New Cabinet line-up: Nine out of 37 office-holders are women

This term's line-up of women political office holders are (clockwise from top left) Mrs Josephine Teo, Ms Grace Fu, Ms Indranee Rajah, Dr Amy Khor, Ms Sim Ann, Ms Low Yen Ling, Ms Sun Xueling, Ms Gan Siow Huang and Ms Rahayu Mahzam. PHOTOS: KEVIN LIM, KUA CHEE SIONG, ST FILE, MCI

There are nine women among this term's line-up of 37 political office-holders, with two newcomers among them.

They are People's Action Party new face Gan Siow Huang, who has been appointed Minister of State for Education and Manpower, and MP Rahayu Mahzam, who will be appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Health from Sept 1.

"I will do my best to support jobs and skills for Singaporeans, both of which are critical to help us weather the recession and emerge stronger after the storm," Ms Gan said in a Facebook post.

In a separate post, Ms Rahayu said: "I am humbled by this trust and opportunity to continue serving in a different capacity."

The number of women in Cabinet has inched up over the years, and this is the largest cohort of women office-holders in recent times.

But the proportion of women who are full ministers has gone down slightly, with more men added to the team. There will be three women full ministers - Mrs Josephine Teo, Ms Grace Fu, Ms Indranee Rajah - out of a pool of 20 full ministers, compared with three out of 19 before.

The other women office-holders are Dr Amy Khor, Ms Sim Ann, Ms Low Yen Ling and Ms Sun Xueling.

Ms Low and Ms Sun have both been promoted to Minister of State.

Ms Low will take up the Trade and Industry and Culture, Community and Youth portfolios, while Ms Sun will take up the Education and Social and Family Development portfolios.

Mrs Teo remains Manpower Minister, while Ms Fu will head the newly renamed Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment.

Ms Indranee will be appointed Second Minister for National Development, relinquishing her Education portfolio. She will remain Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Finance Minister, and assist Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean on population matters.

Dr Khor, who used to be Senior Minister of State for Health, will now be Senior Minister of State for Transport and Sustainability and Environment. Meanwhile, Ms Sim will be Senior Minister of State for National Development and Communications and Information.

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on July 26, 2020, with the headline New Cabinet line-up: Nine out of 37 office-holders are women. Subscribe