Transcription
I'd like to invite PM to begin with his opening remarks right away before we proceed with our dialogue. PM, thanks very much, Zakya. Uh, good evening everyone. Very good to be here. Many thanks to the press club for inviting me. I know it's a speaker series, but I'm not giving a speech. I don't even have a prepared text. I'll just say a few words in line with the team and then as uh Patrick said just now, I think it's better we open up for questions and have an interactive session.
We are in the midst of perhaps the most important transitions to the global order since the end of the cold war. I think all of us understand that the stability of the old order is fading but the new dispensation is not here yet. So it's a very messy transition one marked by immense flux and uncertainty. And this is not just a passing phase. The transition will take time, which means that it will shape the world as we know it over the coming years and perhaps even the next decade or longer.
During this period, geopolitical power, I think, will continue to become more distributed because the world is moving away from a system that is dominated by a single center of gravity to one that is more multipolar in nature. But not all polls are the same. The US remains a dominant power for the foreseeable future. China has risen to be a peer competitor to America. Europe remains a major force. India is rising rapidly and around the world you have middle powers all becoming more active be it individually or in various groupings including here in Southeast Asia ASEAN.
So it's a far more complex geopolitical environment and in such an environment we see more jostling for influence as well as more intense competition. Unfortunately countries are now more willing to use force and pressure to assert their own interests and to get what they want. Some of that contest spills over into actual conflict and sadly we do see more conflicts happening around us. But the contest is not confined to military battlefields. We see it playing out across many different domains in trade, in technology and in supply chains. We see this in the continued erosion of the rules-based global trading system and also the weaponization of potential uh choke points and vulnerabilities. So all in all we are in a world that's more dangerous, more fragmented and also more unpredictable.
Uh Singapore will have to find our own way forward in this new environment. Uh fortunately we are moving forward from a position of strength because we have built trusted institutions, deep capabilities and also a strong reputation developed over many decades. But we know we cannot stand still and we have to adapt, transform and change to stay relevant. And that's why we undertook a major review recently of our economic strategies. Uh the sense from the review is that our broad directions remain sound but as the world changes we too have to adjust and adapt and let me just share briefly three areas.
First, we have to sharpen our value proposition for the world because we do not take our place in this world for granted and so we have to continue to find ways to be relevant. Uh take semiconductors for example. Singapore today is a key node in the global semiconductor value chain. We supply 10% of global chips output and 20% of chips equipment production. That's considerable given how small we are. And it's an achievement made possible because we have invested steadily in this space and built up an entire ecosystem supported by R&D, talent, infrastructure and a very solid base of local suppliers. So we have to do the same in other areas and basically develop hard to replicate advantages and strengths in other areas in existing industries like finance, advanced manufacturing and logistics but also in key growth sectors like AI and quantum computing. Given our size and scale, we of course cannot do everything, but we have to be exceptional in the few things we do that matter to the world. So that's our first strategy.
Uh second, we are continuing to step up assurance and support for Singaporeans, especially in an era of rapid change. This is not new. We have been doing this consistently over the years and in recent years we have provided even more support through initiatives like forward Singapore and skills future. But going forward we do expect change to be faster and more frequent. And so we are thinking further in this term of government in the coming years of additional moves we can make to strengthen our support system for households, for families, for workers. Because ultimately our belief is that the best form of social protection for Singaporeans is to enable them to stay adaptable, capable, and employable throughout life.
Third, we are building more resilience. In the past, countries and companies alike operated on efficient just in time operations. Now, in today's world, everyone understands that resilience matters just as much as efficiency. And we've learned the lessons too from the COVID pandemic as well as the current disruptions in the Middle East. So, we are doing more and resilience cannot be built overnight. It cannot be improvised only during an emergency. You need to have it built from the outset. And again, this is not new. It's always been our approach. But given the state of the world, we believe we have to be much more deliberate in thinking about resilience in everything we do. So take energy as an example. Um, with the current crisis in the Middle East, we've been impacted, but we have been able to find a way to navigate through the crisis because of the strategic decisions we took decades ago. We have no oil and gas in Singapore. Yet we have been able to develop Singapore as an oil refining and trading center. We built Jurong Island as a energy and prochemicals hub. We built underground oil storage in Jurong Rock Cavens. And that enabled Singapore to plug ourselves into global energy flows. And so when the supply from the Persian Gulf was disrupted, companies here were able to quickly adapt and source for alternative supplies. That's a huge advantage for us. And we are not done yet. So in our next phase, we have to think further about how else can we strengthen energy resilience. It means thinking about the next phase of Jurong Island. what more we can do to be a more effective and relevant energy hub and increasingly our focus is not just about energy security but clean energy security and that's why next year we are embarking on uh an independent IAEA review of Singapore's feasibility to deploy civilian nuclear power.
So these are three broad areas where we are making strategic adjustments and it will translate into new policies and programs. But most important of all for Singapore to think about the next phase and to succeed in this next phase is our ability to maintain solidarity and unity. Uh, we cannot fully control how the world changes, but we can choose how we respond. And that response must come from Singaporeans ourselves. Today, we are a far more diverse society than ever before. People from different backgrounds with different aspirations and perspectives are here. And that diversity is a tremendous source of strength. At the same time, we must be able to pull people together, find common ground, and continue to forge consensus on on the key issues that matter to Singapore's future. So, even as the world changes, our greatest strength remains the same, and that's our ability to stay united and move forward together as one people. The world may become more fractured, but Singapore must become more cohesive, and that's how we continue to thrive and flourish in this next phase. Happy to take questions.
Thank you, Pia. If I may follow up a little on on some of the points you raised. Um I think one of the largest concerns uh for many whether it's individuals or businesses is the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and its impact on regional security and global energy flows. Um I think in April you raised the possibility of uh stagflation right but at the same time the recent numbers uh signal there's some dissonance 6% economic growth in the first quarter factory activity is still up in May although it was slowing um are there do they continue to be grounds for concern and what should we watch for in the months ahead?
We continue to be concerned. The first quarter growth was solid. We breathed a sigh of relief. I mean, it's good that it ended up better than we expected and it reflects the diversity and strength of our economy that we have diverse engines and so even if some are down others continue and we have been able to achieve good growth. But the outlook remains uncertain and and there are two reasons. One, we have not fully, there's a time lag, we have not felt the full effects of the crisis yet. For example, electricity price, the tariff today has not reflected the entire increase in oil prices. That will only be felt in the next quarter. So it's coming. That's one one reason. But the second reason is that globally, I think the global economy has been able to adapt better than most people expected. Take for example, the the the flows from the straits through the Straits of Hormuz that accounts for 20% of global oil supply. But the global economy today has not suffered a 20% loss. That's because of rerouting through the Red Sea and other sources. It's because of alternative supplies from other oil exporters. And it's also because of the drawing down of inventories. So these buffers have helped to cushion the impact up to now. How long will the disruption last though and how long will these buffers last? That's an open question. And then if the disruption, if the closure of the Hormuz Strait and the disruption continues for more months and the buffers start to dwindle, for example, inventories start to be drawn down, then surely at some point the impact on the global economy will be more severe and and then you may have more shortages and then you may have more impact on demand and then Singapore will definitely be impacted on the that's on the growth side. On inflation side, we also expect inflationary pressures to rise. As I mentioned, the electricity price is just one example. There's a lag. It will be coming soon. Uh, we have not also fully accounted for inflation in areas like fertilizer and food. So the there are downside risks and we do expect more pressures to come on both growth and inflation in the second half of the year.
It's quite sobering. I think uh one of the other areas that the ESR looked on looked at quite squarely was on um ensuring workers remain resilient in their careers. And one of the issues you know uh people are feeling is this sense that AI is going to have an impact on jobs. Um would you be able to elaborate a bit on the government's approach to helping workers master AI to stay ahead? Um, but also are there maybe two or three other pressing priorities that maybe people can think about coming together on and finding solutions to?
Sure. Well, first of all, you mentioned it's sobering. I I must say we don't start out by trying to give alarming information just because we want to, you know, get people to wake up to these harsh realities. We start out by providing as objective an outlook as we can. Sometimes and in fact many times we end up doing better than expected. That doesn't mean that we were wrong initially. It just means that we perform better than expected. That's something we should be proud of and that's something we should be happy about. I hope this year turns out the same way that our initial assessments turn out to be more pessimistic and then in the end our growth is better. But no one can tell. It's very uncertain and as as I said the risks are on the weighted on the downside. On AI, I think that's a big concern that many uh people have, particularly the impact on jobs. Uh I I would say this about AI and jobs. AI will definitely have an impact on the labor market. Tasks will be automated. There will be disruption for sure. But is what is very uncertain is overall what's the net impact on the labor market and will we end up with more jobs or fewer jobs at the end of the day in the longer term. Really, there is a lot of uncertainty here and we should have some humility in saying we do not know the answer. No one can predict what the future will be. I'm always reminded way back in 1930 the economist John Maynard Keynes wrote a letter to say his grandchildren because of technology will eventually have 15-hour work weeks. How many of you are working 15 hours a week? So this concern has been with us for a long time that technology will make us more productive and we all will end up with more leisure and less work. But you draw a straight line and you extrapolate from that and we always tend to underestimate the ability of humankind to create new opportunities to use our free time and our creativity to create new value and that's very unpredictable that no one can predict that. So I really don't know what will happen in the future with AI and jobs. No one knows. But what we can what we do know is that there will be disruption. Existing jobs, existing roles, existing tasks may be automated, processes will change. The disruption, the pace of change will accelerate and that's what we are concerned about in Singapore and that's why we are focusing on that aspect of AI helping companies to use AI well to improve their productivity and operations and then in turn helping workers to adapt, reskill, upskill uh to be able to take on better jobs even as the company transforms. And I think in Singapore we can do that. We are small enough. We have a strong tripartite partnership so we can guide the way AI is deployed in our country to make sure that it complements workers, to make sure that AI benefits workers and serves humanity, not the other way around. We will do that in Singapore. Uh and that's I think the other part about AI that we can have some certainty over which is we are not passive bystanders. We have agency. Ideally, of course, the world comes together and forms a framework for how AI is developed. In today's world, I think that's a tall order. Very hard for America, China, and the major powers to agree on such a framework in the near term. Realistically speaking, we should not rule that out. I think we should keep emphasizing that. And even in the recent meeting between the two leaders, President Trump and Presidency, AI safety was something that was talked about. So hopefully there will be opportunities for us going forward to develop such a framework globally for responsible and safe use of AI, which is critical not just for jobs but for a whole range of potential threats, cybersecurity, terrorism, many other things. I think that's essential, much needed. But where Singapore is concerned, while we try our best on the global front, within Singapore itself, we have agency and we will shape the use of AI in such a way that it is done responsibly, that it complements workers. Uh, we can do so through regulations. We can do so through our tripartite partnership and we can consider also how human decisions remain important, how humans are kept in the loop across the different areas and harness AI for the benefits of everyone in Singapore.
Uh, you ask about other areas. I I would say another important priority for us is on resilience as I mentioned just now. And when people talk about resilience, they often think about government policies, stockpiles, and infrastructure and all that. And all that is important, but resilience cannot be built from the top down alone. It also needs to come from the bottom up, from the ground up. And I think I do think in Singapore, Singaporeans are resilient people. You see that time and again whenever we have faced crisis in the past and most recently during COVID, where Singaporeans adapted, we made sacrifices, and we looked out for one another. Of course, ideally, resilience is built not just only in the times of crisis. It's also reflected in our everyday actions. And so whether it's AI, you want workers, you want individuals to take the initiative to pick up causes to learn how to use the tools. Well, when it comes to energy crisis and the disruptions we face, we hope that people will start to take the initiative to use energy more responsibly and efficiently. Um, to prepare themselves mentally for any potential disruptions down the road and also to look out for one another. And I think these are simple everyday actions that we can all take to become a more resilient people because at the end of the day, resilience is about the character of our people. It's about how we respond during difficult times.
Thanks, PM.
One last question for me as moderator before I open to the floor. Um, two years ago, PM, you spoke about a renewed social compact and a refreshed Singapore dream uh as pillars of what Singaporeans, you know, would like to see in our in our next phase. Um, now we've crossed SG60. What's your assessment of how far along we have come on these?
We've made progress. But these are things you can't achieve just in one or two years or even within a term of government. It's a it's an ongoing journey and a work in progress. And that's why I mentioned just now we will take further steps to strengthen our social compact to look at ways to further strengthen our social support system across a whole range of different areas for families, housing, education. Uh, these are things on our agenda for this term of government. But the social compact goes beyond policies and programs. It's really about upholding trust in our system. Trust that this system works, that everyone has a fair shot in life, that everyone can be assured of the basics in life here, and that if you ever have a setback, there will be support provided for you to recover and bounce back stronger. Trust that there will be opportunities for all to realize their potential and to be the best versions of themselves. And that trust is essential. That's what we are really trying to do. And part of that is also about um broadening our own attitudes and mindsets about what success means. Success cannot be just about following a single path or blindly following what others are doing. Success must mean, you know, encouraging every individual to discover their own strengths, to develop their strengths fully, and then use that to contribute to others in society. And I'm very encouraged when I meet young people that more of them are thinking that way, defining success on their own terms and contributing in their own ways. And I'm also very happy since we are here at the Singapore Press Club to say that our own media, every now and then I see more stories showcasing young people choosing their own paths and I'm glad that you are doing this. I would encourage you to continue doing so because by highlighting these role models, you will encourage and motivate more young people to chart their own path and build their own dreams.
Thanks. Be on that note um let me open the floor to uh the dialogue um and we'll structure it this way in two parts to better guide the discussion I guess um we'd like to invite questions on two broad topics and maybe for the first part we can raise questions about the current wider environment in Singapore's response um including on the ESR perhaps and then on the for the second part we can talk about some of the more domestic big challenges facing Singapore as well as um questions you might have on the media. Um are there any questions, initial questions? Uh and it'd be good if you could introduce yourself and your organization and also keep the questions short. Uh is that the gentleman in the middle Kayang? Yeah, there will be mics. Yeah.
Uh, good afternoon PM. Kayang from Leha Zawa. Uh, I have a question because we since we are looking at so many changes, you know, both external and internal, do you think the current cabinet structure structure is uh ready to tackle all these problems? Do do we foresee a change in in the reshuffling of the cabinet soon? Getting right to the meat of the issue.
And especially, you know, like it's it's been a year since the cabinet has been formed and we have recently had a reshuffle. So maybe a bit of your thoughts on on whether we need we will see a different cabinet coming up.
I thought Zak asked for external questions about the external environment. Launching right away into cabinet. Why don't we take one or two more?
Yeah, um Manu. Uh, good afternoon PM. Mano Subnani. I've been editor of two papers here, Business Times today, and now I I'm authoring a few books. Okay. My my question, you touched on AI. Um, I think AI is going to upend our lives. I mean, it's a revolution. So I I'd like you to in the sense of at least a vision. Um, I think, you know, it's it's more than it's more than just jobs. It's it's going to change the whole way we work and we live and so on. And I think on an even broader basis, I'd like you to try and tackle the question of are city-states like Singapore, are we better off in the AI uh age, you know, or are we worse off? Meaning for our not only for our growth but even survival. So the question of security, the question of uh, you know, livelihoods for the people and all that I think comes into play. So I'm just like you to think aloud on that if you can.
Sure.
Elaborate a bit on that. Yeah.
Yeah. Thank you.
Thank you. One more.
Okay. Should we take I saw the hand, the gentleman.
Thank you. Uh, Andrew Staples Fortune. Prime Minister. Thank you very much for your sharing your thoughts today. Um, next year Singapore will be celebrating its 62nd anniversary. ASEAN will be reaching 60, and Singapore will be chairing that group throughout the year. I wonder if you could share some thoughts on on what the priorities will be for the agenda. The three areas that you spoke of earlier on value proposition, resilience, support, and so on. Will that be informing your chairmanship of ASEAN next year? Thank you.
Sure. Thank you. Let me take these three and I'll start the other way around from the external then to the domestic on ASEAN. We take over as chair next year. We are thinking through what will be the key priority areas. Um, the points I mentioned about value proposition and relevance as well as resilience certainly are very important to ASEAN, but the two overriding themes that ASEAN has been working on are number one, deeper integration. Um, it's it's progressing. We are doing well on trade and investments, but there's still so much more that we can do to bring our economies together to make it really seamless for companies to interoperate across different ASEAN economies. Not just, you know, we are virtually tariff-free now, but there are still non-tariff barriers. There are regulatory uh restrictions. There are ways in which we can make things more seamless. So, and then we can also look at connectivity in other areas, not just in trade and investments or air connectivity, but people-to-people connectivity, digital connectivity, payments connectivity, transport connectivity, our power grid connectivity. So these are all areas that we are continuing to pursue and certainly will be one of the key focus for our agenda. I think across the board, ASEAN leaders are quite clear that we have to be more united in order to navigate this new global environment. Within you know, within ASEAN, we have a such a diverse range of economies, but individually we are just too small. But we have to stand together and ASEAN becomes a collective of 700 million people, a sizable economy, and then we have heft, we have influence, and we are better able to navigate the challenges around us. The second broad area that ASEAN continues to work on is partnerships because ASEAN cannot operate alone. ASEAN has always wanted a region that's open, that's inclusive, where we engage all the major partners, whether it's US, China, or for that matter, other major powers like Europe and others, or even emerging groups like GCC. So we want to maintain that regional order that's open, that's inclusive, and we want to find ways to strengthen links with other groupings, not just the traditional partners. So we've been looking at ways to strengthen the engagement with the EU, with Europeans, for example, with the GCC, for example. Uh, these are also areas on the agenda so that ASEAN can be even more relevant. We can uh strengthen cooperation with all these key partners and bring them together here in the region, and I think that also maximizes our chances for continued stability and prosperity in this part of the world.
Um, so that's on AI and the sort of the p broader perspectives on AI. I would say you're abs, I think it's a major plus for us. There are also risks that we have to manage, all the things I talked about earlier, not just jobs, but security, disinformation, you know, all sorts of things that we have to think about, not just ourselves but with the other other countries. But overall, we see this as uh positive because we can harness AI well to really transform processes and operations to become far more productive. And in a city like Singapore, where we are always labor short, you talk to companies and employers, they are always looking for people, and we cannot afford to you know, just keep importing labor. We need to be more productive. I think AI can be a game-changer. The key though is not just to you know, run AI chatbots and have a very superficial use of AI. The key is really to embed AI and start thinking about how it transforms processes across all organizations, and that will take time. I think we are still in a very early stage of this, and this is true across all um technology revolutions, whether it was electricity or the internet. At the start, everyone gets excited, very hyped up. It's all about just getting acquainted with the technology. But the actual transformation of companies and organizations, the development of new business models will take time, will take some years, and along the way, there will be hype, there will be some companies that fail, don't do it well, and then there will be successes. So we are going through that in in the AI revolution now, and and that's what we are trying to do in Singapore to get companies to take AI seriously and to really think about how they can transform themselves using AI. The public service is doing it already. So we are taking it very seriously. We're looking at how our own internal processes as well as processes that we have to serve customers, to serve Singaporeans can be improved with AI. And we're getting companies to do it, and we are supporting companies to undertake that journey. Um, so I think our for us, the value proposition and the the way for us to succeed and do well in AI is not so much for us to be a to be able to develop the biggest and best frontier models. That's not our competitive advantage. But as a small city to be uh AI application hub where AI models, AI AI applications can be tested, can be applied in real-life use cases and then can be scaled up further. Uh, we have formed the National AI Council to coordinate this work. We have started our meetings, and I think there are many interesting applications that uh we can can be considered involving companies that will apply their know-how and expertise into the various sectors. So we are looking at advanced manufacturing where there are very interesting use cases. Certainly in logistics, in our airport and seaports, as we automate further all of these operations, AI can be a tremendous game-changer and can really add to the competitive advantage of our air and seaports, and we will still need the people. So it's not about cutting back jobs. We will still need the manpower, but we can really enhance our throughput for for our airport and for our seaport. Uh, we are looking at applications in healthcare. Uh, we are looking at applications in finance. So in each of these areas, I think there are many potential exciting applications that will really improve lives, improve productivity, and eventually put Singapore on a much better and stronger position. Finally on cabinet, uh, the short answer is I'm always thinking about how to strengthen my team. It's never a finished product, and so it's, you know, I'm thinking about internally who else can be better deployed into different roles. I'm thinking about how I can bring in from the back benches new people. I'm thinking about recruiting for the next round as well. It's always on my mind, and when I have any updates, I'll be sure to share them with Singaporeans in due course.
Thanks, PM. Let's have the next round of questions. I think the lady in the middle, Irene, just hang on for a mic. Yeah.
Irene Ho, former journalist. Um, I would like to I'm very concerned about the latest uh information on those racist what do you call it stimulation. Um, what uh I have what are what are we doing besides um telling you know the social media companies to uh to can these people? What are we doing to ensure that the kinds of insidious arguments do not take root in Singapore?
Okay. Uh, I see another hand uh Yongme and then the gentleman at the back.
Prime Minister uh Yong from CMG. Uh, I have a question on uh geopolitics. Uh, we often hear about the emergence of a multi-polar world. However, one could also argue that uh while the world is multipolar, Asia is becoming increasingly unipolar uh with China acting as the region's most dominant economic and geopolitical center of gravity. Uh, how should Singapore navigate such a strategic environment and does it require us to rethink some of our assumptions about regional balance, economic integrations and foreign policy? Thank you.
Uh, third question at the back.
Hi, uh, Phil Hyman here from Bloomberg. Um, I got a twofer for for you. Once, um, you know, a foreign minister was recently in North Korea, and I'm curious to know more about the purpose of the trip, but also if it's time for the world to think differently about North Korean engagement. And the second question pertaining to the recent Trump she summit and you know we've seen how the US is able to use Taiwanese arms packages as a negotiating chip. Singapore is a big buyer of US weaponry. Is this something that gives you pause?
Thank you. And let's start with US China. I think the it was good that the two leaders met for the summit recently and from all accounts the meeting went well. It's important that they continue to be open lines of communication to reduce the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation. It doesn't mean that all the problems are resolved. In fact, there continue to be significant differences between the two countries. But increasingly both sides, I feel, will have to recognize that they have to coexist with one another. The two economies are just too deeply intertwined. It's not possible for either side to dominate or exclude the other, and any attempt by one party to make a move will trigger a significant response from the other side. So it's it's a new dynamic that we are in, and the two leaders talked about having constructive strategic stability as a framework for their bilateral relationship. I think that's positive going forward. It reminds me of what happened during the Cold War where people talked about MAD, mutually assured destruction. And perhaps now there is a similar dynamic happening, a different type of MAD, mutually assured disruption, because any attempt by one side to impose restrictions on another will trigger a response from the other side, and in the end, both parties will be worse off. So we hope that provides some stabilizing factor in the bilateral ties and an incentive for both sides to manage their differences well. For sure, there will be competition, even intense competition, but hopefully that competition will not escalate into outright confrontation or conflict. Um, it is in the interest of both America and China to maintain this strategic framework and to have that stability in their relationship. It's also in the interest of countries everywhere in the world. From Asia's point of view, we also don't want to see a world that is divided into competing spheres of influence where there's one sphere dominated by a single power here in Asia, another sphere in the western hemisphere, and then another sphere in Europe and so on. I think that arrangement and configuration will be unstable. It will lead only to more competition and rivalry and eventually may even lead to conflict. That's not our preferred arrangement. Uh, we would prefer, as I mentioned just now, a region in Asia that is open, inclusive, where countries in this region, certainly in Southeast Asia, can continue to engage all the major players, whether it's America or China or Europe, bring them together, find common ground, and advance uh areas of shared concern and cooperation. Um, that's, you know, that's not just Singapore's view, incidentally. That's also very much ASEAN's view and the view of all the other countries in Southeast Asia. So we have uh something called an ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific where we articulate this view that we do not want to see a region dominated by a single power. We do not want to see zero-sum competition here or to have exclusive commitments to any single party. ASEAN's view is to have an open, inclusive region where we can engage with all the major players, and I think, you know, while the world is given all that's happening around the world and the shifts in the balance, we still think that's possible because America continues to have significant interest in this part of the world, economic interest, security interest, strategic interest. We also do not believe that um, you know, there are some some who think that America is on the decline and it's going to withdraw and it and it will just pull back into its own hemisphere. Uh, we don't think that's happening. We think, you know, people have been predicting the decline of America for a long long time. I was a student in America when they all they said was Japan is going to take over the world. It has not happened. Uh, and time and again, America has defied the odds and it continues to be a dynamic and very innovative economy. And like I said just now, while they are while we are in a multipolar world, not all the poles are the same, and for the foreseeable future, America remains a dominant power in this multipolar configuration and it continues to have significant interest in this part of the world. So from our point of view, uh, if there is America, there is China, which is also a very important player and very key partner to all all countries in Southeast Asia with very significant and extensive trade and investment links with all the Southeast Asian countries. There are partners further afield like Europe, there's India, um, there's GCC. We want to have links with all of these players. We want to have an active multi-engagement approach towards bringing in all the key parties and having all of them have stakes in Southeast Asia. That's our approach.
Um, why did Minister Vivian go to North Korea? Because there was a standing invite from the DPRK to to visit as part of our, I think there was a milestone in our anniversary last year, and so there was a standing invitation. And our approach is quite simple. We want to be friends with everyone. We don't need to have enemies. We are friends with everyone. Doesn't mean that we agree with everything they do. We don't. But that should not stop us from having open lines of engagement and continuing to have friendship and continuing to have uh engagement with them. And and from their point of view, from the DPRK's point of view, I think they would see Singapore as um, a country that is in some ways trusted, different from us. They understand that we do not agree with everything they do, but they appreciate the relationship and the engagement. And that's one major reason why they agreed to have the summit here in Singapore between America and the DPRK. So that's that's our approach in foreign policy. We have a position, we articulate our national interest, but we continue to be friends with as many countries as possible. It's always better to have more friends than fewer, right? It is so for us as individuals. It is so for country as well.
Um, the question that Irene asked on disinformation and or of or the racist content that was put out uh and we had put a stop to it. That's very concerning. It's I mean, I would I would say that we are in an era where unfortunately it's, you know, it's we we are receiving all sorts of information now. It's it's really information overload, and AI and technology are also enabling the creation of more misinformation, disinformation, falsehoods, some of it very egregious, crosses the line uh, and some of it very, very real, and then people are caught up by it. Uh, so it's a new challenge for us, but not just Singapore, because this is not unique to Singapore. It's true everywhere in the world. Uh, we are alive to this. We are trying our best to stay alert, monitor, and if there's content like that that crosses the line, certainly we'll take actions as we have. Some of it is not as egregious. Some of it is just dis, you know, if it's falsehoods, we have we have also put in place relevant safeguards that allows us to take actions, including through POFMA and other measures. So we will have to deal with such an information environment. I mean, that's the reality. Unfortunately, uh, the like I said, it's not just Singapore alone. Every country is facing this problem, and we see in so many places where when it's harder and harder to differentiate between fact and fiction, or even to agree on a basic set of facts, then it's impossible to hold a society together. We don't want that to happen in Singapore, and that's why we will continue to step up our defenses and safeguards. But at the same time, it also depends on all of you coming together to build a trusted media ecosystem. We want media outlets to operate here in Singapore in a way that's trusted and responsible, where you inform citizens, you build trust, you create space for serious conversations and discourse on issues that matter to Singapore, and you ultimately help us contribute to Singapore's long-term success.
Thank you, PM. Uh, can I now invite uh next round of questions including on local issues or challenges and the media. Uh, I see a hand at the back.
Good evening Mr. Wong. Thank you for your sharing your uh insights with us. Um, I'm John, former journalist with CNA. Um, in the light of Singapore's worrying TFR 0.87, 87 as of last year. May I know how this might affect national development plans for the next 15 to 20 years? Will there be an updated population white paper with a new population planning parameter perhaps at 10 million or are we looking at a more
Perhaps at what? Sorry.
10 million.
How do we get to 10 million when the TFR is so low?
Well, you mentioned something about importing labor. Perhaps you could speak more about that. Or are we looking at a more stable population figure uh in the coming years as we near the original projected 6.9 million population figure? Uh, I mentioned I'm a former journalist and now with an environmental NGO. So I understand that this could be a very broad question that can be answered in many different ways. So perhaps could I uh use this as an opportunity to frame this uh answer as uh what's the prospect of uh using this opportunity to reimagine Singapore as a country with more protected green and blue spaces for conservation. I remember covering uh the uh very landmark occasion where in 2015 the Singapore Botanic Gardens was inscribed to the World Heritage uh um organization. So I'm wondering whether we could do more to push forward the vision of a city in Asia in Singapore.
Thank you.
Thank you. Uh, are there another round of questions? Um, gentleman in the front.
Um, good evening sir. Tarunio uh run a small communications firm in Singapore. Um, one of the questions I had was that uh two things here actually. A lot of our success um, you know, has been predicated and built around the adherence to the rule of law, right? Um, and, you know, for a small city-state like like us, you know, that's always been a source of security. But, you know, increasingly we see um certainly uh some of the bigger powers uh, you know, unilaterally uh doing what suits them um, so on and so forth, and I don't want to get any examples there. So do we see, for example, that becoming a significant factor moving forward? Do do we see it getting worse? Number one. Uh, number two, um, you know, truth and, you know, we've got uh some fantastic and respected journalists in the room here today that, you know, go to the newsroom every day, you know, trying to keep everybody accountable. But, you know, what we've seen in the last couple of years, you know, truth is the first casualty, and not necessarily on the battlefield. You know, do you see that getting worse uh in uh moving forward? Thank you.
Thank you. Other questions? Maybe the lady has been trying to get a question.
I appreciate it. Thank you, PM. Although I've been ignored by the other. So my name is Helena TR. I represent graces in life because I I like um I um I offer freedom. Yeah. Of expression. To tap on John's question, MOM reported um in 2025 that four out of five jobs went to non-residents. This is extremely concerning, right? Um, in the context of uh truth decay and technocratic um pressure, how are you concretely ensuring accountability, transparency and honest evaluation across your entire leadership team, including SBH so that Singaporeans can see not only outcomes but also how decisions are made, how whistleblowing and feedback are handled, and how mistakes are acknowledged and corrected. And how will you know beyond GDP, employment and productivity that our model of development, digital transformation and deployment truly starts from magnificent humanity, protecting the dignity and time of the weakest and most stretched, and not only showcasing the success of the already strong. Thank you so much. God bless you.
Thanks.
Thank you.
Um, okay, let's again start from the external and then come down to the domestic. Challenges to the rule of law and the erosion of rules internationally are a big concern for us. As I mentioned just now in my opening remarks, more and more you see countries prepared to use pressure and force to get what they want, disregarding rules and international law and getting away with it, doing so with impunity. It's of big concern for all of us, for especially for small countries like Singapore. Um, we don't have a lot of influence about how this is this will unfold. We'll try our best to um push back. I think it starts with a few things we can do, which we are already doing. Number one, we do need to reform existing institutions. Quite a number of them are not working well. Whether you talk about the WTO or other global institutions, reforms are needed, and there's ongoing work. It's slow. It's challenging, but we are part of that process and we will continue to push it along. Number two, um, we will work with other like-minded countries where who share our views, who share our perspectives, and we would like to work with them and form different coalitions, whether it's on trade, whether it's on climate change, or different aspects that of the global commons that needs to be addressed. And the coalitions may be different because there will be countries with different interests pursuing different areas, but I think we can find different groupings of countries to advance this work. For example, in trade, we are already doing that with countries um in the Future of Investments and Trade Partnership, FITP, small and medium-sized economies. We are doing that with countries that share our views on digital trade. We are doing that in the CPTPP, which is also looking at forging closer partnerships with the EU. That's on trade, but we can have the same conversation around climate change with another grouping of countries, on AI with yet another grouping of countries. So I think that's our best plan. Now, you know, what is the alternative? Otherwise, I I don't have an alternative to offer, but I think the best global strategy that we can do is number one, reform existing institutions. It's slow, it's painstaking, but we have to do it. Existing global institutions, and number two, adopt this approach of what I would call flexible multilateralism. Work with like-minded countries, plurilaterals, put in place rules where they matter across different domains, and hopefully the work that we are doing eventually forms the building block of a new architecture for the world when when it comes together. Um, it doesn't, I mean, it's may not be the ideal response, but I really, there's no alternative, and I think all of us will have to think hard about how we can um prevent this erosion, continued erosion of rules and steer global developments.
in a more positive direction. Um, truth being the casual. I, as I mentioned just now, it's we see this happening. We are worried about this. We see this in many other places. And that's why, again, we know the challenge of more misinformation, more disinformation spreading online. You know the old saying, it's the truth, truth doesn't travel. It's the falsehoods. It's the viral falsehoods that get more legs. And that's a challenge in societies everywhere. Um, and when it becomes so divisive and so polarizing, it's really very hard to hold a society together. And this is happening in many different places. We are very concerned about that.
And what we can do in Singapore is really to put in place safeguards for ourselves, defensive safeguards, but at the same time take steps to educate our own people, to boost our own immunity. Basically, it's a, you know, it's like dealing with the virus. This is endemic now. It's very hard to stop the virus. It's there. We, it's this is the reality for for everyone in the world. Um, so while we try and put up defenses and safeguards, I think we also have to take steps to educate our own people. Media literacy becomes important. Um, education for young people becomes important. Immunizing them, telling so that they from a very young age learn how to differentiate between facts and falsehoods becomes very important. And these are all things we are doing in Singapore.
Um, on the population and on on on fertility, well, it's I think we should have some humility. It's a global challenge. It's happening everywhere in the world. No one has the answers, uh, for now. It used to be that people thought this was, you know, declining birth rates was something that would happen, um, only when a country reaches a certain level of income. So it, it's you see that happening more with more affluent societies. But nowadays, you look around the world, even developing countries are having declining birth rates below replacement levels. It's a global phenomenon. No one really knows the reason why. There are many speculations, but it is happening all over all around us and no one has a solution too. Countries have tried. They have put in, some countries have put in a lot of resources to try and stop the decline and to encourage, uh, marriage and parenthood, but there has been no enduring success. The the ones that have, we've looked at all sorts of different examples. The countries that have done so temporarily may boost the birth rates, but then eventually it comes back down again. So we, this is the reality. We have not given up though. We are still trying. But I've encouraged my team, there's a task force, Minister Indrani is looking at this, to think about it in the following sense. Think about it less as procreation incentive and not it's less of a baby bonus in that sense, but just think of what more we can do to create a family-friendly environment in Singapore. Think of it more in that sense, right? Then then it's move away from the idea of create giving incentives for marriage and procreation, but think more about what are the moves we can make to really make life better for families in Singapore. Uh, for young parents, what are their concerns around costs, around infant care, child care, around education, around housing? Then we think about how we can improve these different aspects that matter to them. At the end of the day, after doing that, I may not get more babies, but it's still worth doing. So that's our approach. Try to make things better for families in Singapore because families are a key pillar of our society, and we want Singapore to be a place that's friendly and conducive for families to thrive and flourish. So they are hard at work. They are thinking about specific moves, and we will be, as I said, when when ready, be happy to share them.
Um, so given the realities of, um, you know, where our fertility rates are and are likely to be, um, we will remain open as a society. We must, because that's who we are. We should welcome people to work here. We should then have some of them who are who share our values and way of life to become Singaporeans, just as many of us, all of us, in fact, uh, trace our roots not just here, but trace our roots to countries further afield. So we should continue to maintain that posture as an open society, as an immigrant nation. But certainly, we will control the flows because we want to make sure that all new arrivals share our values and way of life, are able to integrate well here. So given that the immigration flows will continue to be controlled, given that our own fertility rates are not likely to go up in, and, you know, sharply, at best stable, then actually the population will be will not be, you know, we're not talking about very high figure at all. We're just talking about maintaining stability, and that's why it goes back to the earlier question about technology and AI. If we are not going to be able to have that many, you know, new new immigrants, new arrivals, that access to people, then all the more we need to harness technology well in order to do the things we want to do and to become more productive. And and so it's to me, it's not so much about articulating a new figure or what that figure might be, because even the old figure, we are a long, long way from getting there. The old figure was 6.9. We are far away from getting there. So there's no new figure to be updated because our population will just grow at a much slower rate than before, and we are just trying to maintain stability and to avoid population decline, right? And and so that's on the population side. And at the same time, as I said, create an environment that's conducive for families, um, whatever the figure in Singapore, whatever the figure, the population in figure in Singapore, we will always make sure that we have green and blue spaces. So that doesn't depend on what the population parameter is. We will always make sure that we are able to accommodate whatever that population is and have space for green and blue spaces in Singapore. Continue to strengthen our biodiversity, continue to strengthen and make Singapore a city in nature. So certainly, we're not, um, we'll continue to emphasize these, uh, different areas that you talked about on the environment.
Um, and then on the last point that was raised on, um, jobs and, um, going to non-residents and what it means for the report card. Well, I would say this. Don't just look at, um, job data in any given quarter because it will be up and down, but look at the overall labor market. Singaporeans who are able to access jobs, unemployment rates, incomes of Singaporeans, and whether or not at all levels, not just at the top, not even at the median, but even at the lower income. Look across the entire society and see in the end of the day whether or not Singaporeans are indeed having a better life. And we put out a lot of data. We continue to put out more data if requested so that everyone can get a good picture, a good comprehensive picture of all that's happening in work across the labor market and across households. And at the end of the day, in Singapore, we have elections, we have a report card, and Singaporeans will decide whether or not this government has done a good job or not done a good job. And that's how our system has been. And our job, our mission, my mission, and the the work of me and my team is to make sure that we do well and deliver a good outcome for Singaporeans. And that outcome certainly is not limited to economic success alone. That outcome is very much about dignity, is very much about everyone being able to pursue a better life. As I mentioned just now, being able to be the best version of themselves in all the different aspects of humanity. And in every, in our system of democracy, we have a strong and decisive government, but it is always held to account. We at the end of the day show to Singaporeans what we have achieved, and Singaporeans decide which government they want to serve them. That's how Singapore works, and that's how Singapore has continued to succeed all these years. Thank you, PM. On that note, I'm reminded that we've about to run out of time, but perhaps if I may invite PM to give us your final thoughts in a minute or two.
>> All right. I thought those were final thoughts already. Uh, well, I've enjoyed the conversation with all of you. Thank you for your questions. As I said just now, um, it is a more challenging global environment. Uh, more ch more things to navigate. Um, but I take comfort in this that, um, every generation in Singapore faces its own share of challenges and uncertainties, and no one knows how things will unfold. It's always uncertain, but each generation has found its way forward. And so the task for us is the same, to be able to keep going and find our way forward now amidst new challenges, especially globally and in our external environment. We have always said that, uh, Singapore is an improbable nation. We have been, and we will continue to be. So to me, what's important for all of us in Singapore, even we may have differences, as I said, we are a very diverse society, different views, but the key challenge for me, but not just me and my team, but the key ch the key mission for all of us in Singapore is to keep this miracle of Singapore going for as long as we can. And if we are successful, then Singapore will not just be a prosperous country, but a country that is more fair and just, and more cohesive and united. And long may that continue.
>> On that note, thank you, PM.