New Chief of Defence Force for Singapore

The Singapore Defense Ministry has appointed Army chief Melvyn Ong Su Kiat as a new Chief of Defence Force, effective from March 23.

Major-General Melvyn Ong Su Kiat, Chief of Army (COA), is taking over from Lieutenant-General (LG) Perry Lim Cheng Yeow as CDF, and Brigadier-General (BG) Goh Si Hou, Commander 6th Singapore Division, will assume the appointment of COA on 21 March. These changes are part of the continuing process of leadership renewal in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said yesterday. 

The incoming CDF, MG Melvyn Ong Su Kiat, 43, joined the SAF in 1994 and was awarded the SAF Overseas Scholarship. As COA, MG Ong strengthened the Army's operational readiness to address the threat of transnational terrorism. 

MG Ong seeded initiatives to improve soldier performance and the NS experience. Key initiatives included the Soldier Strong campaign and establishment of the Centre of Excellence for Soldier Performance (CESP) to provide a scientific and data-driven approach to optimise the performance of each soldier. MG Ong also oversaw plans to revamp the SAFTI training area into "SAFTI City", which will provide a realistic dense urban environment to train the next-generation Army.