Ministry of Communications and Information

1°17′26.61″N 103°50′53.31″E / 1.2907250°N 103.8481417°E / 1.2907250; 103.8481417 The Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI; Malay: Kementerian Perhubungan dan Penerangan; Chinese: 通讯及新闻部; Tamil: தொடர்பு, தகவல் அமைச்சு) is a ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for overseeing the development of the infocomm technology, cyber security, media sectors, as well as the government's information and public communication policies. It is also responsible for maintaining the national library, national archives and public libraries.

History

On 5 June 1959, the Ministry of Culture came into being with the swearing-in and appointments of ministers of the new

1985 saw the dissolution of the Ministry of Culture. Its Information Division came under the new Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). Its arts promotion component was assimilated into the

Five years later, on 28 November 1990, the Information Division of the MCI and the Cultural Affairs Division of MCD, together with other associated departments and statutory boards, reunited to form the Ministry of Information and the Arts (MITA).

On 1 September 1991, the Festival of Arts Secretariat, Singapore Cultural Foundation, the Arts Division of MITA, and the National Theatre Trust merged to form the

On 1 October 1994, the Singapore Broadcasting Authority (SBA) was formed as a statutory board under MITA to oversee and promote the broadcasting industry in Singapore.

On 23 November 2001, the information and communications technology (ICT) functions under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology came under MITA. The expanded Ministry was renamed the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, but retained the acronym MITA. In that year,

On 1 January 2003, the Singapore Broadcasting Authority, Singapore Films Commission and Films and Publications Department (previously under the MITA headquarters) merged to form the Media Development Authority (MDA). On 13 August 2004, the Ministry's acronym was changed from "MITA" to "MICA".

On 1 November 2012, MICA was renamed the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). The move followed the restructuring of two previous ministries – MICA and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) – into MCI, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF). REACH (Reaching Everyone for Active Citizenry @ Home) was assimilated into MCI while the resilience, arts and heritage portfolios became part of MCCY. MCI now oversees the development of the information and communications technology, media and design sectors, public libraries, and the Government's information and public communication policies.^[2]

On 18 January 2016, MCI announced that the

The Ministry is headed by the Minister for Communications and Information, who is appointed as part of the Cabinet of Singapore. The incumbent minister is MP for Jalan Besar GRC Josephine Teo from the People's Action Party.

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Party		Cabinet
Minister for Culture (1959–1985)
	S. Rajaratnam MP for Kampong Glam (1915–2006)	5 June 1959	12 August 1965		PAP	Lee K. I
						Lee K. II
	Othman Wok MP for Pasir Panjang (1924–2017)	12 August 1965	15 April 1968		PAP
	Jek Yeun Thong MP for Queenstown (1930–2018)	16 April 1968	25 September 1977		PAP	Lee K. III
						Lee K. IV
						Lee K. V
	Ong Teng Cheong MP for Kim Keat (1936–2002) Interim	26 September 1977	6 January 1981		PAP
	S. Dhanabalan MP for Kallang (born 1937)	6 January 1981	1 January 1985		PAP	Lee K. VI
Minister for Social Affairs (1963–1985)
	Othman Wok MP for Pasir Panjang (1924–2017)	19 October 1963	30 June 1977		PAP	Lee K. V
	Toh Chin Chye MP for Rochore (1921–2012) Interim	1 July 1977	4 September 1977		PAP
	Ahmad Mattar MP for Brickworks (born 1940) Interim until 31 May 1984	5 September 1977	1 January 1985		PAP
						Lee K. VI
Minister for Communications (1968–1985)
	Yong Nyuk Lin MP for Geylang West (1918–2012)	16 April 1968	31 July 1975		PAP	Lee K. III
						Lee K. IV
	Lim Kim San MP for Cairnhill (1916–2006)	1 August 1975	30 June 1978		PAP
						Lee K. V
	Ong Teng Cheong MP for Kim Keat (1936–2002)	1 July 1978	8 May 1983		PAP
						Lee K. VI
	Ong Pang Boon MP for Telok Ayer (born 1929)	9 May 1983	6 September 1983		PAP
	Yeo Ning Hong MP for Kim Seng (born 1943) Interim until 31 May 1984	7 September 1983	1 January 1985		PAP
Minister for Communications and Information (1985–1990)
	Yeo Ning Hong MP for Kim Seng SMC (born 1943)	2 January 1985	27 November 1990		PAP	Lee K. VII
						Lee K. VIII
Minister for Information and the Arts (1990–2001)
	George Yeo MP for Aljunied GRC (born 1954) Interim until 30 June 1991	28 November 1990	2 June 1999		PAP	Goh I
						Goh II
						Goh III
	Lee Yock Suan MP for Cheng San GRC (born 1946)	3 June 1999	22 November 2001		PAP
Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (2001–2012)
	David Lim MP for Aljunied GRC Interim	23 November 2001	11 May 2003		PAP	Goh IV
	Lee Boon Yang MP for Jalan Besar GRC (born 1947)	12 May 2003	31 March 2009		PAP
						Lee H. I
						Lee H. II
	Lui Tuck Yew MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC (born 1961) Interim until 31 October 2010	1 April 2009	20 May 2011		PAP
	Yaacob Ibrahim MP for Moulmein–Kallang GRC (born 1955)	21 May 2011	31 October 2012		PAP	Lee H. III
Minister for Communications and Information (from 2012)
	Yaacob Ibrahim MP for Moulmein–Kallang GRC (until 2015) MP for Jalan Besar GRC (from 2015) (born 1955)	1 November 2012	30 April 2018		PAP	Lee H. III
						Lee H. IV
	S. Iswaran MP for West Coast GRC (born 1962)	1 May 2018	14 May 2021		PAP
						Lee H. V
	Josephine Teo MP for Jalan Besar GRC (born 1968)	15 May 2021	Incumbent		PAP

References