night walk, a new permanent attraction for the company.
But if walking something rather than walking yourself is more your speed, then the Mountainview Alpaca Farm will suit your needs just nicely.
Their packages offer visitors the chance to feed, pat, and stroll around with the fluffy creatures for up to an hour.
The Alpaca Experience package has a minimum requirement of two people per purchase where one alpaca will be shared, whereas the Alpaca VIP Package has no such restrictions, being one alpaca per person.
Gold Coast’s theme parks have also seen new upgrades recently. Warner Bros. Movie World and Dreamworld in particular have invested over A$50 million each into making new rides and attractions.
Dreamworld’s new Rivertown land features a ride with an inclined triple switch coaster turntable, allowing for operation both forwards and backwards. This is a world first, according to the company.
Warner Bros. Movie World’s latest on the other hand is a Wizard of Oz-themed attraction. It features two new roller coasters, of which the Wicked Witch has a top speed of 67 km/h, reaching 19 metres high along its 454-metre track.
Just the bump of adrenaline thrill-seekers will no doubt be looking for.
But there is no beating Sea World’s helicopter tours when it comes to height. The ride offers an unrestricted view of the city’s skyline.
If you’d much rather feel the breeze against your skin, however, then SkyPoint Climb has a pathway taking you 270 metres above sea level on foot, be it day or night.
Flying high
If what both Brisbane and the Gold Coast has to offer interests you, then it would be best to book your flights with Singapore Airlines.
A flight to Brisbane specifically, as there is no direct flight to the Gold Coast, will involve a transition from any one of Singapore Airlines or Scoot’s 11 departure points across Malaysia to Singapore Changi Airport.
The hope is that the airport’s amenities, including shopping and relaxation areas, will provide customers with a layover that feels both shorter and more enjoyable.
Singapore Airlines itself promises a seamless and comfortable travel experience, with even its economy class seats possessing “ample personal space.”
The Premium Economy Class comes with an additional two USB ports, a wider selection of in-flight meals, and even extra amenities such as eyeshades and lip balm.
June 16, 2025, onwards will additionally see the Singapore–Brisbane route increase to four daily flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. All four services, the company noted, will become daily from that date onwards.
Earlier this year, we at Vulcan Post previously reported on how Singapore Airlines was recognised by Fortune as the 28th most admired company globally. That, as well as how the company hit a record quarterly revenue just recently.
With its emphasis on convenience for this Queensland trip, it is quite easy to see why.
Also Read: This Sabahan serial entrepreneur built 6 brands, here’s his business playbook
Featured Image Credit: Felons Barrel Hall / Tourism and Events Queensland / SkyPoint Climb
Hands on with the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition, the RM7,300+ AI-powered business laptop
[Written in partnership with Lenovo, but the editorial team had full control over the content.]
Think commercial business laptops and you might just think ThinkPad, and for good reason.
A line of business-oriented laptops, Lenovo’s ThinkPad has been around since 1992, with its earliest models designed, created, and manufactured by International Business Machines (IBM).
Its latest iteration, the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition, powered by Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 Processor on Intel vPro®, Evo™ Edition platform builds on its reputation of being a professional powerhouse.
Lucky for us, we got up close and personal with the new laptop recently, trying out its suite of smart features that maximise productivity.
Sleek, slim, sustainable
Clocking in at a lightweight 1.21kg, the ThinkPad features a recycled aluminium build and an extremely slim bezel metal frame. Sleek and sophisticated, gone are the days of chunky work notebooks.
ThinkPad’s keyboards have always been built uniquely, but it got a facelift with the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition.
Designed with a curved lip at the bottom of each key, it’s meant for users’ fingers to fall naturally onto the keyboard. As a writer, I absolutely adored the feel of the keyboard.
The device also promotes sustainable features such as the bamboo and sugarcane packaging it comes in. Aside from that, much of the laptop also incorporates either recycled aluminium or plastic. Its battery cell is 100% recycled cobalt.
On the topic of sustainability, Lenovo also has a CO2 offsetting programme, allowing corporate clients to manage their carbon footprint via their IT fleet. The offsets are contributed to climate action projects verified by independent third party organisations.
While all these external features of the device are cool, it’s what is on the inside that matters most.
Smart modes for smarter work
Some key features of Lenovo’s Aura Edition devices is its range of smart tools.
First is the Smart Mode, which presents five tailored settings for security, collaboration, productivity, and wellness.
The wellness feature is particularly interesting, promoting digital health by encouraging regular eye breaks and fostering good ergonomics.
Admittedly, the wellness function is still a bit elusive to me, particularly when it comes to the ergonomics. I didn’t get called out for my atrocious posture, though I did see it happen for someone else.
There’s also the “Shield” mode, which is a privacy feature that auto-blurs your screen when someone is snooping behind the user.
This mode is super useful for those nomadic workers who like to bring their laptops to public spaces. You don’t have to look over your shoulder, because your laptop is now doing it for you.
Trying it out for myself, I could see that it gets activated fairly consistently, though sometimes it works just a bit too well. In those moments, you can just choose to deactivate the feature or snooze it.
The “Collaboration” mode enhances audiovisual effects with AI for richer collaboration, regardless of what platform you’re on, be that Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or anything else.
We tried having a video call to test how it automatically zooms into faces. Overall, it’s an intuitive and useful feature for those who have lots of work meetings and conference calls.
If you’re easily distracted, the “Attention” mode suppresses unwanted disruptions such as notifications. It also pulls up a timer for that extra help with time management.
Sharing and caring
Have you ever seen an iPhone user seamlessly share files on their phones to their MacBooks and vice versa and felt jealous?
Well, this Lenovo ThinkPad Aura Edition lets you do just that, whether you’re an Apple or Android user. Using the Smart Share function, you don’t have to be of the same ecosystem now to be able to easily share files—no cables required.
Testing out this Smart Share feature ourselves, we found that it was a bit finicky at first, but the connection process is relatively straightforward and after a couple of connection errors, we could start seamlessly sharing files through the Intel Unison app.
We also got to check out the Smart Care features, which offers 24/7 support for the device.
Want AI, and want it now?
Love it or hate it, AI is here to stay. We’ve heard of AI PCs ad nauseam nowadays, but Lenovo’s AI Now is actually pretty fascinating.
It’s still in beta mode, but Lenovo AI Now is essentially an AI companion that uses hybrid large models, combining your personal knowledge base and natural interaction comprehension capabilities.
It’s actually a local system, meaning it doesn’t connect to the cloud to find you answers. Rather, you can think of it as an assistant who can scrub through all your local files to answer your questions and summarise content based on your personal knowledge.
This is perfect for those who seek to protect their privacy and work data.
Testing it out, I had some challenges getting it to find files using a specific file name, though, but someone else got their laptop to summarise downloaded files.
Premium, personalised, powerfully productive
Currently, prices for the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Gen 1 Aura Edition start at around RM7,348.23.
It’s a premium price, certainly, but this commercial product truly covers the bases of being a high-performance device.
The personalised AI-accelerated features, Copilot+ integration, Lenovo AI Now, and range of smart features really solidify it as a future-proofed device. Powered by Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 Processor on Intel vPro®, Evo™ Edition platform, this device does not fall short when it comes to computing power.
Our hands-on session with the laptop was quick, but it was enough time to prove to us that the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Gen 1 Aura Edition definitely fulfills all the checkboxes you could have for a solid business laptop—and then some.
Also Read: This global real estate firm is expanding to KL to help local agents achieve their ambitions
All Image Credits: Vulcan Post
This S’porean stay-at-home mum runs a teh tarik biz solo—she even catered for a 600-pax wedding
Norhidayah (Hidayah) Sabri was content with her career working at a merger and acquisitions company in Singapore—that was, until she gave birth to her second child.
Longing to spend more time with her children, she made the decision to leave her job and become a full-time stay-at-home mother.
Her main focus was to care for her kids, yet she also unexpectedly found herself venturing into entrepreneurship.
Today, she single-handedly runs Teh Tarik Shus Bro, a home-based F&B business catering teh tarik for events across Singapore all on her own.
She self-funded the business
Hidayah had no plans of running a business of her own—in fact, she admitted that she could have “never imagined” herself as an entrepreneur.
But that all changed in 2018—shortly after the birth of her second child, Hidayah’s friends came over for a visit, and to welcome them, her mother-in-law prepared a pot of teh tarik.
The tea was so good that one of her friends suggested she start selling it, and after some thought, she figured—why not?
It started off as just something to pass the time while being a stay-at-home and earn some extra side income while at it. I created an Instagram Business Profile to kickstart the business.
Norhidayah Sabri, founder of Teh Tarik Shus Bro
Hidayah self-funded her business with S$500 of her own savings, using the money to source the necessary ingredients for her mother-in-law’s teh tarik recipe and invest in beverage dispensers for catering at large gatherings like as birthday parties and weddings.
After receiving her first few orders, she reinvested her early profits to gradually expand the business, officially registering the business in 2019—but it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic hit that the business truly started to gain traction.
Expanding their offerings
With large social gatherings and events prohibited during the pandemic, many businesses in Singapore were impacted—they were forced to find ways to innovate and adapt, including Teh Tarik Shus Bro.
As the business mainly sold to customers for large gatherings with a minimum order of five liters (which is about 25 servings), Hidayah decided to introduce new packaging options, including three-litre cardboard boxes and plastic pouches, which piqued the interest of customers.
These new packaging options allowed people to enjoy the brand’s teh tarik in smaller quantities, leading to a “surge in popularity” especially during Ramadan in 2020.
As the COVID-19 restrictions kept people apart, many customers began ordering the boxes and pouches as gifts for the friends and family they couldn’t meet.
A one-man show
To date, the largest event Hidayah has catered for was a 600-pax wedding. She also regularly fulfills weekly orders for Hajj classes and church gatherings.
Though the business broke even in its first year, given the minimal initial investment, it took three years for Teh Tarik Shus Bro to become “financially sustainable.”
But getting there wasn’t a walk in the park, as Hidayah had no prior F&B experience.
In the early days of the business, she had to learn how to tweak her mother-in-law’s recipe to accommodate larger orders. “Instead of daily preparation for home consumption, I had to learn the recipe for bigger quantities to be able to cater to the masses,” she shared.
“We also had to ensure quality is the same throughout, so we [created] specific measurements for everything, and it has never changed up to this day.”
After perfecting the recipe, her business began to grow. But despite the increasing demand and uptick in orders, it has always been a one-man operation—and it still is today.
Each drink is made on an order-by-order basis, and beyond preparation, Hidayah also manages marketing, logistics, restocking, customer inquiries, and delivery arrangements.
That said, when she’s short on drivers, her family occasionally steps in to help with Teh Tarik Shus Bro’s deliveries.
If demand exceeds her ability to fulfill them, Hidayah stops taking new orders to ensure her offerings are of quality without overwhelming herself. For Ramadan this year, she is already nearly fully booked and has stopped taking orders.
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Though Teh Tarik Shus Bro has seen steady growth over the past six years, Hidayah isn’t planning to open a physical store anytime soon.
She shared that she is content with her current business model, which allows her to balance running the business with spending time with her two sons at home.
However, she still aims to expand the business’s reach, with the goal of making Teh Tarik Shus Bro a “household name.”
Our aim has always remained the same, no matter how big or small we are, we want to ensure the quality of our teh tarik remains consistent throughout. I strongly believe, as long as the quality remains the same, the business’s name will grow by itself.
Norhidayah Sabri, founder of Teh Tarik Shus Bro
- Find out more about Teh Tarik Shus Bro here.
- Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean startups here.
Also Read: For hijabis, by a hijabi: This ex-actress opened a Muslim-friendly hair salon in S’pore
Featured Image Credit: Teh Tarik Shus Bro
