Singapore to join Operation Prosperity Guardian to ensure maritime security in the Red Sea: Ng Eng Hen
In Parliament (9 Jan 2024), Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen announced that Singapore would participate in a multinational operation to ensure maritime security in the Red Sea. The Red Sea, which connects the Suez Canal and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, is the shortest sea route linking Asia and Europe. It is a major Sea Line […]
In trying to avoid the European tragedy in southeast Asia, it is entirely legitimate to consider all views: Vivian Balakrishnan
Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said in Parliament (8 May 2023) that the statements made by Law Minister K Shanmugam on the Ukraine war in a keynote address at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute Workshop (8 March 2023) reflects the views of the Government of Singapore. The Government’s position has not changed, Dr Vivian said. […]
Labour Day Special: On May Day, others strike, Singapore celebrates
If you have been following international news, you would have heard of the recent strikes in the UK where tens of thousands of doctors, teachers, civil servants, lecturers, London Underground drivers, and Amazon workers took part in. Or the strike by South Korean truckers estimated to have cost more than $1.6 billion in lost shipments. […]
Bilingualism enables us to share, appreciate and bring together different perspectives: Heng Swee Keat
Bilingualism is one of Singapore’s most fundamental policies, DPM Heng Swee Keat said. Speaking at the Opening of the Bilingualism Carnival on 8 April 2023, Mr Heng said language is a key medium for values to be passed on from one generation to the next. Our mother tongue connects us to our values, culture, and […]
The importance of political stability and why it matters.
Pakatan Harapan (“HARAPAN”) is known as the Alliance of Hope for Malaysia. In 2015, the Pakatan Rakyat coalition was replaced by the political centre-left alliance HARAPAN, initially led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad (“Dr Mahathir”). HARAPAN’s victory in the Malaysian general election in 2018 overthrew the 60-year-old Barisan Nasional coalition government. Among the activists in Singapore […]
There’s never a good time to raise GST but let’s do right by our fellow Singaporeans
Is there ever a good time to raise GST? Truth is no one likes to pay taxes. This is why people will find every reason to justify why ‘now’ is not a good time to raise GST. So there will never be a good or right time to raise GST. The pandemic was though. Had […]
Why in the first place was the PPP approach adopted for SportsHub and why terminate now?
It’s easy to criticise and ask why in the first place did the government choose Public Private Partnership. But we are looking back at a decision made some 20 years ago with the capabilities and expertise that we now have today, that we did not have 20 years ago. We need to understand that the […]
US-China relations: consequences from misses and accidents can happen and will be difficult to manage, says Lawrence Wong
The trajectory of the US-China relationship is very worrying, says DPM Lawrence Wong. Clearly, the relationship is entering more dangerous terriroty. The relationship was already strained before the Russia-Ukraine war. With the recent visit by Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, tensions have gone up by one notch, Mr Wong said in an interview with Bloomberg News […]
Possible for countries to have relations with US and China and to work with both: PM Lee
At the 27th International Conference on the Future of Asia on Thursday, 26 May 2022, PM Lee was asked by Shigesaburo Okumura, Editor-in-chief of The Nikkei Asia how Singapore was going to build relations with the two major powers – US and China – in terms of economy, diplomacy and security? The editor-in-chief noted that […]
Indranee to Jamus: What matters is having wealth tax policies that work in each jurisdiction
Let’s be clear at the outset that the Singapore Government is not opposed to taxing wealth. Speaking in Parliament, Second Minister for Finance Indranee Rajah said that the Government is constantly looking for ways to be able to supplement our revenue but to do that in a way that strikes the right balance. The Minister […]