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Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘We are not at war, but neither are we at peace': Chan Chun Sing
SINGAPORE – Singapore has to raise its vigilance in various places given the conflicts around the world, as it is unclear if it could become 'collateral in other people's fight', said Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing. He noted that the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is dealing with a range of threats and challenges daily across all four of its services. 'Today, we are not at war in the conventional sense, neither are we at peace in the conventional sense,' he told reporters in an interview on June 25. 'We are always operating somewhere in between, with different gradations. And that's what keeps us on our toes.' Mr Chan cited how the Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS) and other government agencies deal with thousands of attempts to penetrate Singapore's cyber systems every day, without naming those behind these attacks. 'Sometimes it could be just people fooling around, but often, I think people are doing this very intentionally and probably with malicious intent,' he said. It is a round-the-clock operation to protect Singapore's cyber domain, he added, noting that a breach could mean not just a hit to the country's reputation or the loss of some classified information, but real consequences for its power grid and financial and water systems. There are also constant efforts to secure Singapore's airspace and territorial waters. Mr Chan said the air force responds to hundreds of cases every year, some requiring air defence assets to be scrambled to verify unknown threats. 'For the navy, it is the same thing,' said Mr Chan, who was chief of army before entering politics. 'The number of ships that sail through the narrow Singapore Strait, the number of boardings that we have to (do to) check and verify to make sure that the strait remains safe from threat actors, that goes into the hundreds as well and, in fact, sometimes the thousands.' In the information sphere, people are constantly trying to shape how Singaporeans think – another threat the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) counters daily, he said. 'The type of information operations that people conduct, perhaps directly on us and sometimes indirectly on us, where we are the collateral, is also not something that we will take lightly.' Mr Chan spoke to the media at Mindef's headquarters in Bukit Gombak ahead of SAF Day on July 1, amid rising global tensions fuelled by escalating conflict in the Middle East. Addressing the conflict between Iran and Israel, which also involved the US bombing Iran's nuclear facilities, he said retaliation from Iran may not be limited to targets in America or Israel. 'It could be anywhere else,' Mr Chan said, adding: 'It could also stoke up emotions in the region, and we must be careful that these do not spill into terrorist activities.' There are greater security concerns because of these conflicts, he said, noting that the threats now go beyond conventional terrorism and extend into new areas such as cyberspace. Similarly, the nature of threats that Singapore faces has changed, Mr Chan said. While some technologies, such as computer viruses and drones, are not new, the way and intensity in which they are applied have evolved, he said. The lines between military and civilian use of these technologies have also blurred, he added. Moving forward, security operations will be more decentralised, with troops operating in smaller units, he noted. This plays into the SAF's strengths, Mr Chan said. The SAF has never relied on the size of its troops since 1965, but on technology as a force multiplier, he noted. 'If anything, going forward, the new generations of technology that is coming in across the world will allow the SAF to multiply its manpower capabilities even more.' Another strength is the quality of manpower and leadership it has, he said. Mr Chan said some believe that having full-time national servicemen (NSFs) or national servicemen (NSmen) is a disadvantage for the SAF. 'We never think so, because by having NSF and NSmen, we are able to have the best across society operating our systems, participating in the design of our systems.' This is why the SAF can operate with more decentralisation, he added. There will be more leadership opportunities for these groups going forward, he said, noting that this does not just refer to an increase in the number of soldiers attending SAF leadership schools, he said. It also means more leadership at different levels and more of such opportunities for many NSFs, he said. Mr Chan gave an example from the DIS, the SAF's newest service, where soldiers operate in groups as small as three or five, compared with traditional army companies that can have around 100 men. 'Each and every one of them must be able to take (on) leadership because of the technology that they are using and applying.' Going forward, the SAF will continue to spend prudently and in areas that will 'give us bang for (our) buck', Mr Chan said. It will not simply target a certain amount of expenditure but ensure that spending is sustainable because building new capacities takes many years, he said. 'What we don't want is what we call the 'feast and famine' kind of spending, where you buy a lot of things when you have money, and then you find that you can't maintain it,' he added. 'That's not how we stretch the defence dollar.' Over the last few years, defence spending has hovered around 3 per cent of Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP), Mr Chan noted. This does not include security spending outside Mindef, such as on the Home Team and cyber security. The minister was answering a question on whether Singapore's current spending is sufficient given the global security situation. There have been calls in the region for an increase in defence spending. At the Shangri-La Dialogue in May, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth asked American allies in the Indo-Pacific to raise their defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP. Mr Chan said the SAF has been fortunate to have the public and political support to spend up to 6 per cent of GDP. There will be areas that will require more spending because of the new nature of warfare, he added. 'Today there are also new opportunities for us to look at other low-cost options to complement what we have and what we need,' he said. 'We will continue on that trajectory.' On adopting new technology, Mr Chan said the SAF is constantly looking at emerging tech such as artificial intelligence, but does not want to be caught up in fads. 'We've been looking at many of these technologies for many years. We want to be able to apply them to what we call 'tangible use cases',' he said. 'So, it's not applying things in general, but very specifically how it helps us.' While the SAF constantly tracks changes to warfare, such as the increased use of drones and cyber attacks, its challenge is to predict what new threats will emerge in the future, Mr Chan said. This is so that the SAF can put in place programmes to develop capabilities to counter these threats even before they emerge and be able to deal with them by the time they do. He made the point that the SAF does not build new capabilities just because there is a new defence minister. After a recent Cabinet reshuffle, Mr Chan took over the portfolio from Dr Ng Eng Hen, who was defence minister from 2011 to 2025 and retired ahead of the 2025 General Election. 'Many of the capabilities that the SAF has today are built up through the generations,' he said, including those that were mooted during or before his stint as chief of army from 2010 to 2011. That is why many SAF projects are classified, so the force remains ahead of the curve, he said. 'We don't always publicise all that we do, but at the appropriate time, we will reveal those capabilities to let Singaporeans have the confidence that we are ready,' he said. 'And there'll be many capabilities in the SAF which we will never reveal. The fact that we don't have to reveal them, we don't have to use them by the time they get retired – to us, that is success.' Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction Discover how to enjoy other premium articles here
Straits Times
7 hours ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Global uncertainty over security will affect jobs, wages and prices in S'pore: Chan Chun Sing
Developments on the security front are closely intertwined with the economy, said Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG Global uncertainty over security will affect jobs, wages and prices in S'pore: Chan Chun Sing SINGAPORE - An increasingly volatile global security environment will reinforce economic uncertainty, which will have implications on jobs, wages and prices in Singapore, said Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing. Developments on the security front are closely intertwined with the economy, Mr Chan told reporters on June 25 in an interview with local media ahead of SAF Day on July 1. When businesses see greater uncertainty, they are less likely to invest – leading to fewer jobs. Mr Chan cited the conflict in Iran, which escalated in mid-June with Iran and Israel trading air strikes. The US has waded into the fray, bombing Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22. 'If you look at the Iran conflict, the volatility of the oil prices feeding into the economic system – that again caused quite a lot of uncertainty and perturbations,' he said. The war in Ukraine – which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 – has also disrupted the global supply chain for many food products. Such disruptions are likely to increase prices, Mr Chan said. 'If prices go up, jobs go down, wages don't grow,' he added, noting that the impact of such wars should not be underestimated. Positioning Singapore as an 'oasis of calm' amid the global volatility requires tremendous effort, he said. 'The fact that people say that 'I can invest in Singapore because I am less likely to face a security incident, whether it is terrorism or whether it is a disruption of our energy supplies, our water supply' – all that adds to our overall competitiveness.' Amid these conflicts, Mr Chan said Singapore has to stay relevant and diversify its portfolio of defence relationships. 'We must continue to make sure that we are relevant and we can value-add to the relationship, both bilaterally and multilaterally,' he said. 'If we are not relevant, we will not have a voice. 'If we are not principled, we will not be able to engender trust for other people to want to work with us.' The most important thing for Singapore is to take positions that are based on principles – like sovereignty – that best support its survival and success, he said. Today, there are various challenges that transcend geographical confines, and these present opportunities to expand Singapore's network of relationships, Mr Chan said. There is interest from many European countries to work with Singapore on the technological front and on supply chain resilience, he said, without naming any. Other possible partners are South Korea and Japan, who face similar challenges to the Republic, he said. Mr Chan added that Singapore will continue to work with its traditional partners, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, the US, China, Australia, New Zealand and the UK, he said, highlighting the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) agreement. Under the FPDA, signed in 1971, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and the UK are bound to consult each other in the event of an attack on any one of the partners. Singapore is also looking at more opportunities to have bilateral exercises, Mr Chan said. He had a recent conversation with his Indonesian counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, where they discussed how the two countries can work together to develop training areas. 'This is also another example of how both sides can stretch our defence dollar and also to bring about greater interoperability between the armed forces,' Mr Chan said. Singapore, he added, should play to its strengths as the country navigates the global uncertainty. One of these is to continue to have a secure and stable business environment. This requires the security and economic agencies, as well as the political leadership, to signal to people that the Republic is still a place where one can get stability, security and the rule of law, he said. Another strength is Singapore's commitment to constantly invest in its people, he said. 'Even during tough times, and maybe particularly during tough times, we will continue to step up our investment for our people. That's why we have made SkillsFuture a central pillar of our social compact.' He added that Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, who leads a task force on economic resilience, will share more details on its work soon. There are measures that the Government can take if the situation warrants it, but the task force is also looking at how to position Singapore in the longer term, given the shift in the global security and economic environment, Mr Chan said. 'We can take heart from all this. We don't have to panic. We have plans to help fellow Singaporeans tide through and go through this together.' Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Straits Times
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
‘We are not at war, but neither are we at peace': Chan Chun Sing
Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing said the SAF is dealing with a range of threats and challenges daily across all four of its services. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY 'We are not at war, but neither are we at peace': Chan Chun Sing SINGAPORE – Singapore has to raise its vigilance in various places given the conflicts around the world, as it is unclear if it could become 'collateral in other people's fight', said Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing. He noted that the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is dealing with a range of threats and challenges daily across all four of its services. 'Today, we are not at war in the conventional sense, neither are we at peace in the conventional sense,' he told reporters in an interview on June 25. 'We are always operating somewhere in between, with different gradations. And that's what keeps us on our toes.' Mr Chan cited how the Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS) and other government agencies deal with thousands of attempts to penetrate Singapore's cyber systems every day, without naming those behind these attacks. 'Sometimes it could be just people fooling around, but often, I think people are doing this very intentionally and probably with malicious intent,' he said. It is a round-the-clock operation to protect Singapore's cyber domain, he added, noting that a breach could mean not just a hit to the country's reputation or the loss of some classified information, but real consequences for its power grid and financial and water systems. There are also constant efforts to secure Singapore's airspace and territorial waters. Mr Chan said the air force responds to hundreds of cases every year, some requiring air defence assets to be scrambled to verify unknown threats. 'For the navy, it is the same thing,' said Mr Chan, who was chief of army before entering politics. 'The number of ships that sail through the narrow Singapore Strait, the number of boardings that we have to (do to) check and verify to make sure that the strait remains safe from threat actors, that goes into the hundreds as well and, in fact, sometimes the thousands.' In the information sphere, people are constantly trying to shape how Singaporeans think – another threat the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) counters daily, he said. 'The type of information operations that people conduct, perhaps directly on us and sometimes indirectly on us, where we are the collateral, is also not something that we will take lightly.' Mr Chan spoke to the media at Mindef's headquarters in Bukit Gombak ahead of SAF Day on July 1, amid rising global tensions fuelled by escalating conflict in the Middle East. Addressing the conflict between Iran and Israel, which also involved the US bombing Iran's nuclear facilities, he said retaliation from Iran may not be limited to targets in America or Israel. 'It could be anywhere else,' Mr Chan said, adding: 'It could also stoke up emotions in the region, and we must be careful that these do not spill into terrorist activities.' There are greater security concerns because of these conflicts, he said, noting that the threats now go beyond conventional terrorism and extend into new areas such as cyberspace. Changing threats, more leadership for NSFs and NSmen Similarly, the nature of threats that Singapore faces has changed, Mr Chan said. While some technologies, such as computer viruses and drones, are not new, the way and intensity in which they are applied have evolved, he said. The lines between military and civilian use of these technologies have also blurred, he added. Moving forward, security operations will be more decentralised, with troops operating in smaller units, he noted. This plays into the SAF's strengths, Mr Chan said. The SAF has never relied on the size of its troops since 1965, but on technology as a force multiplier, he noted. 'If anything, going forward, the new generations of technology that is coming in across the world will allow the SAF to multiply its manpower capabilities even more.' Another strength is the quality of manpower and leadership it has, he said. Mr Chan said some believe that having full-time national servicemen (NSFs) or national servicemen (NSmen) is a disadvantage for the SAF. 'We never think so, because by having NSF and NSmen, we are able to have the best across society operating our systems, participating in the design of our systems.' This is why the SAF can operate with more decentralisation, he added. There will be more leadership opportunities for these groups going forward, he said, noting that this does not just refer to an increase in the number of soldiers attending SAF leadership schools, he said. It also means more leadership at different levels and more of such opportunities for many NSFs, he said. Mr Chan gave an example from the DIS, the SAF's newest service, where soldiers operate in groups as small as three or five, compared with traditional army companies that can have around 100 men. 'Each and every one of them must be able to take (on) leadership because of the technology that they are using and applying.' Prudent spending Going forward, the SAF will continue to spend prudently and in areas that will 'give us bang for (our) buck', Mr Chan said. It will not simply target a certain amount of expenditure but ensure that spending is sustainable because building new capacities takes many years, he said. 'What we don't want is what we call the 'feast and famine' kind of spending, where you buy a lot of things when you have money, and then you find that you can't maintain it,' he added. 'That's not how we stretch the defence dollar.' Over the last few years, defence spending has hovered around 3 per cent of Singapore's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Mr Chan noted. This does not include security spending outside Mindef, such as on the Home Team and cyber security. The minister was answering a question on whether Singapore's current spending is sufficient given the global security situation. There have been calls in the region for an increase in defence spending. At the Shangri-La Dialogue in May, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth asked American allies in the Indo-Pacific to raise their defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP. Mr Chan said the SAF has been fortunate to have the public and political support to spend up to 6 per cent of GDP. There will be areas that will require more spending because of the new nature of warfare, he added. 'Today there are also new opportunities for us to look at other low-cost options to complement what we have and what we need,' he said. 'We will continue on that trajectory.' On adopting new technology, Mr Chan said the SAF is constantly looking at emerging tech such as artificial intelligence, but does not want to be caught up in fads. 'We've been looking at many of these technologies for many years. We want to be able to apply them to what we call 'tangible use cases',' he said. 'So, it's not applying things in general, but very specifically how it helps us.' While the SAF constantly tracks changes to warfare, such as the increased use of drones and cyber attacks, its challenge is to predict what new threats will emerge in the future, Mr Chan said. This is so that the SAF can put in place programmes to develop capabilities to counter these threats even before they emerge and be able to deal with them by the time they do. He made the point that the SAF does not build new capabilities just because there is a new defence minister. After a Cabinet reshuffle, Mr Chan recently took over the portfolio from Dr Ng Eng Hen, who was defence minister from 2011 to 2025 and retired ahead of the 2025 General Election. 'Many of the capabilities that the SAF has today are built up through the generations,' he said, including those that were mooted during or before his stint as chief of army from 2010 to 2011. That is why many SAF projects are classified, so the force remains ahead of the curve, he said. 'We don't always publicise all that we do, but at the appropriate time, we will reveal those capabilities to let Singaporeans have the confidence that we are ready,' he said. 'And there'll be many capabilities in the SAF which we will never reveal. The fact that we don't have to reveal them, we don't have to use them by the time they get retired – to us, that is success.' Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Global uncertainty over security will affect jobs, wages and prices in S'pore: Chan Chun Sing
SINGAPORE - An increasingly volatile global security environment will reinforce economic uncertainty, which will have implications on jobs, wages and prices in Singapore, said Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing. Developments on the security front are closely intertwined with the economy, Mr Chan told reporters on June 25 in an interview with local media ahead of SAF Day on July 1. When businesses see greater uncertainty, they are less likely to invest – leading to fewer jobs. Mr Chan cited the conflict in Iran, which escalated in mid-June with Iran and Israel trading air strikes. The US has waded into the fray, bombing Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22. 'If you look at the Iran conflict, the volatility of the oil prices feeding into the economic system – that again caused quite a lot of uncertainty and perturbations,' he said. The war in Ukraine – which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 – has also disrupted the global supply chain for many food products. Such disruptions are likely to increase prices, Mr Chan said. 'If prices go up, jobs go down, wages don't grow,' he added, noting that the impact of such wars should not be underestimated. Positioning Singapore as an 'oasis of calm' amid the global volatility requires tremendous effort, he said. 'The fact that people say that 'I can invest in Singapore because I am less likely to face a security incident, whether it is terrorism or whether it is a disruption of our energy supplies, our water supply' – all that adds to our overall competitiveness.' Amid these conflicts, Mr Chan said Singapore has to stay relevant and diversify its portfolio of defence relationships. 'We must continue to make sure that we are relevant and we can value-add to the relationship, both bilaterally and multilaterally,' he said. 'If we are not relevant, we will not have a voice. 'If we are not principled, we will not be able to engender trust for other people to want to work with us.' The most important thing for Singapore is to take positions that are based on principles – like sovereignty – that best support its survival and success, he said. Today, there are various challenges that transcend geographical confines, and these present opportunities to expand Singapore's network of relationships, Mr Chan said. There is interest from many European countries to work with Singapore on the technological front and on supply chain resilience, he said, without naming any. Other possible partners are South Korea and Japan, who face similar challenges to the Republic, he said. Mr Chan added that Singapore will continue to work with its traditional partners, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, the US, China, Australia, New Zealand and the UK, he said, highlighting the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) agreement. Under the FPDA, signed in 1971, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and the UK are bound to consult each other in the event of an attack on any one of the partners. Singapore is also looking at more opportunities to have bilateral exercises, Mr Chan said. He had a recent conversation with his Indonesian counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, where they discussed how the two countries can work together to develop training areas. 'This is also another example of how both sides can stretch our defence dollar and also to bring about greater interoperability between the armed forces,' Mr Chan said. Singapore, he added, should play to its strengths as the country navigates the global uncertainty. One of these is to continue to have a secure and stable business environment. This requires the security and economic agencies, as well as the political leadership, to signal to people that the Republic is still a place where one can get stability, security and the rule of law, he said. Another strength is Singapore's commitment to constantly invest in its people, he said. 'Even during tough times, and maybe particularly during tough times, we will continue to step up our investment for our people. That's why we have made SkillsFuture a central pillar of our social compact.' He added that Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, who leads a task force on economic resilience, will share more details on its work soon. There are measures that the Government can take if the situation warrants it, but the task force is also looking at how to position Singapore in the longer term, given the shift in the global security and economic environment, Mr Chan said. 'We can take heart from all this. We don't have to panic. We have plans to help fellow Singaporeans tide through and go through this together.' Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction Discover how to enjoy other premium articles here
AsiaOne
10 hours ago
- General
- AsiaOne
NSmen and NSFs can enjoy free ramen from Takagi Ramen on SAF Day, Lifestyle News
The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Day is just around the corner and to celebrate, Takagi Ramen is giving away free bowls of its Butashoga Shoyu Ramen. The Japanese chain restaurant announced in a press release on Friday (June 27) that the promotion follows the overwhelming turnout they received during last year's giveaway. "At Takagi Ramen, we believe there's no better time than SAF Day to show our appreciation to the men and women who have served our nation with dedication and pride," they said. SAF Day falls on July 1 and to redeem a bowl of ramen, all NSFs and NSmen need to do is present their 11B (SAF/SCDF/SPF) or flash their LifeSG App at any of the eatery's five participating outlets at Dhoby Ghaut, Yishun, Yew Tee, Pasir Ris and Bedok. The redemption period is between 6am and 6pm for dine-in customers only. No minimum spend is required. Takagi Ramen's Butashoga Shoyu Ramen features handmade Hakata-style firm noodles served in a dashi-infused shoyu broth, enhanced with kombu and bonito. Each bowl comes topped with the restaurant's signature sweet ginger-braised pulled pork, spring onions and braised bamboo shoots. [[nid:702934]] melissateo@
