[SINGAPORE] Singapore will continue to be a safe harbour, a global emporium and a trusted hub for all, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in a major speech charting out the Republic’s response to the fraying international order.

Despite its limitations as a small state, Singapore today is not without agency, PM Wong noted at the S Rajaratnam Lecture held at the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

“We are better resourced, more capable and more connected than we were in 1965,” he added.

“We have forged strong friendships around the world. The Singapore brand is well-regarded, and we enjoy a deep reservoir of international goodwill.”

This comes amid “deeply worrying” global developments, since the Republic’s prosperity has depended on a stable rules-based global order and the free flow of trade, capital, people and ideas.

“We are in the midst of a messy transition globally – to what, nobody can tell,” he said. 

“America is stepping back from its traditional role as the guarantor of order and the world’s policeman, but neither China nor any other country is willing – or able to – fill the vacuum.”

As the old order frays, a new one will eventually emerge, added the prime minister.

Singapore, despite its size, cannot afford to be a passive bystander in this evolving landscape, he said. “Instead, we must respond with agility and resolve and actively shape our destiny.”