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[1/5] Presidential candidate Tharman Shanmugaratnam meets his supporters after early sample vote count results at the presidential election in Singapore September 1, 2023. Former deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, 66, won 70.4% of votes, the elections department said, to become Singapore's head of state. Analysts said the landslide victory for the candidate seen as closest to the establishment is a sign that Singaporeans generally still trust the ruling People's Action Party (PAP). The role of the president is largely ceremonial in Singapore, though the office is expected to ensure checks and balances on the government. This is Singapore's third presidential election since a 1991 act gave the public the right to choose and Tharman will be the country's ninth president overall.
Persons: Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Edgar Su, Lee Hsien Loong, Walid Jumblatt Abdullah, Tharman, Lee, Mr Tharman, Chen Lin, Kanupriya Kapoor Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Saturday, Analysts, Action Party, Nanyang Technological University, PAP, Presidential Advisers, Thomson Locations: Singapore, Rights SINGAPORE
[1/3] Presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian, speaks to the media and supporters at the nomination centre in Singapore August 22, 2023. About three-quarters of Singapore's 3.5 million citizens are ethnic Chinese, with the rest of the population ethnic Malays, ethnic Indian or Eurasian. Tan was also one of four candidates who ran for president in the 2011 election. Singapore's president sits for a 6-year term. ($1 = 1.3568 Singapore dollars)Reporting by Xinghui Kok, Additional reporting by Chen Lin; editing by Miral FahmyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons: Tan Kin Lian, Caroline Chia, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Lee Hsien Loong, Ng, Halimah, Tan, Xinghui Kok, Chen Lin, Miral Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Action Party, Thomson Locations: Singapore
Singapore's prime minister Lee Hsien Loong vowed Wednesday to uphold "zero tolerance" toward any wrongdoing by government officials. His comments came after a wave of political scandals rocked the Southeast Asian nation in recent weeks, tarnishing the pristine image that underpins its standing as a global financial center. "The founding generation built up Singapore and entrusted it to our generation in good shape," Lee said in a parliamentary address Wednesday. Lee said actions taken after these scandals showed two aspects of how his PAP government works. "One, when there is a suspicion or allegation of wrongdoing in the discharge of official duties, especially possible corruption, there is zero tolerance," he said in the first parliamentary session after these events,.
Persons: Lee Hsien Loong, Lee, Iswaran, Ong Beng Seng, Tan Chuan, Jin, Cheng Li Hui, Shanmugam, Vivian Balakrishnan Organizations: Central Business District, Party, Home Affairs Minister, Foreign Locations: Bay, Singapore
SINGAPORE, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Singapore's prime minister on Wednesday said his ruling party had "taken a hit" over a spate of scandals including a graft probe and senior lawmakers' resignations, which shocked the city-state otherwise known as a haven of political stability. He said such incidents involving ministers are rare, and that the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) has "zero tolerance" for corruption. "...The PAP has taken a hit but we will show Singaporeans that we will uphold standards and do the right thing, so that trust is maintained," he said. While the PAP has maintained a grip on power since 1959, voters, already bruised by high living costs, have raised eyebrows at the graft probe and resignations of two senior PAP lawmakers on account of an "inappropriate relationship". When asked why their relationship was kept under wraps since late 2020, Lee said, "I should have forced the issue earlier".
Persons: Lee Hsien Loong, Iswaran, General's Chambers, Lee, Kanupriya Kapoor Organizations: Transport, Action Party, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, Singapore
Travelers arrive at the departure hall in Singapore Changi airport in Singapore on March 31, 2023. SINGAPORE — China will reinstate its 15-day visa-free entry for citizens of Singapore and Brunei from July 26, according to the embassies of both countries. Singapore citizens will be able to enter China without a visa for 15 days if they are there for business, tourism, family visits and transit, the Chinese embassy to Singapore said. Singapore and China have long enjoyed strong economic ties, with leaders from both sides meeting this year. The resumption of the visa-free entry policy "will facilitate people and business flows between our countries and pave the way for deeper bilateral cooperation," Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a Facebook post.
Persons: Lee Hsien Loong, Xi Jinping, Lawrence Wong, Li Qiang Organizations: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Locations: Singapore Changi, Singapore, SINGAPORE — China, Brunei, China, Beijing
watch nowOn Monday, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he decided the incumbent speaker of the Singapore's Parliament Tan Chuan Jin "had to go." Lee Hsien Loong Singapore prime ministerSingaporeans, who are not used to political scandals, have taken to memes to express themselves. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (L) shaking hands with a PAP supporter during a May election rally. SIMIN WANG | AFP | Getty ImagesThe prime minister sought to quickly control the damage, emphasizing the government's zero-tolerance on corruption to allay public concerns. The prime minister is seeking to hand over power to the next generation of leaders in the near future.
Persons: Lee Hsien Loong, Dr Koh Poh Koon, Ang Mo, Suhaimi Abdullah, Eugene Tan, Tan Ern Ser, Tan Chuan Jin, Tan, Cheng Li Hui, SMU's Tan, CNBC's, Ong Beng Seng, Felix Tan, NTU's Tan, SIMIN WANG, Lee Organizations: Action Party, Getty, Singapore Management University, CNBC, Party, National University of Singapore, Singapore's, Public Service, Nanyang Technological University, NUS, Singapore, AFP Locations: SINGAPORE, Singapore, Asia, Lee Hsien Loong Singapore
Singapore’s clean reputation gets a timely test
  + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Anshuman Daga | ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +4 min
SINGAPORE, July 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Singapore could turn a governance crisis into an opportunity. Its transport minister S. Iswaran and Ong Beng Seng, the property billionaire credited with bringing Formula One to the city, were arrested and released on bail last week. The rare high-profile probe involving a public official by the hub’s anti-graft agency is a timely test of the Asian centre’s willingness to act tough on corruption. It's been six days since Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong revealed the investigation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau and the exact details remain unclear. S. Iswaran and businessman Ong Beng Seng were arrested on July 11 and subsequently released on bail, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau said.
Persons: Ong Beng Seng, It's, Lee Hsien Loong, Iswaran, Ong, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Formula, Practices, Beijing, DBS, Hotel Properties, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott International, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, Singapore, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Asia, Hong Kong, COMO
[1/2] Supporters of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) wait for their candidates at a nomination center ahead of the general elections in Singapore September 1, 2015. Analysts said the events may not bode well for the PAP, which has ruled Singapore uninterrupted since 1959. "These events appear to have created some public speculation about the PAP's approach to privilege, restraint, and authority," said National University of Singapore political scientist Chong Ja Ian. Prime minister-in-waiting Lawrence Wong said the government would be forthcoming about the corruption case - even if the information was damaging or embarrassing. But political scientist Walid Jumblatt Abdullah at Nanyang Technological University said Lee had enough political goodwill to ride this out.
Persons: Edgar Su, bode, Lee Hsien, Singapore's, Lee Kuan Yew, Chong Ja Ian, Lee, Lawrence Wong, Iswaran, Chong, Lee's, Walid Jumblatt Abdullah, Gillian Koh, Walid, Wong, Xinghui Kok, Robert Birsel Organizations: Action Party, REUTERS, National University of Singapore, Transport, Nanyang Technological University, Institute of Policy, Thomson Locations: Singapore, SINGAPORE
Here's what we know so far:The news has involved the private lives of some of its leaders and highly paid ministers. SINGAPORE — A series of revelations has rocked Singapore's political scene in the past few weeks. Those dealings involved the Singapore Land Authority, a government agency under the charge of Shanmugam in the Law Ministry. The outcome of the review was debated in the Singapore Parliament. I think it's quite clear to me."
Persons: Tan Chuan, Jin, Vivian Balakrishnan, Shanmugam, Lee Hsien Loong, Pritam Singh Organizations: SINGAPORE, Law, Home Affairs Minister, Singapore Land Authority, Law Ministry, Prime, Singapore's Locations: Singapore
Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's prime minister and leader of the People's Action Party (PAP), walks and talks with people in Singapore on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015. Singapore's government was dealt a further blow on Monday, following the resignations of two lawmakers from the ruling party who admitted to an "inappropriate relationship" with each other. "Besides Mr Tan's recent unparliamentary language used, there is also the issue of his inappropriate relationship with fellow PAP MP Ms Cheng Li Hui. This is, in comparison, the more serious matter because he was the Speaker and she an MP, and there should not have not been a relationship," said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during a press conference on Monday. Sudden resignations of senior PAP party members are rare in Singapore, where the ruling party has been in power since 1959, before the city-state's independence in 1965.
Persons: Lee Hsien Loong, Tan Chuan, Jin, Cheng Li Hui, Tan's, Ong Beng Seng, Iswaran, Lee, CPIB Organizations: People's Action Party, Party Locations: Singapore
SINGAPORE, July 17 (Reuters) - Two senior lawmakers from Singapore's ruling party have resigned over their "inappropriate relationship", Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday, the latest high-profile scandal in a city-state otherwise known for its political stability. Resignations of senior PAP members are rare in Singapore, where the party has been in power since 1959, before the country's independence in 1965. Separately, the opposition Workers' Party (WP) said on Monday it was looking into an "inappropriate exchange" between two of its senior members after a video surfaced online that appeared to show them holding hands in a restaurant. Events like these are unusual in Singapore, which prides itself on being corruption-free and holding politicians to high moral standards. Political scientist Chong Ja Ian at the National University of Singapore said Monday's developments were "relatively controllable issues" that would not affect Singapore's political stability.
Persons: Lee Hsien Loong, Lee, Tan Chuan, Jin, Cheng Li Hui, Cheng, Ong Beng Seng, Chong Ja Ian, Chong, Chen Lin, Martin Petty, Kanupriya Kapoor Organizations: Action Party, Workers ' Party, WP, National University of Singapore, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, Singapore
[1/2] Property tycoon Ong Beng Seng walks out of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau headquarters in Singapore July 12, 2023. SINGAPORE, July 14 (Reuters) - A Singapore-based property tycoon known for bringing Formula One races to the city-state is cooperating with the anti-graft agency in a case launched earlier this week involving the transport minister, his company said on Friday. The CPIB earlier this week said it had launched an investigation into Iswaran, but did not provide further details. The case is a rare high-level probe in Singapore, a top Asian financial hub that prides itself on a corruption-free government. Ong, who was travelling on Friday, will surrender his passport to the CPIB upon his return to Singapore, his company said.
Persons: Ong Beng Seng, Ho Peng Yew, Iswaran, Lee Hsien Loong, Ong, Christina Ong, Kanupriya Kapoor, Martin Petty, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Practices, Singapore Press Holding Media, Formula, Properties, Reuters, Concorde, London Stock, Forbes, Thomson Locations: Singapore, SINGAPORE, COMO, Malaysia
Hong Kong CNN —A corruption investigation in Singapore has expanded to include Ong Beng Seng, a hotel tycoon best known for bringing the Formula 1 Grand Prix to the wealthy city state. The agency had earlier launched an investigation into a case involving the transport minister, in a rare corruption probe involving a cabinet-level official. Ong’s company said he had posted bail of 100,000 Singapore dollars ($76,000) after being given a notice of arrest. Ong is also the sole shareholder of the Singapore Grand Prix, organizer of the marquee sporting event, his spokesperson confirmed to CNN. Rare caseThe news about Ong emerged just days after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong asked the transport minister to take a leave of absence.
Persons: Ong Beng Seng, Ong, , Lee Hsien Loong, Iswaran, CPIB, Lee, Eugene Tan, Bernie Ecclestone, Hoch, Lawrence Wong, Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Hotel Properties, Practices, Transport, Singapore, Prix, CNN, Singapore Management University, Party Locations: Hong Kong, Singapore, Properties, Maldives, Malaysia, London, Bangkok, Abu
Singapore anti-graft agency probes transport minister
  + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Chen Lin | ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
SINGAPORE, July 12 (Reuters) - Singapore's anti-graft agency has launched an investigation into a case involving the city-state's transport minister, a rare high-level probe in a country that prides itself on a government free from corruption. The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau said it was interviewing the minister, S Iswaran, who was "assisting" in a case, but did not provide further details. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Wednesday said he had "instructed Minister Iswaran to take leave of absence until these investigations are completed". The 61-year-old joined Lee's cabinet as a junior minister in 2006 and held the trade and communications portfolios before becoming transport minister in May 2021. Graft investigations involving ministers are rare in Singapore, where civil servants are paid handsomely to discourage corruption.
Persons: S Iswaran, Lee Hsien Loong, Iswaran, Lee, Kanupriya Kapoor Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, Singapore
Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said July 12 that he has instructed the country's transport minister S. Iswaran to go on leave after he was implicated in an anti-graft agency investigation. SINGAPORE — Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has asked the country's transport minister to go on leave after he was implicated in an anti-graft agency investigation. "I have instructed Minister Iswaran to take leave of absence until these investigations are completed," Lee said, without elaborating on the specifics of the case. Senior Minister of State Chee Hong Tat will be acting minister for transport, Lee added. The announcement comes weeks after a state review on allegations made against two other cabinet ministers regarding their rental of government-owned colonial bungalows.
Persons: Lee Hsien Loong, Iswaran, Lee, State Chee Hong, Shanmugam, Vivian Balakrishnan Organizations: Singapore's, SINGAPORE — Singapore's, State, Law, Home Affairs Minister, Singapore Locations: SINGAPORE
Pricey property is a pointy dilemma for Singapore
  + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Anshuman Daga | ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +4 min
It’s a pointy problem however for a country that traditionally has managed housing for the masses well. In June, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s government said it would redevelop the city’s only horse racecourse for housing, including public homes. It notes some 40,000 public and private housing units are due to be completed this year, the highest level in five years. Singapore also hiked taxes on private second-home purchases. The government insists they have hardly had any impact on housing demand.
Persons: Lee Hsien Loong’s, It’s, Una Galani, Katrina Hamlin, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, OrangeTee, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, Singapore, United States, China, Dubai, Hong Kong
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesSingapore, a tiny city-state with an import-dependent economy, is especially vulnerable to rising sea levels, heat waves and other adverse effects of climate change. Around the globe, financing for climate adaptation has traditionally lagged behind mitigation investments that are focused on slowing or stopping the rise in fossil fuel emissions. Singapore's climate challengesIn 2019, Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said climate change was a matter of "life and death" for the city-state. An initiative of London's Imperial College and Singapore Management University, SGFC was launched in 2020 to advance climate financing solutions. In 2020, Vena Energy became the first Singapore-based company to issue green bonds in U.S. dollars with a $325 million five-year green bond aimed at refinancing existing corporate loans for green projects.
Persons: Xinying Tok, Lee Hsien Loong, Grace Fu, Emirhan Ilhan, SGFC, issuances, Vena Organizations: Bloomberg, Getty Images, Singapore, Carbon Trust, National University of Singapore Business School, Green Finance Institute, City State, Singapore Green Finance, London's Imperial College, Singapore Management University, Monetary Authority of, Insurance, Vena Energy, Resources Locations: Getty Images Singapore, Singapore, Southeast Asia, City, Monetary Authority of Singapore
Singapore's veteran economic policymaker Tharman Shanmugaratnam has signaled his intention to contest upcoming presidential elections in Singapore that must be held by September this year. Singapore's veteran economic policymaker Tharman Shanmugaratnam is planning to run in the upcoming presidential elections in Singapore that must be held by mid-September. The prime minister is the head of government in Singapore. Among his past global appointments, Shanmugaratnam was the first Asian chair of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the IMF's key policy forum. He was also Singapore's deputy prime minister from 2011 to 2019, and previously served as finance minister and education minister.
Persons: Shanmugaratnam, Lee Hsien Loong, policymaker Organizations: International Monetary Fund, Party, Singapore Prime, Monetary Authority of, Global Commission, United Nations, International Monetary, Financial Locations: Singapore, Monetary Authority of Singapore
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has tested positive again for Covid-19 Thursday, a week and a half after his initial diagnosis, in what his doctors say is a case of rebound infection. SINGAPORE — Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has tested positive again for Covid-19 a week and a half after his initial diagnosis, in what his doctors said is a case of rebound infection. "I feel fine but I am afraid I have turned COVID-19 positive again," Lee said Thursday on social media. Lee, who is 71-years-old, was prescribed the antiviral medication Paxlovid when he first tested positive on May 22 after returning from a six-day official working trip to South Africa and Kenya. He has been serving as prime minister of the Southeast Asian city-state since 2004.
Persons: Lee Hsien Loong, Lee, Li Shangfu, Defense Lloyd Austin, Anthony Albanese Organizations: Singapore, SINGAPORE — Singapore, Defense, Australian Locations: SINGAPORE, Singapore, Asia, China, U.S, South Africa, Kenya, Covid
Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's Prime Minister, said Monday he has tested positive for Covid-19 after recently returning from state visits to South Africa and Kenya. Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has tested positive for Covid-19, days after returning from official visits to South Africa and Kenya. "I am generally feeling ok but my doctors have advised me to self-isolate until I am asymptomatic," Lee said Monday in a Facebook post. Lee is 71-years-old and has been serving as prime minister of the Southeast Asian city-state since 2004. He was in South Africa and Kenya May 14-19, according to Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Details of the plan have not been publicly divulged, although Ukraine's stated position for any peace deal is that all Russian troops must withdraw from its territory. Putin and Zelenskiy had agreed to receive the mission in their respective capitals Moscow and Kyiv, a South African Presidency statement said. The peace plan is also backed by African leaders of Senegal, Uganda, Egypt, the Republic of the Congo, and Zambia. Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year but the war has largely stalemated, although Ukraine is expected to start a counteroffensive soon to try to take back land occupied by Russia. Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-MtamboOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Hong Kong CNN —Xi Jinping has had a busy couple of weeks. “(Chinese leaders) believe it’s time now for China to make its strategic plans,” said Li Mingjiang, an associate professor of international relations at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University. Beijing has watched uneasily as the war in Ukraine has driven the US and its European allies closer. When French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Beijing last week, Xi drew comparisons between China and France: both “major countries with a tradition of independence,” Xi said, and “firm advocates for a multi-polar world” – or a world without a dominant superpower. But how Beijing navigates these initiatives, observers say, comes down to a bottom line that’s integrally related to Xi’s global ambitions and world view.
Singapore’s rate pause points to new reality
  + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
SINGAPORE, April 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Singapore’s surprise decision on Friday to keep its monetary policy unchanged leaves one thing unsaid. The Lion City, whose trade volumes dwarf the size of its economy, joins Australia, India and South Korea in standing pat. Singapore has repeatedly warned this would damage the Lion City’s growth outlook. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in 2019 that it should prepare for these consequences and adapt to new global realities. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
BEIJING, March 31 (Reuters) - Relations between China and Singapore have set a benchmark for countries in the region, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during talks in Beijing on Friday. China is willing to work with Singapore in further building new "channels" by land and sea, Xi told Lee, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. "Other countries must be able to accept that China today is not what China used to be," Lee told CCTV in an interview ahead of his visit. China is Singapore's largest trading partner, while the island-state is China's biggest foreign investor. Lee's visit to Beijing was his first trip to China since 2019, before the global COVID pandemic broke out.
The forum often promotes itself as “Asian Davos” and Li is tasked with reviving the world’s second largest economy at a time of sluggish growth. China, he said, will roll out new measures to boost domestic consumption and increase market access for foreign business while ensuring the stability of the financial sector. (Photo by AFP) / China OUT (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images) Stringer/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Boao Forum for Asia has been held annually since 2001, but was suspended in 2020 because of the pandemic. But the problems have been exacerbated by the Communist Party’s erratic and draconian zero-Covid policy, which ended late last year, and a sweeping crackdown on private business. To boost business confidence, China’s new economic leadership is trying to reassure both foreign business and the domestic private sector.
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