Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellowship - Visit of Pehin Dato Haji Abu Bakar Bin Haji Apong, Minister of Education, Negara Brunei Darussalam, 1 to 9 April 2012

Pehin Dato Haji Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong, Minister of Education, Negara Brunei Darussalam will visit Singapore as the 33rd Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellow (LKYEF) from 1 to 9 April 2012. Pehin Abu Bakar is the third Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellow from Brunei. Pehin Abu Bakar will be accompanied by his wife Datin Paduka Hajah Jahrah binti Haji Mohamad and officials from the Brunei Ministry of Education.

Pehin Abu Bakar has held senior appointments in various Ministries and in the finance sector, and was appointed as Minister of Health in 2002. He was then appointed Minister of Communications in 2005 and Minister of Education in 2010. Pehin Abu Bakar is concurrently the Chairman of the Brunei Investment Agency and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Foundation, the Sultan of Brunei’s personal charitable foundation.

Pehin Abu Bakar will call on PM Lee Hsien Loong, and will meet Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugam, and Minister for Education Heng Swee Keat. Pehin Abu Bakar will also meet Chairman of Temasek Holdings Mr S Dhanabalan and GIC Group President Mr Lim Siong Guan. Pehin Abu Bakar will be visiting a wide range of Singapore's educational institutions including the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, National Institute of Education, Singapore Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Institute of Technical Education, School of the Arts, Northlight School and NUS High School. Mr Eddie Teo, Chairman of the LKYEF, will host a welcome dinner for Pehin Abu Bakar.

The visit underscores the excellent state of Singapore-Brunei relations and reaffirms the warm and long-standing ties between our nations. Singapore and Brunei have regular exchanges of high-level visits, and work closely bilaterally and in regional and international fora.

Established in 1991, the LKYEF programme invites outstanding individuals for high-level exchange visits to Singapore. The Fellows are chosen on the basis of their proven track records or extraordinary potential to contribute to the development of their nations, as well as promote international understanding and goodwill.
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