Bless each leader by name. May they continue to lead decisively with clear-eyed realism (DPM Heng Swee Keat). Speak God’s life-giving words and shalom:

• Proverbs 21:1
  The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will.
• Proverbs 8:14-16
  Counsel and sound judgment are Mine; I have insight, I have power. By Me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just; by Me princes govern, and nobles – all who rule on earth.
• Proverbs 16:12-13
  Kings detest wrongdoing, for a throne is established through righteousness. Kings take pleasure in honest lips; they value the one who speaks what is right.
• James 3:17
  The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

Mdm Halimah Yacob, President

Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister

Mr Teo Chee Hean, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies

Mr Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance

Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for Transport

Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Defence

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs

Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law

Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Health

Mr S Iswaran, Minister for Communications  and Information

Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien, Minister for Culture, Community, and Youth, Leader of the House

Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Trade & Industry

Mr Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development and 2^nd Minister for Finance

Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for the Environment & Water Resources 

Mr Ng Chee Meng, Minister, Prime Minister’s Office

Mr Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Education

Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Manpower and 2^nd Minister for Home Affairs

Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for Social and Family Development and 2^nd Minister for National Development

Ms Indranee Rajah, Minister, Prime Minister’s Office,  2^nd Minister for Finance and 2^nd Minister for Education

This National Day, it is good, it is right, and it is pleasing to God that we pray for DPM Heng Swee Keat, the man chosen to lead the Fourth Generation Team as a first among equals. Thank God for preparing Mr Heng so well these many years:

• Mr Heng Swee Keat is Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister for Finance and Member of Parliament for Tampines GRC.
   
  The Ministry of Finance manages the national budget, oversees corporate governance regulations, and supervises the prudent investment and utilisation of public funds and government reserves.
   
  Mr Heng co-chaired the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE), which charted the strategies for Singapore’s next phase of growth. He chairs the tripartite Future Economy Council, which oversees the implementation of national strategies in areas such as skills and capabilities development, innovation and productivity, and industry transformation.
   
  He is also the Chairman of the National Research Foundation, which sets the direction for Singapore’s research, innovation and enterprise strategies.
   
  Before this, Mr Heng served as Minister for Education from 2011 to 2015. He drove programmes for a student-centric, values-driven education system, emphasising the holistic development of students and multiple educational pathways.
   
  While at MOE, Mr Heng also led Our Singapore Conversation, a national consultation exercise that reached out to close to 50,000 Singaporeans on their aspirations for Singapore’s future.
   
  In 2015, he chaired the Singapore 50 (SG50) Steering Committee leading the celebrations for Singapore’s Golden Jubilee.
   
  Prior to entering politics in May 2011, Mr Heng was the Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), where he received the Central Bank Governor of the Year in Asia-Pacific Award by the British magazine The Banker.
   
  He has served in various other public service positions, including appointments in the Singapore Police Force, as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, as the Chief Executive Officer of the Trade Development Board, and as the Principal Private Secretary to then-Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew from 1997 to 2000.
   
  In 2001, Mr Heng was awarded the Gold Medal in Public Administration, and the Meritorious Medal in 2010 for his contribution to the public service in Singapore.
   
  Mr Heng has an MA in Economics from Cambridge University. He also holds a Masters in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
  (Source: www.pmo.gov.sg)

Read the devotional from Day 39, August 8: Living rock here.