SINGAPORE - The chief executive of the Housing Board, Dr Cheong Koon Hean, is the new S R Nathan Fellow for the Study of Singapore at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS).
Her appointment, which is from January to May next year (2018), will see her doing research on public policy and governance in Singapore, said the IPS on Friday (Dec 8).
Her findings and ideas will be presented to the public in a series of lectures at the National University of Singapore.
The lectures will subsequently be compiled and published in a book.
IPS is a research centre of the NUS' Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
It introduced the S R Nathan Fellowship in 2013 to recognise the contributions of the late Mr Nathan - Singapore's longest-serving president - to the public service and Singapore's development.
Earlier fellows included entrepreneur Ho Kwon Ping, who is chairman of Singapore Management University's board of trustees, senior diplomat Bilahari Kausikan and former Civil Service head Peter Ho.
An IPS statement said Dr Cheong, 59, had introduced a new generation of public housing and large-scale sustainability initiatives for the development of HDB towns.
She also initiated the Smart HDB Town framework, which aims to leverage on smart technology to improve public housing. It was launched in September 2014.
An architect by training, she joined the HDB in 2010 after leaving the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) where she was the chief executive from 2004 to 2010.
While at the URA, she was also in charge of strategic land use planning, the conservation of built heritage and the real estate market, the IPS said.
She had also played a key role in planning and developing areas like Marina Bay, as well as the joint government project in China called Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco City.
