With new risks arising for small states, a key lesson is an attitude rather than a policy: small states survive by being responsible, dependable, and willing to collaborate broadly.

“A picture is worth a thousand words”, but in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the picture may not be worth anything at all, or worse, it may be worth a thousand lies. A deepfake is an AI-generated image, video or audio that convincingly depicts people doing or saying things they never did. For a high-trust, hyper-connected society, social cohesion is both a point of national pride and political necessity. However, the rise of malicious deepfakes threatens this very social fabric that Singapore spent decades building.

Administrative reform is never merely a technical exercise. The bureaucratic structure of a state constitutes its institutional load-bearing system, shaping how authority is exercised, resources are allocated and public value is delivered. Altering this structure is akin to removing the central columns of a skyscraper: while the promise is a leaner and more open design, the remaining foundations must instantaneously absorb immense pressure to prevent institutional failure.

Expert urges caution when turbulence is mistaken for transformation