YouTube video

New Naratif held a contest inviting people to tell us who they thought the next Prime Minister of Singapore should be, and why. The winner, with 57 votes, was Yeo Kian Hwee, who (presciently) picked Lawrence Wong. He speaks to PJ Thum about his thoughts on the succession and a Lawrence Wong premiership. As Yeo was born in Malaysia, they also have a discussion about the difference between Malaysian and Singaporean politics, and PJ also gives a brief impromptu history lesson about two of the PAP’s big policy missteps, “Stop at Two” and the Second Industrial Revolution. Thank you to everyone who voted in the contest!

You can watch the episode of “The Show of PJ Thum” referred to in the conversation (on Singapore’s economic quandary) at: https://youtu.be/ZFI8GJI0hUo

Thum Ping Tjin (“PJ”) is Managing Director of New Naratif and a historian at the University of Oxford. A Rhodes Scholar, Commonwealth Scholar, Olympic athlete, and the only Singaporean to swim the English Channel, his work centres on Southeast Asian governance and politics. His most recent work is Living with Myths in Singapore (Ethos: 2017, co-edited with Loh Kah Seng and Jack Chia). Reach him at pingtjin.thum@newnaratif.com.

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