Singapore ex-PM Lee Hsien Loong urges people to work together to face growing uncertainty amidst Trump tariffs

SINGAPORE, Apr 6: The recent Trump tariffs have caused a lot of upheaval and tension in the global market, with Singapore being no exception. The city-state’s Senior Minister and former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has urged Singaporeans to work together to tackle this uncertainty, as the world around them is changing.
“In Singapore, we have to work together as one people, closely with the Government,” said SM Lee, who was speaking at the Kebun Baru Sunday Carnival on April 6, according to The Straits Times.
“United, resolute, fighting on, and not confused by strange ideas or soft solutions ‘don’t need to do this, we can postpone the problem, we leave it to later on; somebody else can worry about it, our future, our problems’,” he said.
In his speech, the former Brigadier General cited the sweeping global tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on many countries, including Singapore.
He said: “This is going to affect our trade, it’s going to affect our economy, it’s going to affect our region, and it’s going to affect our future. And it’s not good news.”
SM Lee’s remarks come after Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on April 4 said in a five-minute video uploaded to his social media account that the Republic must brace for more shocks to come.
“That’s why PM Wong made a video on Facebook to explain what this means for Singapore, how serious it is, how the world has completely changed, and what it means for us, for our security, for our safety, for our children, for our future,” SM Lee added.
The US had imposed a 10% tariff duty on Singapore which caused a lot of concern in the city state. The nation’s Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan had echoed the PM’s statement on April 5, and cautioned that the erosion of interdependence and mutual agreements could bring higher inflation and slower growth.
The Trump administration had announced “reciprocal tariffs” and put high tariffs on several major global markets, with China at 54%, India at 26%, Vietnam at 46%, South Korea at 25%, Japan at 24%, Taiwan and Indonesia at 32%, Israel at 17%, and 10% on Australia, Britain, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, and Saudi Arabia. (UNI)

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