section_path: Civil service career
section_name: Civil service career
paragraph_text: Civil service career
  
  Wong began his career as an economist working in the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) in August 1997. It was the beginning of the 1997 Asian financial crisis and his first assignment involved preparing a report on regional economies and their effects on Singapore. He described the experience by saying "nothing that I learned in school prepared me for such an assignment" and recounted having to learn on the job.
  
  Wong was posted to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) in January 2002 and then the Ministry of Health (MOH) in July 2004, where he served as Director of Healthcare Finance until May 2005. Wong served as the principal private secretary to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong between May 2005 and August 2008.
  
  In September 2008, Wong became deputy chief executive officer of the Energy Market Authority, rising to chief executive officer on 1 January 2009. He relinquished the role on 1 April 2011.