May 15, 2024, the date Singapore’s fourth prime minister took over the reins of government, will be one for the history books. But what will this mean for Singaporeans? Perhaps nothing momentous, since Singapore’s calling card to the world has been political stability. In fact, our political leadership probably hopes that this handover is as […]

Which country has greater influence in South-east Asia – China or the US? The answer to the question is not as straightforward as the question suggests. If we are to rely on surveys, the answer can hinge on the choice of participants and also the nature of influence we are talking about. Influence is also […]

A wise man once said that countries have no permanent friends and no permanent enemies, only permanent interests.  This wisdom will help to explain the four historical phases of US-China relations. From 1949 to 1972, the two countries were enemies.  They had no diplomatic relations.  Their armed forces clashed in Korea during the Korean War.  […]

Singapore has emerged consistently as a top International Maritime Centre, according to the Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development (ISCD) Index, despite huge industry shifts since the advent of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). As the shipping industry continues to evolve, Mr Tan Chong Meng used the metaphor of a spacecraft landing in a particular orbit […]

Amid recent disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions, there has been a growing interest in supply chain management. In the first of three lectures at the Institute of Policy Studies’ (IPS) 14th IPS-Nathan Lecture Series on “Exploring Global Trade and Singapore’s Place as a World Connector”, Mr Tan Chong Meng, former Group CEO […]

Concerns have sparked regarding what schools in Singapore are teaching students about the Israel-Hamas conflict. Some have expressed gripes on social media that stem particularly from the Ministry of Education’s supposed stance of neutrality. Education Minister Chan Chun Sing on Feb 26 pointed out that lessons related to the conflict are designed primarily to help […]

SINGAPORE: Sometimes I find myself wishing I was raising my kids in an earlier era. No, this is not a sop to simpler times gone by – with more gendered social scripts and much greater poverty. But, I wonder if there are ideas from the past we can revive and combine with our modern nous, […]

With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Cold War was over. The end of the era gave birth to two famous books in America: The End Of History by political scientist Francis Fukuyama in 1992 and The Clash Of Civilizations And The Remaking […]

SINGAPORE: Rising costs of transportation, utilities and other expenses have placed considerable financial burdens on Singaporeans. Further enhancements to the Assurance Package were recently announced in Budget 2024, which will go towards helping Singaporeans with cost-of-living concerns and prevailing economic uncertainties, especially for low- and middle-income households. Augmenting near-term financial relief, the SkillsFuture top-up and […]

As you can see, the theme of Singapore Perspective 2024 is “Youth”. I had suggested to the team that nobody above the age of 35 — including me — should be speaking at this year’s conference. “Don’t trust anyone over 30,” that is what the young used to say in the 1960s. Growing up in […]

Post-pandemic ASEAN has emerged as a global FDI hotspot, fuelled by resilient supply chains and competition between the US and China. But this boom brings potential conflict, and increased scrutiny of foreign investments is needed to manage national security concerns. Singapore’s proposed Significant Investments Review Bill (SIRB) offers a model for screening foreign investment in critical […]

It is fashionable among academics and pundits to talk about America’s decline, which some speculate has brought the global order on the verge of falling apart.  “The global order that underpins international affairs today is by no means perfect,” said S R Nathan Fellow Professor Joseph Liow on November 1. “But it has brought about […]