section_path: Early life and education
section_name: Early life and education
paragraph_text: Early life and education
  
  Wong was born to a Hainanese family on 18 December 1972, in the eastern part of Singapore. Growing up, Wong and his family lived in a public Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat in Marine Parade. Wong's father, who was born in Hainan and later moved to Malaya and finally to Singapore, had worked as a sales executive while his mother was a teacher at his primary school. As a child, his father gave him a guitar, and he developed a love for music.
  
  Wong attended Haig Boys' Primary School, Tanjong Katong Technical School (now Tanjong Katong Secondary and Primary Schools), and Victoria Junior College before going to university in the United States. Wong received a Bachelor of Science with a major in economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1994 under the Public Service Commission scholarship. He received a Master of Arts in applied economics from the University of Michigan in 1995 and a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University in 2004.