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Straits Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Young Singaporeans must think beyond our shores
The future will be determined by those who can think globally and act locally, contributing to the global movement for change. PHOTO: ST FILE In his recent S. Rajaratnam Lecture, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong spoke of an increasingly turbulent world. 'The once-rising tide of global cooperation that defined the past decades is giving way to one of growing competition and distrust. As a result, the world is becoming more fragmented and disorderly,' he said. Check out the Headstart chatbot for answers to your questions on careers and work trends.
Business Times
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Times
Not insular politics but glocal
MANY recent elections across the world swung against incumbents, with votes turning on national issues. The longstanding adage is that all politics is local. Results from Singapore's general elections held in May however challenge both those expectations. Not only was the incumbent People's Action Party (PAP) returned to power with an increased popular vote. Global issues too played a significant role, with particular focus on 'Liberation Day' tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. Trade, investment and market sentiments across the world have since been affected, and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong effectively focused on the emerging impacts on Singapore. He did this early when delivering the S Rajaratnam Lecture the day after Parliament dissolved in anticipation of the election, and raised the issues again in the May Day Rally, just before cooling-off day and voting. More than non-Trump Voters in Canada and Australia had similar concerns too, and voted for alternatives to Trump-like figures and policies. But the Singapore result was not simply a reaction against the controversial American president. PM Wong – leading the PAP in electioneering for the first time – sought to convince Singapore that there would be direct and profound impacts. Building on observations shared early in the year by Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, the analysis is that the current global order is changing, and experienced and steady hands are needed. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Both PM Wong and his deputy, Gan Kim Yong, were key figures during the global pandemic, regularly briefing Singaporeans about the situation. Trust was built from those circumstances, and emerging global conditions have given this a premium. The Wong government quickly showed commitment by setting up a new task force to help those impacted by global trade dislocations. Add to this the generous 2025 budget. This provided evidence that government assistance would go beyond words, to deliver support and funding. In the S Rajaratnam lecture, the prime minister called on Singaporeans not to have an 'island mentality', insular in attitude, but to connect to broader issues and to each other, and remain open. Voters seem to have responded positively. Local-level action speaks louder This is not to say that local issues were left aside. Inflation, housing and jobs were consistently and strongly raised by the opposition. This was across the board, whether by the Workers' Party (WP) – that maintained its 10 elected seats and picked up two non-constituency seats – or other parties who failed to win any. Yet while these domestic issues were repeatedly raised, the PAP chose how best to respond. Campaigning in West Coast, for example, Progress Singapore Party's Leong Mun Wai was rebuffed when he challenged incumbent minister Desmond Lee and the PAP to a debate. Instead, in most constituencies, the PAP favoured on-ground efforts, to re-emphasise their attentive presence and practical offers to help. They largely avoided speechifying, and canvassed broader issues at rallies and TV, mainly by PM Wong speaking at centralised, national platforms. The result was a balance. Local and insular issues did not dominate, while global concerns were not abstract. Rather, the politics that mattered in the elections combined aspects of both and, to borrow a phrase, could be considered, 'glocal'. The WP stance was not dissimilar. Emerging as the sole opposition party with any seat in the next Parliament, they largely agree on foreign policy and campaigned on the fact that they have experience in running constituencies. Controversies that did not bite Anticipated controversies, in contrast, did not bite. These included recent cases that embroiled political office holders in corruption and inappropriate relationships. Even longstanding disputes aired by Lee Hsien Yang, the younger son of founding PM Lee Kuan Yew, and published in The New York Times were greeted by most with a raised eyebrow and shrug. Many feel these have received more than enough air time. There were also global issues that did not strongly feature in campaigning. One was the humanitarian concern over Gaza. While Singaporeans do care about the situation there, there was an appeal to ensure that issues abroad would not be used to divide Singaporeans. Another issue was when two Malaysian opposition politicians and an ex-Singaporean and self-styled Muslim preacher encouraged voting along religious lines. PM Wong intervened on the basis that such online messaging amounted to foreign interference and crossed the line against mixing religion and politics. He called on all parties to agree that this was unacceptable. WP chief Pritam Singh was quick to publicly deny that his party's agenda had been influenced. Other factors no doubt played a role in the result. These include giveaways in the Budget, the likeability of the new PM, and the generally positive tone in campaigning. The campaign notably eschewed and called out personal attacks. But the global turmoil and connections to the local and national issues were standout factors that made a difference. The result is a strong popular mandate for PM Wong and his team that will support the Wong government in the international arena. What major powers do remains beyond Singapore's control. An island in a turbulent world will always be vulnerable. But resilience bears emphasis. This does not mean controlling what happens. Resilience focuses instead on how we respond. That Singaporeans responded with 'glocal' awareness is good news, and not just for the vote. If citizens give attention to both global concerns and to what is in their personal interests and Singapore's, our country will be more resilient and united in facing the challenges ahead. The writer is chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs
Business Times
28-04-2025
- Business
- Business Times
As tariffs bite into margins, AI investments must deliver
ON APR 2, the United States announced a broad-based 10 per cent baseline tariff on all imports, in addition to 'reciprocal tariffs' on a few dozen countries, as part of its latest trade measures. The policy is applied uniformly across trading partners – including longstanding economic partners like Singapore, with whom the US runs a trade surplus. For Singapore, built on the principles of free trade, this marks a significant inflection point. As Prime Minister Lawrence Wong warned in his recent S Rajaratnam Lecture: 'The global order we took for granted is fraying, and the risks of fragmentation and disorder are growing.' For small, open economies like Singapore, this development poses existential risks. Yet it's precisely in this moment of global fragility that Singapore must respond with clarity and conviction – not least in the technological and digital infrastructure we've built, the talent we've nurtured, and the transformation model we've pursued. Keeping faith in AI investments As artificial-intelligence funding accelerates across the region, the focus is shifting from ambition to execution – where returns on infrastructure, talent and tools must now be proven in real business terms. Singapore has committed over S$1 billion from 2024 to 2029 under its National AI Strategy 2.0, including up to S$500 million for advanced chips and compute infrastructure, S$150 million for enterprise AI adoption, and S$120 million for AI-driven scientific research. More than S$20 million will also go towards scholarships and training to triple the national AI talent pool to over 15,000 practitioners. These investments must now pay off, in productivity, efficiency and margin resilience. Across Asia-Pacific, businesses implementing AI and automation are expected to achieve 20 to 30 per cent reductions in operational costs and over 40 per cent gains in efficiency. Deloitte's Global Intelligent Automation survey found that organisations that advanced their automation efforts reported average cost savings of 32 per cent. Forrester highlights that AI-powered automation can reduce operational costs by up to 30 per cent, particularly by optimising workflows and reducing human error. And 72 per cent of data and IT leaders surveyed in the Dataiku 2025 GenAI Trends Report declared positive returns on investment from their generative AI projects. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Amid the tariff uncertainty, every percentage point in enterprise savings and efficiency counts. Doubling down on Singapore's AI future In Singapore, AI-readiness is the result of years of sustained investment, forward-looking policy, and strong public-private collaboration. Global firms such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft are deepening their presence through long-term investments – part of the S$13.5 billion in overall commitments made in 2024 alone, reflecting strong confidence in Singapore's digital infrastructure and talent base. For instance, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced a S$12 billion investment in Singapore's cloud infrastructure through 2028. Alongside this, AWS launched AI Spring Singapore, a flagship collaboration with government and industry aligned to National AI Strategy 2.0, aiming to train 5,000 individuals in AI annually from 2024 to 2026. AWS is not alone. Universal AI Platform Dataiku, which has established its regional headquarters in Singapore, powers blue-chip organisations across the region – including Standard Chartered, Maybank, Auckland Transport and Security Bank in the Philippines. Beyond commercial success, Dataiku has supported Nanyang Technological University's pioneering Early Alert for Learning Intervention project, which achieved over 70 per cent accuracy in identifying students who genuinely needed help – improving retention and academic outcomes. In other words, global AI leaders continue to bet on Singapore as a trusted digital node in a fracturing world. Now, a new frontier is coming into focus: Agentic AI. Agentic AI as digital backbone AI is no longer just a tool waiting for instructions – Agentic AI marks the emergence of systems that act with purpose, autonomy and impact. Unlike traditional AI systems that wait for human prompts, Agentic AI refers to autonomous systems that make decisions, take actions and adapt in real time to achieve defined goals. Picture intelligent agents that don't just detect financial anomalies but launch mitigation steps, or healthcare systems that not only identify at-risk patients but automatically schedule interventions, adjust treatment protocols and coordinate with care teams. This shift from passive tools to active, goal-oriented systems signals a profound change in how organisations will operate with greater efficiency and effect. Yet with autonomy comes complexity. As agents proliferate across business functions, organisations face mounting governance and security risks. Models evolve rapidly, costs are difficult to monitor, and without oversight, enterprises risk compliance gaps, technical debt and uncontrolled access to data. IT teams are increasingly caught between building their own guardrails, locking into single vendors or permitting open exploration – each with risks to scale and control. To become a true digital backbone, Agentic AI must be deployed with governance at its core. This means centralising agent creation, ensuring rigorous oversight, and embedding tools for continuous performance and cost monitoring from the outset. Globally, pilot programmes in healthcare, finance and education already report up to 40 per cent efficiency gains and 30 to 50 per cent time savings in administrative functions. Unsurprisingly, the Agentic AI market in Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at a staggering compound annual rate of almost 50 per cent, surpassing S$10 billion by 2030. In Singapore, demographic shifts are accelerating. In fact, one in four citizens will be 65 years of age and above by 2030, and the old-age support ratio will fall from 3.7 today to just 2.7. This means Agentic AI is not just an opportunity but a necessity. As labour-driven growth comes under increasing strain, there is a growing imperative for technologies that can enhance productivity and service quality without adding to headcount pressures. Agentic AI isn't just the next frontier in automation – it's the operating layer for a more resilient, efficient and adaptive enterprise. Over 60 years, Singapore has weathered crisis after crisis, emerging stronger each time through foresight, unity and skill. As the rules-based global order frays, this is not the time to retreat, but to double down on the digital foundations that have been laid. And in tech's next chapter, Agentic AI stands out as an enabler of national resilience, relevance and reach in a more uncertain world. The writer is senior vice-president and general manager of Asia Pacific & Japan for Dataiku
