Highlights

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, […]

SINGAPORE: Diversity is both our heritage and strength in multicultural Singapore. Yet, while we pride ourselves on our ability to foster harmony amid adversity, instances of discrimination and racial insensitivity are bound to surface. Earlier this month, Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam delivered a statement in parliament in relation to the late Sergeant […]

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 […]

SINGAPORE: In his Budget statement on Friday (Feb 16), Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong announced higher Central Provident Fund (CPF) contribution rates for those aged 55 to 65 years by 1.5 percentage points, beginning in 2025. The current rates are 31 per cent for those aged 55 to 60 and 22 per […]

From 1984, to 1990, I was based in Washington DC, as Singapore’s Ambassador to the United States.  Soon after my arrival, someone from Gallaudet University contacted me. I must confess that I had never heard of the university. Gallaudet University is a private, federally chartered university, founded in 1864 for students who are deaf or […]

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 […]