MFA Press Statement: Appointment of Singapore’s Ambassador to the European Union

The Government has appointed Mr Ong Eng Chuan as Singapore’s next Ambassador to the European Union, resident in Brussels. He is concurrently Singapore’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium. Mr Ong presented his credentials to President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy on 10 July 2012. Mr Ong will present his credentials to President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso on 12 July 2012.

Mr Ong joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1994. He has spent a large part of his career managing Singapore’s relations with Northeast Asian countries. Mr Ong was posted twice to the Singapore Embassy in Tokyo. He has also served in the Singapore Embassy in Washington and was the Special Assistant to then Foreign Minister S Jayakumar in 2003. Mr Ong was Director/Northeast Asia from January 2009 to February 2012.

Mr Ong graduated in 1993 with a Bachelor of Engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan under the Japanese Government Monbusho Scholarship. He was awarded the Fulbright Scholarship and obtained a Master of Arts in International Policy Studies in 2002 from Stanford University, USA. In addition, Mr Ong was a Pritzker International Fellow in the Center for Strategic and International Studies in 2002.

Mr Ong is married to Mdm Esther Phua Boon See and they have a daughter.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
11 JULY 2012
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BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY

Mr Ong Eng Chuan (王永泉)is currently Singapore’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium with concurrent accreditation to the European Union, the Kingdom of Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Born in Singapore on 2 February 1968, Mr Ong graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan in 1993 under the Japanese Government Monbusho Scholarship. He was awarded the Fulbright Scholarship and obtained a Master of Arts in International Policy Studies from the Stanford University, USA, in 2002. Mr Ong was also a Pritzker International Fellow in the Center for Strategic and International Studies in 2002.

Mr Ong joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1994. He spent two years as Country Officer for Japan and Korea before being appointed as First Secretary in the Singapore Embassy in Tokyo in 1996. Mr Ong returned to Singapore in 2000 to head the China and Japan/Korea Desks. He was later appointed as Special Assistant to then Foreign Minister S Jayakumar in 2003. Mr Ong was assigned as Counsellor in the Singapore Embassy in Washington from 2004 to 2005. He was subsequently cross-posted to Japan in 2005 and served as Minister-Counsellor and Deputy Chief of Mission in the Singapore Embassy in Tokyo until December 2008. Upon his return to Singapore, Mr Ong was appointed as Director of the Northeast Asia Directorate from 2009 to 2012.

Mr Ong is married to Mdm Esther Phua Boon See and they have a daughter.