A LESS PREDICTABLE ENVIRONMENT
Among the immediate pressures the new government will face is to handle the uncertainties of the tariffs imposed by the United States, the ongoing US-China trade war, and the tensions resulting from heightened US-China competition.
Given Singapore’s small size, openness, and indeed dependence on the external environment for its prosperity and security, the country is particularly susceptible to broader shifts and shocks in the world.
The PAP’s 4G leaders are highly competent and experienced in operating within a globalised and perhaps less contentious environment. Most of those at the senior minister of state and minister of state level have served in similar roles in the previous administration, despite the fact they have all taken on new portfolios except Murali Pillai.
Even among the newly anointed, Mr Siow and Mr Neo respectively have recent experience in senior roles in the civil service and the Singapore Armed Forces. Three have parliamentary experience, with two backbencher MPs in Desmond Choo and Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim and one former Nominated MP Syed Harun Alhabsyi. The remaining four – Dinesh Vasu Dash, Jasmine Lau, Goh Pei Ming and Goh Hanyan – left senior public service positions not long before standing in GE2025.
Whether the 4G can perform as well in a more contested, less predictable environment where openness to economic exchange and cooperation are treated more suspiciously remains an open question right now.
As the warning to investors goes: past performance is no guarantee of future return.
