Putting together a new Cabinet in an uncertain world

WHEN forming his first Cabinet a year ago, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong kept most portfolios untouched. For this new term, the question is whether he will stick to filling vacated roles and making a few consequent changes – or a more drastic reshuffle is on the cards.
When he took over the country's top role last May, he made few changes beyond appointing Gan Kim Yong as deputy prime minister and promoting some junior officeholders. At the time, PM Wong said: 'Continuity and stability are key considerations, especially as we are approaching the end of this term of government.'
All the ministers had 'a full plate of work to see through', he said. 'So to avoid any disruptions, I have decided to keep them in their present roles until the end of the term.' But he added that if re-elected, he intended to rotate fourth-generation (4G) ministers to different portfolios 'and give them wider exposure and experience'.
However, this was in May 2024. At the time, Singapore's growth was strengthening and expected to improve further. The possibility of a second Trump presidency in the US was a distant threat. Since then, Donald Trump's re-election has brought sweeping tariffs that are upending the global trading order. PM Wong has warned that there may be no going back to a pre-Trump world.
Amid such uncertainty, continuity and stability might well remain key considerations. Indeed, the importance of retaining DPM Gan – a key figure in US trade talks – was stressed repeatedly in the GE campaign.
Repeated reshuffles
Yet PM Wong has also highlighted the importance of renewal, with GE2025's slate of new candidates containing the seeds of the fifth generation leadership.
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One might draw a parallel with the 2011 general election, in which the core of Singapore's 4G leadership – including PM Wong – entered politics. Most took up officeholder roles in the post-election Cabinet.
Between GE2011 and GE2015, then prime minister Lee Hsien Loong reshuffled the Cabinet each year. Most changes involved the 4G officeholders, with some of them being made acting ministers in the first reshuffle in 2012.
In contrast, several third-generation leaders saw their roles solidify in that term. In the post-GE2011 Cabinet, former minister Ng Eng Hen took up the Defence portfolio, which he held until his retirement before GE2025.
One might ask how much exposure is enough for a minister, and how many ministries a career might span. Besides Defence, Ng had two other portfolios as a full minister. Former senior minister Teo Chee Hean, who also retired before GE2025, helmed four ministries in his career.
The post-election Cabinet may thus see some senior 4G members staying put in their third portfolio – or moving into their fourth to fill the role of defence minister. DPM Gan has helmed three different ministries thus far: Manpower, Health as well as Trade and Industry. Similarly, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung previously headed Transport and Education, while Education Minister Chan Chun Sing previously helmed the Ministry of Trade and Industry, as well as Social and Family Development. Major portfolio swaps are more likely for Cabinet members who are only on their first or second full ministerial position, such as Desmond Lee or Chee Hong Tat.
This term of government may be one for continuity nearer the top, as 4G leaders mature, and rotations in other ministries as the fifth generation leadership begins to take shape.

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Straits Times

an hour ago

• Straits Times

Tastemakers: Three-Michelin-starred Benu in San Francisco has new Singaporean head chef

Singaporean chef Sebastian Wong is the new chef de cuisine of Benu in San Francisco. PHOTO: COREY LEE SINGAPORE – Chef Sebastian Wong has just joined a very small fraternity: Singaporean chefs who are heading three-Michelin-starred restaurants. The 34-year-old was recently promoted to chef de cuisine at Benu, Korean-American chef Corey Lee's three-Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco. He joins Yeo Sheng Xiong of Odette in Singapore; Jimmy Lim, chef-owner of JL Studio in Taichung, Taiwan; Kenneth Foong of Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark; and Mathew Leong of Re-naa in Stavanger, Norway. Chef Wong, who was part of the opening teams at modern French restaurant Odette and Japanese fine-dining restaurant Esora in Singapore, tells The Straits Times he took time to think about it, when he was offered the post in February 2025 . He was due back in Singapore to attend a friend's wedding, and was expected to give an answer on his return. 'I never thought in my life or career that I would be in this position,' he says over Zoom from San Francisco. 'For most of my life, I never thought I was really good. So, when chef Corey offered me this, I was surprised.' He told his parents, whom he says were supportive, and his friends. 'A lot of my peers in the industry told me, 'Oh yeah, it's about time.' It was comforting to hear it from them, that maybe I have what it takes for this role.' Odette's chef Yeo, 34, says of his friend and former colleague: 'He deserves it 100 per cent. He is someone who strives for perfection and consistency. One of the most passionate and focused individuals I have worked with.' Chef Wong first worked at Benu for a month in 2020, after leaving Esora in 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic cut short his time there and he returned to Singapore. During the pandemic, he returned to Odette and later put in a year at La Dame de Pic before returning to Benu in March 2022. It took three years to rise from sous chef to chef de cuisine at the 40-seat establishment, a destination restaurant that has held its three Michelin stars since 2014. Benu serves Korean and Cantonese-inflected tasting menus priced at US$390 (S$500) a person. Before he opened it in 2010, chef Lee was chef de cuisine at The French Laundry, the storied restaurant in Napa Valley. Chef Lee, 47, says: 'Chef de cuisine appointments are as much about character and potential as they are about experience. I like chefs who are immensely talented and immensely humble. 'Three years are not that short. I myself spent only two years as a sous chef before becoming chef de cuisine of The French Laundry. Promotions in my kitchen are based on merit, not seniority.' Fancy instant noodles Chef Sebastian Wong was part of the opening teams at modern French restaurant Odette and Japanese fine-dining restaurant Esora in Singapore. PHOTO: COREY LEE And yet, chef Wong grew up sporty rather than cheffy. He went to school at St Joseph's Institution and Anglo-Chinese Junior College, and was into track and field and ultimate frisbee. Both his parents worked and he learnt to cook for himself in secondary school, making instant noodles and such. 'I realised I could not just cook instant noodles,' he says. 'I'd always put something in it. Vegetables or an egg.' On weekend trips to the market and supermarket with his mother, he would sneak spices, seasonings and other ingredients into the shopping. 'It could be sansho pepper, shichimi togarashi or Chinese olive vegetables,' says the chef, who has an elder sister. 'And when I cooked rice or noodles, I'd add these things and I realised they tasted good. When my friends came over to play street soccer, I would cook them noodles and they liked what I made.' He would also watch shows by British chef Gordon Ramsay and American author and TV personality Anthony Bourdain while eating dinner in front of the television. And in junior college, when he had his own computer, he began to watch cooking videos on YouTube and a world of fine dining opened up. Knowing his grades were not good enough to become a doctor or a pilot like his parents wanted him to be, he broached the subject of becoming a chef with his mother, who works in human resource. She suggested that he get a job in a restaurant during the nine-month window he had before starting national service. In 2009, with zero experience, he got a job in a now-defunct restaurant, The French Kitchen, in Magazine Road. The chef-owner, Jean-Charles Dubois, now culinary director of Marina Bay Sands, took him under his wing. He ended up staying for about seven months. Chef Wong says: 'He was very nurturing and he always gave me small pieces of advice, like how to hold a knife a certain way so I can cut shallots or garlic faster. Then one day, he told me, 'Starting today, you learn from me how to cook all the hot things.' 'I told my mum that I really liked the job and I could see myself doing this as a career. I made up my mind and I've never looked back.' After NS, he enrolled in ITE College West for a 2½-year course in culinary arts and restaurant management that the college offers in partnership with Institut Lyfe, formerly known as the Institut Paul Bocuse. He graduated in 2014. He says: 'They taught us all the classical French dishes and mother sauces, all these things that are kind of irrelevant in today's world of cooking. But I think this helped me learn the techniques behind the classic dishes, like making a sabayon.' Growth spurt Those skills would stand him in good stead when he joined the opening team for Odette in 2015, starting out in the pastry department and then rotating through the different stations. He says: 'Suddenly going to a fine-dining restaurant and doing high-level pastry was a huge learning curve. You really have to respect the recipes in pastry. It's like chemistry.' The restaurant's chef-owner Julien Royer, 42, says: 'I knew he'd go far. He really stood out from other young chefs with his discipline and focus. He never took shortcuts. He understood early on that he needed to make sacrifices to climb and learn. I'm glad he did. I'm very proud of him.' At the Odette kitchen, he got to know chef Shigeru Koizumi, who was working there before setting up Esora, his fine-dining restaurant in Mohamed Sultan Road. Both are part of the Lo & Behold restaurant group. Chef Wong left the French restaurant to join the opening team for Esora in 2018 and added Japanese techniques to his skill set. After 18 months, however, he thought it was time to move on and broaden his repertoire. A chef he knew when he did a stage at Hibiscus in London had done a stint at Benu in San Francisco, and chef Wong asked for help getting a foot in. 'I was always intrigued by what chef Corey was doing at Benu,' chef Wong says. 'He was the first Asian chef to take Asian food to a three-star level. He is able to execute Asian food at such a high level.' On his return to Benu in 2022 after the pandemic cut short his time there in 2020, he says he struggled for the first year. The restaurant runs a tough kitchen. Chef Wong says: 'Things are very thorough at Benu. Everything has a reason for being. There is pretty much nothing that hasn't been thought about before it is put in place and, because of that, there's a lot of responsibility to be shared by everyone. 'There's also consistent effort and attention to tiny details, the drive for continuous improvement and progress, all of which I think is integral to the longevity of a restaurant and when it comes to nurturing people.' He describes chef Lee as someone who demands a lot of everybody. 'He never settles for anything less. He's at work every day, without fail, unless he's not in town. He's always there for the guests, always there for the team. 'His work ethic is very inspirational for the team, it sets the tone in the kitchen for everybody. When you step into the kitchen, you see everyone working. Chef Corey is working, the executive chef is working, the chef de cuisine is working, everybody is working. ' That first year, he says he had to get used to the way the kitchen did things. How chefs would have to plan the mise en place, which involves organising and preparing ingredients and equipment so that things go smoothly when the orders come in. 'A lot of times, I would miss the checkpoints,' he says, referring to the checks chefs need to make on whether portions of protein and other ingredients are properly prepared. 'We go to service and you realise the fish is cut wrong. So, I got into a lot of trouble. But it's through failure that you learn.' He says what got him through that year was the desire to want to improve and be better. 'I don't live far from the restaurant, so I walk to and from work,' he says. 'On nights when I've had a really rough day, I'd think about it on the walk home. Today, I made this stupid mistake, what can I do tomorrow and in the future to prevent all these mistakes?' Together with chef Lee, he makes Benu's signature xiao long bao, the only two people in the kitchen who do it. They split the task in half, with each making 50 dumplings. To master the pleating, chef Wong says he practised before and after work for a year before he could make a dumpling good enough to serve. He is still refining his technique. He can make 28 to 30 pleats on each dumpling, although chef Lee thinks 21 to 24 is sufficient. A xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung has 18 folds. The best is yet to be Asked how he celebrated his promotion, chef Wong says: 'I feel I shouldn't be celebrating yet.' After all, there is work to be done. New dishes to create. A team of 18 to 20 to manage now. He adds: 'I prefer to lead by example. I think it's important for the team to know that the chef is not worried about getting his hands dirty if he has to and that he has everyone's back.' Chef Lee adds: 'He has been a great example for staff to calibrate their work ethic, organisational skills and commitment. But I feel his greatest impact is yet to come.' If chef Wong had not left Singapore, where would he be right now? 'Perhaps I might be the head chef of some restaurant,' he says. 'But I also think I most probably would have left Singapore in time to come.' So, does a Singaporean chef need to leave the country to come into his own? Chef Wong says: 'I think Singapore as a society needs to look inwards and realise the intrinsic value of the things we have. Things like our local hawker food should really be more appreciated and perceived the same way as a bowl of ramen or a plate of pasta. 'Why is it that we demand that our local food be dirt cheap when it is more labour-intensive to make, but we are willing to fork out more for a plate of pasta that comes from a plastic package? I think everyone should try cooking a bowl of laksa at home from scratch and see what it takes to make that humble bowl of noodles with broth and toppings. 'If Singapore society is able to change that mindset and be more like the Japanese, who value their own culture and heritage, then Singaporean chefs and food will be more valued and appreciated.' He cites restaurants such as Belimbing by chef Marcus Leow and Mustard Seed by chefs Gan Ming Kiat, Wu Shin Yin and Desmond Shen as those doing a 'good job of progressing what we have in Singapore'. Eventually, he might join them in taking Singapore food to a new level. He sees himself working at Benu for three to four years, and he would like to come back to Singapore. 'Singapore is home,' he says. 'I see and feel the difference between home and over here. Family and friends are very important. They bring me joy and keep me going in life.' If he does open a restaurant in Singapore, it is likely to be an Asian one. In fact, he is looking at working in a Chinese restaurant kitchen to broaden his skills. The chef, whose father is Hainanese and mother is Hokkien, says: 'At the end of the day, it's important to cook your own cuisine. When I was young, I went to learn how to cook French cuisine. 'It was only when I got a bit older that I realised it's more important to learn your own cuisine. You don't want to be a yellow person cooking white man food.' Tan Hsueh Yun is senior food correspondent at The Straits Times. She covers all aspects of the food and beverage scene in Singapore. Check out ST's Food Guide for the latest foodie recommendations in Singapore.

Business Times

an hour ago

• Business Times

Taiwan central bank says US debt rising too fast may impact trust in Treasuries

[TAIPEI] Taiwan's central bank governor warned on Saturday (Jun 21) that rapidly rising US debt could be 'unfavourable' to the outlook for US Treasuries and that US President Donald Trump's trade policies have made investors cautious. Taiwan's US$593 billion in foreign exchange reserves are more than 80 per cent made up of US Treasury bonds, according to the central bank, which said earlier this month that Treasuries were 'sound' and still favoured by investors. It added that there were no worries about the US dollar's position as the leading international reserve currency. Governor Yang Chin-long, in a speech posted on the central bank's website, said Trump's repeated criticisms of the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy have caused concerns about its independence. 'In addition, Trump 2.0's trade policy has made investors hesitant about holding US Treasury bonds; Trump's budget, the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' may cause US debt to expand too quickly, which is unfavourable to the outlook for US sovereign debt,' he said. 'All of these have had a significant impact on the international monetary system centred on the US dollar and based on US creditworthiness.' Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill is the centrepiece of his domestic agenda. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The bill would lead to a larger-than-expected US$2.8 trillion increase in the federal deficit over the decade, despite a boost to US economic output, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected on Tuesday. Trump, in his first few weeks in office, also announced sweeping tariffs on a broad swathe of countries and trading partners, including Taiwan, only to pause them for 90 days in April to allow for talks to take place. Yang said Trump had been hoping the tariffs could resolve the US trade deficit. 'However, the tariff policy not only fails to solve the structural problems, it will also impact the US economy, and threaten to further affect the outlook for global trade and the economy.' REUTERS

Straits Times

2 hours ago

• Straits Times

An Iran deal in two weeks? Hard to achieve, even if Trump really wants one

President Donald Trump told reporters that he is interested largely in the coercive part of coercive diplomacy at Morristown Airport in New Jersey on June 21. PHOTO: ERIC LEE/NYTIMES News analysis An Iran deal in two weeks? Hard to achieve, even if Trump really wants one WASHINGTON – Ask diplomats who have negotiated with Iran, and they usually describe it with some variant of: Brace yourself, it takes a long time. It took the better part of two years to put together the Obama-era agreement that all but halted Iran's nuclear program. After President Donald Trump scrapped that deal in his first term, it took 15 months for the Biden administration to negotiate a way to piece it back together – at which point Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vetoed the near-final agreement. So what could Mr Trump, dangling the possibility that last-minute diplomacy could provide an alternative to bombing Iran's main uranium enrichment facility, hope to accomplish in the two-week window he has given himself to make a decision? Not much, the veterans of such negotiations warn. But then again, the environment is very different this time. Ayatollah Khamenei is the final word in all foreign policy issues – but he is also most likely in hiding, US intelligence officials say. Iran's foreign minister and lead negotiator Abbas Araghchi says he is open to placing limitations on Iran's nuclear output similar to what he and his colleagues negotiated with the United States a decade ago. But on June 20 , he told his European counterparts in Geneva that Iran would never negotiate as long as Israel was dropping missiles on its military bases and nuclear facilities, and carrying out targeted killings of Iran's Revolutionary Guard officers and nuclear scientists. Mr Trump, for his part, made clear to reporters on June 20 that he is interested largely in the coercive part of coercive diplomacy. Iran, he insisted, had only minutes left on the clock. 'I'm giving them a period of time, and I would say two weeks would be the maximum,' he said. And he dismissed the idea that the meeting in Europe would do anything but slow things down. 'Iran didn't want to speak to Europe,' he said. 'They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help.' Whether Mr Trump is serious about negotiations or just buying time to better prepare for a military assault and its aftermath remains unclear. But there was no public evidence yet that the contacts between Mr Araghchi and the president's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff could lead to a meeting, much less a deal that would satisfy Mr Trump. Or even that such a deal would be enough to hold back Israel's determination to wipe out Iran's nuclear facilities. Mr Araghchi knows every inch of the Iranian nuclear complex and was a central player in negotiating the 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump exited three years later. But even today , US officials do not know how much sway he holds with Ayatollah Khamenei . Mr Witkoff is the mirror opposite: He knew virtually nothing about the Iranian programme and has spent the past few months cramming on the details of nuclear enrichment and Iranian negotiating history. But he has a tight relationship with Mr Trump that goes back to their New York real estate days and holds considerable sway over what constitutes an acceptable deal. If the two men were able to come to the kind of agreement that has eluded them through two and a half months of negotiations, they would still have to sell it back home. 'These are not normal times,' said Dr Richard Haass, who oversaw Iran policy for President George H.W. Bush and was a senior State Department official for President George W. Bush. 'The pressure on Iran, since they are losing, is more intense than it has ever been. And the pressure on Trump to use military force if it looks like the Iranians are trying to buy time rather than reach an agreement will be huge.' Success may depend on exactly what Mr Trump demands: the 'unconditional surrender' that he keeps talking about or a narrower, face-saving halt in remaining nuclear enrichment, with the understanding that while Iran may retain what it views as its 'right' to produce nuclear fuel, it will never again exercise that right. 'Two weeks may be enough time for an unconditional capitulation. A day suffices for that,' said Mr Robert Malley, who participated in the negotiations that led to the 2015 agreement and then led the failed Biden-era effort to reconstitute some version of that deal. But, Mr Malley added, 'that may be what President Trump wants, but it is almost certainly not what he will get. As the Islamic Republic sees it, it's tantamount to being offered the choice between committing suicide and taking their chances at being killed. History suggests they will take their chances.' Mr Malley noted that there might be room for a diplomatic off-ramp, one in which 'Iran agrees to 'voluntarily' and 'temporarily' stop enriching uranium, which is much easier now that its enrichment capacity is a shadow of its former self.' That, he added, could 'give space for US -Iranian negotiations and halt the mad dash to a US war'. It is the kind of creative approach that, when missiles were not flying, might be wordsmithed over weeks or months in Vienna, then taken back to Tehran and Washington for formal sign-off . Clearly, no one has time for that process now. As he emerged from the talks in Geneva on June 20, Mr Araghchi did not sound in the mood for even starting down that road, any more than Mr Trump sounded very interested in negotiating. The Iranian foreign minister suggested that, in retrospect, perhaps his talks with Mr Witkoff had been an elaborate US -engineered shadow play, a cover for the Israelis as they prepared for war. 'So they had perhaps this plan in their mind, and they just needed negotiations perhaps to cover it up,' Mr Araghchi told NBC's Andrea Mitchell . 'We don't know how we can trust them anymore. What they did was in fact a betrayal to diplomacy.' Iran, he said, would never entirely stop making nuclear fuel. 'Zero enrichment is impossible,' he said. 'This is an achievement of our own scientists. It is a question of national pride.' NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.