SINGAPORE – Mr Ng Wai Choong, commissioner of inland revenue and Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) chief executive, will be appointed the new Auditor-General on Feb 8, 2025, a day after leaving his current post.

The 59-year-old succeeds Ms Goh Soon Poh, who will step down on the same day, said the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Jan 10.

The Auditor-General leads the national auditor, the Auditor-General’s Office (AGO), in scrutinising the accounts of the Government, whose findings are published in an annual report that often draws wide interest.

Mr Ng, a two-time winner of the public administration medal – silver in 2006 and gold in 2020 – has 35 years of experience in the public sector.

The economics graduate has held positions in the administrative service, the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the Ministry of National development and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), said the PMO.

After steady appointments from 2004 in the MTI, the Competition Commission of Singapore, the MOF and the Energy Market Authority, he became head of Iras in 2018.

His predecessor, Ms Goh, 62, has 40 years of service in public sector under her belt.

She has also won two public administration medals, a silver in 2000 and a gold in 2015.

In her six years as Auditor-General, Ms Goh led the AGO into a sharper audit strategy and used data and technology to raise the quality of audit, said the PMO.

Under her leadership, the AGO launched a masters scholarship for its auditors and set in place secondments and exchanges with other organisations, private and public.

PMO said: “Ms Goh restructured the Auditing Scheme, uplifted the professional development of its auditors and introduced initiatives to ensure that AGO continued to attract and retain its talent.”

Singapore Civil Service head Leo Yip extended his appreciation to Ms Goh for her decades of “significant contribution to public service and her six years of leadership in the AGO”.

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