Singapore’s Lawrence Wong vows to keep city state ‘exceptional’

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong mapped out his vision for the city state on Sunday in his first National Day Rally since his ruling party won the general election in May, promising to expand on a cross-border economic initiative and inject new life to northern towns.

Noting that the country was at a critical juncture after marking its 60th year of independence on August 9, Wong outlined long-term policy plans to “take charge of our own destiny” in an era of global uncertainty with international trust waning, nations prioritising self-interest and a United States in retreat.

“We are not going to sit back and resign ourselves to being mere bystanders in a world shaped by others,” Wong said, addressing his Cabinet colleagues and members of the establishment and grassroots in the Singapore equivalent of a state of the union address.

“We take pride in whatever we do, and strive to be the best possible versions of ourselves […] That’s how we’ve achieved exceptional performance. That’s how we will continue to stay exceptional – as a people and a country,” Wong added.

The US had imposed a baseline 10 per cent tariff rate on Singapore, but Wong said this gave little comfort since no one knew if or when the US would raise the baseline or set higher tariffs on specific industries.