Singapore City: Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, 51, will become the country's first new premier in 20 years, succeeding incumbent PM Lee Hsien Loong. The 51-year-old US-trained economist will be the fourth PM to lead the country and only the second leader who is not a member of the founding Lee family after six decades.
The soon-to-be PM is widely popular for his guitar-playing skills on social media, including a viral video of him playing Taylor Swift's Love Story song. He was most recently in the public eye for delivering clear explanations of the strict COVID-19 measures adopted by Singapore in 2020, when he was the co-chair of its pandemic management effort.
Donald Low, a former colleague who is now a public policy specialist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, described Wong as "quite conservative" who prefers "incremental over radical change". Other colleagues believe he is an able technocrat who embodies a generational shift in leadership yet exemplifies continuity in a nation ruled by his People's Action Party (PAP) since before independence in 1965.
"I accept this responsibility with humility and a deep sense of duty. I pledge to give my all to this undertaking," Wong said after Lee stepped down. Wong is also deputy chairman of sovereign wealth fund GIC and chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Southeast Asian nation's central bank.
Who is Lawrence Wong?
Coming from a humble background, Wong is a former civil servant who first entered politics in 2011. Wong grew up, like most Singaporeans, in public housing and did not attend an elite school, according to The Guardian. Wong has sought to present himself as a more relatable politician over recent years, posting videos of him playing the guitar to several popular songs.
Wong was born on December 18, 1972. His father worked in a sales job and his mother taught in a primary school that Wong and his elder brother attended. He studied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has said he picked the United States because it was home to his favourite musicians. He earned a Master's degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.
He started his career as an economist at the trade ministry, occupying some of the biggest jobs in Singapore's bureaucracy, such as the chief executive of the Energy Market Authority and the prestigious post of Principal Private Secretary to the prime minister. After his entry in politics, Wong was appointed to the board of directors of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the central bank.
In 2020, he catapulted into the spotlight as co-chair of the COVID-19 task force and won favour for his unflappable demeanour when explaining tough pandemic restrictions to Singaporeans. Wong was named finance minister in 2021 and Deputy Prime Minister in the following year along with the successor to Lee after winning over his peers to receive their backing to become "first among equals" - a term Singapore's top politicians use to describe their chosen leader.
He is a music lover who was gifted a guitar by his father at age 8. He also describes himself as a bookworm and a dog lover. Wong married in his 20s and was divorced due to what he said were incompatibility issues. He later married Loo Tze Lui, who works in wealth management, and the couple has no children.
Wong's upcoming challenges
The 51-year-old Wong will become the first Singaporean leader who was born after the country gained independence in 1965 and will retain the finance portfolio after becoming PM. Though Wong is widely seen as a status quo leader, colleagues say he expressed openness to new ideas in the past, in a political landscape dominated not only by a single party but where the Lee family loomed large for more than 50 years.
Wong has few critics, as he kept a fairly low profile while a minister, before the pandemic spotlight. "He is realistic, but not cynical as a political leader," said Gillian Koh, a researcher in governance and economy at the Institute of Policy Studies, who saw Wong as having a grasp of a wide range of policies, and as being decisive and even-tempered.
Wong's challenges as prime minister would be external, said Low, the former colleague, with the rivalry between the United States and China shaping as a particular test, and not only because Wong had relatively less exposure to foreign affairs. While Wong and the rest of the party's leadership might prefer not to choose between Beijing and Washington, he said many in the rank-and-file might prefer a more pro-China stance.
The economist also takes the reins of the country at a time when Singapore is grappling with the rising cost of living, inequality and immigration. "So far, Wong has not laid out his political vision or why Singapore should support it," said Chong Ja Ian of the National University of Singapore, pointing to his guitar playing on social media. "For me, I think Singapore needs a prime minister right now, not a cover band."
(with inputs from Reuters)
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