Ministry of Communications and Information

1°17′26.61″N 103°50′53.31″E / 1.2907250°N 103.8481417°E / 1.2907250; 103.8481417 The Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI; Malay: Kementerian Perhubungan dan Penerangan; Chinese: 通讯及新闻部; Tamil: தொடர்பு, தகவல் அமைச்சு) is a ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for overseeing the development of the infocomm technology, cyber security, media sectors, as well as the government's information and public communication policies. It is also responsible for maintaining the national library, national archives and public libraries.

Ministry of Communications and Information
Agency overview
Formed1 November 2012; 11 years ago (2012-11-01)
Preceding agency
  • Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA)
JurisdictionGovernment of Singapore
Headquarters140 Hill Street #01-01A, Old Hill Street Police Station, Singapore 179369
MottoKnowledge is Meant to be Shared
Employees2,651 (2018)[1]
Annual budgetS$1.04 billion (2019)[1]
Ministers responsible
Agency executives
  • Joseph Leong,
    Permanent Secretary
  • Chng Kai Fong,
    Second Permanent Secretary
  • Janadas Devan,
    Chief of Government Communications
Child agencies
Websitemci.gov.sg

History edit

 
The Old Hill Street Police Station is currently the headquarters of the Ministry of Communications and Information

On 5 June 1959, the Ministry of Culture came into being with the swearing-in and appointments of ministers of the new Government of Singapore. On 1 February 1980, the Broadcasting Division of the Ministry of Culture became a statutory board, the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation.

1985 saw the dissolution of the Ministry of Culture. Its Information Division came under the new Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). Its arts promotion component was assimilated into the Ministry of Community Development (MCD) as the Cultural Affairs Division.

Five years later, on 28 November 1990, the Information Division of the MCI and the Cultural Affairs Division of MCD, together with other associated departments and statutory boards, reunited to form the Ministry of Information and the Arts (MITA).

On 1 September 1991, the Festival of Arts Secretariat, Singapore Cultural Foundation, the Arts Division of MITA, and the National Theatre Trust merged to form the National Arts Council (NAC).

On 1 October 1994, the Singapore Broadcasting Authority (SBA) was formed as a statutory board under MITA to oversee and promote the broadcasting industry in Singapore.

On 23 November 2001, the information and communications technology (ICT) functions under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology came under MITA. The expanded Ministry was renamed the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, but retained the acronym MITA. In that year, Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) became one of MITA's statutory boards.

On 1 January 2003, the Singapore Broadcasting Authority, Singapore Films Commission and Films and Publications Department (previously under the MITA headquarters) merged to form the Media Development Authority (MDA). On 13 August 2004, the Ministry's acronym was changed from "MITA" to "MICA".

On 1 November 2012, MICA was renamed the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). The move followed the restructuring of two previous ministries – MICA and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) – into MCI, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF). REACH (Reaching Everyone for Active Citizenry @ Home) was assimilated into MCI while the resilience, arts and heritage portfolios became part of MCCY. MCI now oversees the development of the information and communications technology, media and design sectors, public libraries, and the Government's information and public communication policies.[2]

On 18 January 2016, MCI announced that the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and the Media Development Authority (MDA) will be restructured into two new entities: The Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Government Technology Organisation (GTO) (now Government Technology Agency; GovTech), in the second half of 2016.[3] The new statutory boards were formed on 1 October 2016.

Organisational structure edit

MCI has two statutory boards, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the National Library Board (NLB).

MCI also manages the Cyber Security Agency, a national agency overseeing cybersecurity strategy, operations, education, outreach, and ecosystem development and the Personal Data Protection Commission, Singapore's primary data protection authority.

Ministers edit

The Ministry is headed by the Minister for Communications and Information, who is appointed as part of the Cabinet of Singapore. The incumbent minister is MP for Jalan Besar GRC Josephine Teo from the People's Action Party.

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Took office Left office Party Cabinet
Minister for Culture (1959–1985)
S. Rajaratnam
MP for Kampong Glam
(1915–2006)
5 June
1959
12 August
1965
PAP Lee K. I
Lee K. II
Othman Wok
MP for Pasir Panjang
(1924–2017)
12 August
1965
15 April
1968
PAP
Jek Yeun Thong
MP for Queenstown
(1930–2018)
16 April
1968
25 September
1977
PAP Lee K. III
Lee K. IV
Lee K. V
  Ong Teng Cheong
MP for Kim Keat
(1936–2002)
Interim
26 September
1977
6 January
1981
PAP
S. Dhanabalan
MP for Kallang
(born 1937)
6 January
1981
1 January
1985
PAP Lee K. VI
Minister for Social Affairs (1963–1985)
Othman Wok
MP for Pasir Panjang
(1924–2017)
19 October
1963
30 June
1977
PAP Lee K. V
Toh Chin Chye
MP for Rochore
(1921–2012)
Interim
1 July
1977
4 September
1977
PAP
Ahmad Mattar
MP for Brickworks
(born 1940)
Interim until 31 May 1984
5 September
1977
1 January
1985
PAP
Lee K. VI
Minister for Communications (1968–1985)
  Yong Nyuk Lin
MP for Geylang West
(1918–2012)
16 April
1968
31 July
1975
PAP Lee K. III
Lee K. IV
Lim Kim San
MP for Cairnhill
(1916–2006)
1 August
1975
30 June
1978
PAP
Lee K. V
Ong Teng Cheong
MP for Kim Keat
(1936–2002)
1 July
1978
8 May
1983
PAP
Lee K. VI
Ong Pang Boon
MP for Telok Ayer
(born 1929)
9 May
1983
6 September
1983
PAP
Yeo Ning Hong
MP for Kim Seng
(born 1943)
Interim until 31 May 1984
7 September
1983
1 January
1985
PAP
Minister for Communications and Information (1985–1990)
Yeo Ning Hong
MP for Kim Seng SMC
(born 1943)
2 January
1985
27 November
1990
PAP Lee K. VII
Lee K. VIII
Minister for Information and the Arts (1990–2001)
  George Yeo
MP for Aljunied GRC
(born 1954)
Interim until 30 June 1991
28 November
1990
2 June
1999
PAP Goh I
Goh II
Goh III
Lee Yock Suan
MP for Cheng San GRC
(born 1946)
3 June
1999
22 November
2001
PAP
Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (2001–2012)
David Lim
MP for Aljunied GRC
Interim
23 November
2001
11 May
2003
PAP Goh IV
Lee Boon Yang
MP for Jalan Besar GRC
(born 1947)
12 May
2003
31 March
2009
PAP
Lee H. I
Lee H. II
  Lui Tuck Yew
MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC
(born 1961)
Interim until 31 October 2010
1 April
2009
20 May
2011
PAP
  Yaacob Ibrahim
MP for Moulmein–Kallang GRC
(born 1955)
21 May
2011
31 October
2012
PAP Lee H. III
Minister for Communications and Information (from 2012)
  Yaacob Ibrahim
MP for Moulmein–Kallang GRC
(until 2015)
MP for Jalan Besar GRC
(from 2015)
(born 1955)
1 November
2012
30 April
2018
PAP Lee H. III
Lee H. IV
  S. Iswaran
MP for West Coast GRC
(born 1962)
1 May
2018
14 May
2021
PAP
Lee H. V
  Josephine Teo
MP for Jalan Besar GRC
(born 1968)
15 May
2021
Incumbent PAP

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Singapore Budget" (PDF).
  2. ^ Imelda Saad; S. Ramesh (31 July 2012), MCYS, MICA to be restructured to form 3 new ministries, Channel NewsAsia
  3. ^ "IDA, MDA to be restructured to capitalise on converging media and ICT landscape". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 23 January 2016.

External links edit