In full: PM Wong speaks at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum

PM: And sometimes we get more than flies.

Moderator: Yes, but how many flies can Singapore tolerate? And do you need a biggest fly swatter?

PM: We do have quite a big fly swatter. I mean, we take it very seriously. It is not unique to Singapore, the illicit flows are everywhere. All financial centres have to deal with this. So to us, it is not so much about that there is an incident, there are bound to be incidents and they are bound to be suspicious transactions, and with intelligence, with cooperation across different countries, eventually we get to the bottom of it.

The key is, what do you do? And we are very stringent, and we take swift action, and we are determined to protect our reputation, because that is what keeps Singapore going – a trusted business and financial centre.

Moderator: Can I ask you about energy? I have been quite struck being here for the past day or so, is that a lot of people are talking about all those new data centres, the idea that AI particularly will need more energy. You look at Singapore energy at the moment, virtually all of it comes from LNG (Liquified Natural Gas), very successful.

But the idea that somehow, in the end, Singapore has to kind of get energy of its own and there you are really in a choice about either trying to do something with one of your neighbours, maybe a renewable thing, or whatever. The other big, very obvious option is nuclear energy. Is that something which is going become a much bigger part of Singapore’s future?

PM: We do not know yet, but we are certainly studying the options seriously. There will not be an easy silver bullet in our case because we are small. We are unable to scale up renewable energy in terms of the amounts that we need. Some of the solutions as you highlighted, would include plugging into an ASEAN power grid, which we are building – taking time, complex, but it is happening.

But still, we would like to have our own source of clean power. Hydrogen might come up as one possibility, but it is expensive. So you could ship hydrogen and then burn it through a turbine, it is got lower emissions than LNG. That is possible.

But we are also studying the possibility of nuclear power, especially when you look at some of the new technologies with SMRs (small modular reactors) which are safer. We are looking at whether it might be possible in our context. We are very small- 750 square kilometres or less than 300 square miles. That is tiny.

Moderator: Yes.

PM: So we have to take it, we have to look at it, consider the safety very closely before we decide, and look at the technology and how it is evolved.

Moderator: Is there some kind of timescale on that? When do you think…

PM: It really depends also on how the technology evolves and as of now, we have been looking at different technologies. You do not really see very many operational SMRs, particularly the SMRs, which are grid scale. We are not talking about the tiny ones, like 50 megawatts. Those do not serve our needs. We are talking about grid scale, commercial scale SMRs, and you do not see a lot of them around, as of now.

And so we are studying, looking at, you know, we are working with partners, including America and others, Europe, looking at the technology, understanding it better, understanding the implications. And then if we think it is possible, we will have to also convince the public that this is indeed a technology that is safe and deployable in Singapore. But we are not there yet. We are still at the very early stages of building up capabilities.

Moderator: Many things about you and ask you a personal question at the end, you know you are the first leader to be born after Singapore declared independence.

PM: Yes.

Moderator: It was only the second leader outside the Lee family. I wondered …

PM: We only had four prime ministers in Singapore.

Moderator: Not many people have had four prime ministers for that long. What makes the biggest difference to you – is it that generational thing?

PM: Difference in terms of?

Moderator: In terms of the way that you want to go ahead, that you are somebody from a new generation of Singapore. Does that make a bigger difference in the way you want to lead Singapore over the next period?

PM: I suppose me being from a different generation is part of it. But in terms of ethos, mindset, values, I represent the party, and the foundational values remain the same. We are here to build a better Singapore because history has never been kind to small states. And we know despite our success these last 60 years, the world is a dangerous place, it has become even more dangerous.

And our mission, my mission, is to keep Singapore going. Not just in my term, but to leave behind a better Singapore for my successor and for future generations. So that remains the ethos- the foundational values in which my party represent- which I represent. I keep going back to this very vivid memory of when I was in Michigan studying, I have told this story before, but not all the guests here might know this – there is a ghost town in Michigan, and it is called Singapore. Truly. It was founded …

Moderator: Based around free trade and minimal government.

PM: I do not know, it was founded in the 1830s near Lake Michigan. Why Singapore? Perhaps 1830s, perhaps it took inspiration from the fact that in 1819, there was this exotic port in the exotic far east founded by Sir Stamford Raffles. And so maybe the name travelled, it took some time for things to travel in those days, and perhaps it took inspiration from that.

But Singapore and Michigan did not last very long, I think about 50 years. It is overwhelmed by the sifting sand dunes, and now there is only a marker that says this is where Singapore, Michigan stood. We want Singapore in Southeast Asia to last for a very long time – that is my mission.

Moderator: Well, we all hope you achieve that. Thank you very much, prime minister, for talking to us. Thank you very much for hosting us here.

PM: Thank you.