Ninety Day Pause on US Tariffs... Trump didn't just flinched. He ducked!

Trump stuns with 90-day tariff pause but hits China even harder with 125% rate

Trump tariffs: PSP calls for Singapore to seek new trade deal with US, work to 'address concerns'

PSP secretary-general Leong Mun Wai said the party had no intention of "downplaying" the new tariffs

A cargo ship is seen docked at Pasir Panjang port terminal in Singapore on Feb 3, 2025. 

(Photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)

09 Apr 2025 

SINGAPORE: The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) on Wednesday (Apr 9) called on the government to secure a new trade deal with the United States in response to sweeping new tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump last week.

Such discussions may include “making adjustments to internal policies or making strategic investments in the US”, said PSP secretary-general Leong Mun Wai in a Facebook post.

Activist group 'targeting and disrupting' PAP Meet-The-People Sessions

Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam speaking with two activists outside his Meet-The-People Session in 

Chong Pang on Mar 12, 2025, with one of them pointing a middle finger. 

(Photos: Facebook/K Shanmugam Sc)

The group turned up at Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam’s Chong Pang branch in Nee Soon GRC on Wednesday (Mar 12) evening, the minister said in a social media post.

Fabian Koh
13 Mar 2025

SINGAPORE: A group of people has been going to People's Action Party (PAP) Meet-The-People Sessions (MPS) to be "deliberately confrontational, create incidents, try and provoke", said Mr K Shanmugam, who posted on Thursday (Mar 13) footage of one such disruption that took place the day before at his ward in Chong Pang.

Singapore's response to Economist's "sneering" article about Singapore's leadership transition

First, Shanmugam response:

So the Economist noted that Lawrence Wong would only be the 4th PM in 59 years. Whereas, anybody knows a true and thriving democracy like, for example, the UK should burn through PMs like they were past their "best before" date.

PM Lee to step down: Key milestones of his political career

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a Merdeka Generation Appreciation ceremony at the ITE Central, on June 2, 2019. 
Raj Nadarajan/TODAY

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that he will hand over the premiership to his deputy Lawrence Wong
Mr Wong will be sworn in on May 15, 2024 at 8pm at the Istana
TODAY looks at the key milestones and events of Mr Lee's illustrious political career

Iswaran - Corruption charges - Jan 2024 and Mar 2024

Iswaran gets 8 new charges of obtaining S$19,000 in valuables such as whisky, Brompton bike from construction firm boss

Iswaran pleaded not guilty to the new charges. He now faces 35 charges in all.

Govt tells Israeli embassy to remove Facebook post that was an 'astonishing attempt to rewrite history', says Shanmugam

Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam speaking to reporters on Monday (March 25) about a Facebook post by
the Israeli embassy in Singapore, which local authorities asked to be taken down. Ili Nadhirah Mansor/TODAY

March 25, 2024


SINGAPORE — Singapore authorities told the Israeli embassy to remove a post made on its Facebook page on Sunday (March 24) that Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam called an "astonishing attempt to rewrite history".

The post was “insensitive”, “inappropriate” and “completely unacceptable” as it carried the risk of undermining safety, security and harmony in Singapore, he said.

Israel's response to Hamas attack has 'gone too far', but severing ties would not help Palestinians, says Singapore

SINGAPORE: Israel's military response to the Oct 7 Hamas attack has "gone too far", but severing diplomatic ties with the country would not resolve the situation nor reduce the suffering of Palestinians, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said in parliament on Thursday (Feb 29).

China’s Difficult Challenge to Reach the Middle (Or why China won't surpass US GDP)

Growth dreams deferred. 

China’s per capita income of $21,400 places it just above the 60th percentile of the global income distribution.

By Enda Curran

October 23, 2023

An unlikely geopolitical subplot of 2023 is the emerging view that China’s economy isn’t going to overtake the US after all.

Musk undue influence over US policy and the Russo-Ukraine war.

 Elon Musk’s Shadow Rule

How the U.S. government came to rely on the tech billionaire—and is now struggling to rein him in.

By Ronan Farrow


Last October, Colin Kahl, then the Under-Secretary of Defense for Policy at the Pentagon, sat in a hotel in Paris and prepared to make a call to avert disaster in Ukraine. A staffer handed him an iPhone—in part to avoid inviting an onslaught of late-night texts and colorful emojis on Kahl’s own phone. Kahl had returned to his room, with its heavy drapery and distant view of the Eiffel Tower, after a day of meetings with officials from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. A senior defense official told me that Kahl was surprised by whom he was about to contact: “He was, like, ‘Why am I calling Elon Musk?’ ”

The reason soon became apparent. “Even though Musk is not technically a diplomat or statesman, I felt it was important to treat him as such, given the influence he had on this issue,” Kahl told me. SpaceX, Musk’s space-exploration company, had for months been providing Internet access across Ukraine, allowing the country’s forces to plan attacks and to defend themselves. But, in recent days, the forces had found their connectivity severed as they entered territory contested by Russia. More alarmingly, SpaceX had recently given the Pentagon an ultimatum: if it didn’t assume the cost of providing service in Ukraine, which the company calculated at some four hundred million dollars annually, it would cut off access. “We started to get a little panicked,” the senior defense official, one of four who described the standoff to me, recalled. Musk “could turn it off at any given moment. And that would have real operational impact for the Ukrainians.”

In Singapore, loud echoes of Beijing’s positions generate anxiety

President Xi Jinping wants to build influence among ethnic-Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, raising concerns that the Chinese Communist Party is stoking divided loyalties

Waterloo Street, one of the oldest streets in multiracial Singapore, is host to Chinese temples, food centers and
newspaper vendors, alongside a Hindu temple and a synagogue.

By Shibani Mahtani 
Amrita Chandradas

July 24 at 5:00 p.m.


SINGAPORE — As China accelerates efforts to build its global power, President Xi Jinping has laid out an extravagant vision for overseas ethnic-Chinese communities that he hopes will “give shape to a powerful joint force for advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

It’s crunch time for the debt ceiling

The main sticking point: government spending.

President Biden and Speaker McCarthy

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

By Neal Freyman

May 22, 2023


It’s understandable if you haven’t been following negotiations around the debt ceiling—it is “negotiations around the debt ceiling,” after all.

But it might be time to start paying attention, considering that the clock for the US defaulting on its debts is getting dangerously close to midnight. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated yesterday that the US likely wouldn’t be able to pay all of its bills beginning next Thursday, June 1, if Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling from its current $31.4 trillion level by then.

PM Lee outlines 3 geopolitical storms Singapore faces

Jean Iau
19 April 2023

SINGAPORE - While Singapore’s relations with its immediate neighbours Malaysia and Indonesia are stable and encouraging, the situation further afield has become troubling and even dangerous.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said this in Parliament on Wednesday as he outlined three major geopolitical tensions that make the current global situation graver than what Singapore has faced in a long time.

Singaporeans need to realise the gravity of the situation, he said. “We are facing not just one storm, but several.”

Ties with federal government improved under PM Anwar, says Johor Sultan

Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Feb 8, 2023.
(Photo: Facebook/Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar)

23 Mar 2023 

JOHOR BAHRU: Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar said the state government’s relationship with the federal government has improved under Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Sultan Ibrahim said that he has been getting along well with the Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman, who leads the unity government.

“We have worked very well together. I would say it’s better than any other previous prime ministers,” Sultan Ibrahim was quoted as saying by The Star on Thursday (Mar 23). 

'We are not in a comfortable place': Singapore defence minister warns of 'disastrous' consequences of war in Asia

Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen speaking at the Maritime Security Roundtable during the 59th Munich Security Conference on Feb 17, 2023.

18 Feb 2023 

Singapore's defence minister on Friday (Feb 17) warned that war in Asia would be devastating not just for the continent, but for the rest of the world.

Speaking at the Maritime Security Roundtable at the 59th Munich Security Conference, Dr Ng highlighted that world powers have been increasing their military presence in Asia, concluding that "pre-positioning for deterrence is alive and well".

He cited the formations of strategic groupings like the Quad (United States, India, Australia, Japan) and AUKUS (US, Australia, United Kingdom), the US gaining more access to bases in the Philippines, as well as missile defence drills in South Korea as examples of what China would construe as "preparatory moves".

Similarly, Beijing has also increased its military presence in the region, said Dr Ng - from patrols in the disputed South China Sea to Chinese jets regularly crossing the median line in the Taiwan Strait.

Can Malaysia’s ruling coalition work together? PM Anwar squares up to new political realities

The alliance between Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional is a tenuous one, so holding it together is a daunting task. But are there bigger challenges in store for Malaysia’s new leader? 

After being an also-ran for years, Mr Anwar Ibrahim has taken the top job in Malaysia’s government. Can he deliver?

Derrick A Paulo
Zainudin Afandi

04 Feb 2023

KUALA LUMPUR: After Malaysia’s recent general election produced a hung parliament, artist Faye Lim was thrilled when Pakatan Harapan (PH) got the chance to form the government again.

The 32-year-old was among those who opposed the internal coup in 2020 that had brought down the previous PH government.

So in December, when Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, chairman of PH, won a vote of confidence in the Malaysian parliament to emerge as the undisputed leader of the new unity government, it was what Lim wanted.

“Give people a chance to finish what they start,” she said. “If (politicians) are always going to keep repeating … ‘I’ll never work with’ (or) ‘I don’t want’, then … (they) aren’t thinking about us as a whole nation holistically.”

Senior counsel questions handling of Keppel bribery case as other lawyers weigh in; Indranee to address matter in Parliament

A view of the Brani, Keppel and Tanjong Pagar container terminals in Singapore on Aug 19, 2022. Reuters

February 2, 2023


SINGAPORE — A senior counsel has questioned the decision by Singapore authorities not to prosecute six former senior management staff members of Keppel Offshore & Marine for a US$55 million (S$73 million) bribery case involving Brazilian oil giant Petrobras.

However, other lawyers who weighed in on the subject, while acknowledging the lack of clarity and how it might appear questionable to the public, suggested that the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) might have reason not to divulge certain legally protected information.

US four-star general warns of war with China in 2025

29 Jan 2023 

Crew members signal to a F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet preparing to take off for a routine flight on board the
USS Nimitz aircraft carrier during a routine deployment to the South China Sea, Mid-Sea, Jan 27, 2023.
(Photo: REUTERS/Joseph Campbell)

WASHINGTON: A four-star US Air Force general said in a memo that his gut told him the United States would fight China in the next two years, comments that Pentagon officials said were not consistent with American military assessments.

Commentary: Malaysia’s new PM Anwar needs to get it right for the country

Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has made the right moves in his first week in office. Going forward, he has a slew of challenges, says ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute's Dr Norshahril Saat.

Malaysia's newly appointed Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (centre) takes part in the swearing-in ceremony at the 
National Palace in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 24, 2022. (Photo: AFP/POOL/Mohd Rasfan)

Norshahril Saat

01 Dec 2022 

SINGAPORE: Within his first week of taking office, Malaysia’s new prime minister Anwar Ibrahim is already sending out good vibes that change in the country is under way. He must keep this momentum going, against all odds.

Anwar’s decision to not take his prime minister’s salary is a populist move. Granted, it is a campaign promise fulfilled. It will not tackle inequality and high rising prices in the country. But this symbolic move signals that he is sensitive to the struggles facing ordinary Malaysians.

Malaysia GE15 result a hung parliament scenario; both PH and PN in pole position to form government

All eyes are now on the negotiations with possible partners, including the parties from Sabah and Sarawak.

Muhyiddin Yassin and Anwar Ibrahim speak during their respective party's press conference on Nov 20, 2022.
(Photos: CNA/Fadza Ishak/Gaya Chandramohan)

Pichayada Promchertchoo

Rashvinjeet S Bedi

20 Nov 2022 

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s 15th General Election (GE15) has resulted in a hung parliament scenario, with the Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalitions almost neck and neck in terms of the number of seats won.

With neither coalition having the numbers for an outright majority in the 222-seat Lower House, both coalitions will now negotiate with their potential partners in a bid to form the next government.