With a major Cabinet reshuffle on the cards early next year, 2018 could turn out be one of the most significant years in Singapore’s political history, and set the stage for the decades ahead — should Singaporeans and the world at large get the clearest indication of who will succeed PM Lee Hsien Loong as the Republic’s fourth Prime Minister.

In the eyes of political observers, the list of potential successors has narrowed over the past two GEs in 2011 and 2015 to just three: Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing and Education Minister (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung.

Assoc Prof Alan Chong from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies felt Mr Heng would be the successor, given the high profile portfolios and ad hoc assignments which he has been handed so far. “As chair of the Future Economy Council, Mr Heng needs to have a good grasp of how all of Singapore works. He has to have a sense of entirety of the country,” said Assoc Prof Chong, who also noted that Mr Heng was the first among the fourth generation leaders to be made a full minister, right after the 2011 GE.