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Lawrence Wong

Prime Minister, Singapore

Search every verified Lawrence Wong interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong delivered his National Day Rally speech on August 23, 2026, announcing a range of measures focused on family support, including increased childcare leave tied to the number of children, reduced preschool fees, and higher income ceilings for subsidized housing. He also outlined plans to address the risks of artificial intelligence and social media, and discussed long-term projects such as merging several southern islands. In his National Day message earlier that month, he addressed the impact of global conflicts on Singapore's economy and reiterated the government's commitment to supporting citizens through uncertainty. In September, Wong spoke at the 25th anniversary dinner of Singapore's Economist Service, where he argued that good intentions alone do not make good policies and emphasized the importance of economic principles such as prices, costs, and incentives. He also led the government's response to a review of political salaries, announcing a one-off adjustment of up to 9% rather than moving immediately to the recommended levels. Wong stated that he would donate the full increase in his own salary to good causes for the next five years, and said that no one should enter politics for the money.

Recent appearances

  • [FULL] Good intentions alone do not make good policies: PM Wong to Singapore's Economist Service

    September 30, 2026 · 📺 The Straits Times

    Prime Minister Lawrence Wong spoke at the 25th anniversary dinner of the Economist Service on Sept 30, urging economists to remain disciplined when policymaking. The service comprises more than 100 economists spread across 20 government agencies and two international organisations. Follow The Straits Times on YouTube: https://str.sg/ytsub Turn on notifications 🔔 to stay updated. -------------------- WEBSITE ➤ https://www.straitstimes.com WHATSAPP ➤ https://str.sg/whatsapp TIKTOK ➤   / straitstimes   INSTAGRAM ➤   / straits_times   FACEBOOK ➤   / thestraitstimes   TWITTER ➤   / straits_times…

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  • 'No one should enter politics for the money': Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong

    September 10, 2026 · 📺 CNA

    The government and the Workers’ Party broadly agree on the political salary adjustments to be implemented during the current term, but differ over how ministerial salaries should be benchmarked in the longer run, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Thursday (Sep 10) during a parliamentary debate on the issue. Mr Wong said he had deliberated “long and hard” over the decision to adjust political salaries, acknowledging concerns among Singaporeans over the cost of living, jobs and livelihoods. But governing was not only about addressing today’s pressures, he said. It also meant ensuring Singa…

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  • Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s Closing Statement on the 2026 Review of Political Salaries

    September 10, 2026 · 📺 govsg

    In closing, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong addressed feedback on the structure and implementation of the 2026 adjustments to political salaries. He spoke about how the Government was adopting a measured approach on the review committee’s recommended salary framework. At the same time, he acknowledged the responsibility to ensure that the Government continues to sustain the quality of political leadership that Singapore will continue to need. PM Wong delivered a Closing Statement on the Parliamentary debates to the 2026 Review of Salaries for Political Appointment Holders and Members of Parlia…

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  • PM Lawrence Wong on the Government’s Response to the 2026 Review of Political Salaries

    September 07, 2026 · 📺 govsg

    Singapore’s salary framework for political officeholders has remained unchanged for 15 years. Following the review of the political salary framework by an independent committee, the Government has accepted their recommendations to update salary benchmarks for political officeholders. Instead of moving immediately to the recommended salary levels, political officeholders will receive a one-off adjustment of up to 9%, with future salary adjustments pegged to individual performance and responsibilities. Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong explained in Parliament on 8 Septem…

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  • PM Lawrence Wong on why political salaries are being reviewed now

    September 07, 2026 · 📺 CNA

    “We run an open system and believe in being transparent about ministerial salaries,” said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in Parliament on Tuesday (Sep 8). Mr Wong was speaking during his ministerial statement on the government’s response to the review of salaries for political appointment holders and MPs. He said political salaries should be transparent with no hidden perks and privileges. Read on: https://cna.asia/4Ag4sQG Subscribe to our channel here: https://cna.asia/youtubesub Visit our website: https://cna.asia Download our app: https://cna.asia/app Get our editors' picks of stories v…

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  • PM Lawrence Wong at Paralympic Day 2026

    August 28, 2026 · 📺 Prime Minister's Office, Singapore

    Speech by Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong at the inaugural Paralympic Day 2026 on 29 August 2026. (PMO Video)

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  • WORLD NEWS LIVE: Singapore PM Lawrence Wong Delivers Major National Day Rally Speech

    August 23, 2026 · 📺 Times Now World

    Watch WORLD NEWS LIVE as Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong delivers his National Day Rally speech, addressing the nation during celebrations marking Singapore’s National Day. Follow live coverage, key messages, policy highlights, and reactions from the rally. #Singapore #LawrenceWong #SingaporePM #NationalDay #NationalDayRally #SingaporeNews #SingaporePolitics #AsiaNews #SoutheastAsia #LiveNews #WorldNews #BreakingNews #SingaporeLive #NationalDayCelebrations Stay connected with Times Now World for real-time global news and analysis: 🌐 Read full coverage: https://www.timesnownews.com/w…

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  • NDR 2026: Key announcements from National Day Rally 2026

    August 23, 2026 · 📺 CNA

    Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced a slew of measures to support Singaporeans in his National Day Rally speech on Sunday (Aug 23), with families set to receive more help through enhanced childcare leave, financial support and housing priority. Looking further ahead, PM Wong outlined Singapore’s approach to the risks posed by increasingly powerful AI, as well as ambitious plans to merge Pulau Semakau and several other islands into a larger island to meet the country’s future economic, energy and defence needs. Here are the key announcements from #NDR2026. Subscribe to our channel here: h…

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  • National Day Rally 2026: A Changed World. A Stronger Singapore – English Speech

    August 23, 2026 · 📺 govsg

    How is Singapore preparing itself and Singaporeans amidst a changed world? Prime Minister Lawrence Wong focused on four key areas at the National Day Rally 2026 - giving families more support, harnessing new technology on our own terms, staying open, connected and united, and building for our future generations. PM Wong was speaking at the National Day Rally on 23 August 2026 at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) Headquarters. #NDR2026 -------------------- 00:00 A Changed World 11:45 Embracing Technology on our Own Terms 25:44 Supporting Families 47:55 Staying Open and Connected…

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  • National Day Rally 2026: PM Wong stresses support for parents across all life stages of child

    August 23, 2026 · 📺 CNA

    In his National Day Rally speech, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong also stressed the need for consistent support for parents across all life stages of a child. These range from monetary gifts, childcare grants and access to subsidised public housing. The idea is to ensure that as a child grows, support for the family continues. Beatrice Yap reports.

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  • National Day Rally 2026: More childcare leave for parents with more children, says PM Wong

    August 23, 2026 · 📺 CNA

    In his National Day Rally speech, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong also said the government will give parents what they want most - time. He announced changes to childcare leave, with greater support for larger families. He also signalled further enhancements to paid parental leave in future, beyond the current up to 30 weeks of government-paid leave. Nadine Yeam reports.

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  • National Day Rally 2026

    August 23, 2026 · 📺 Prime Minister's Office, Singapore

    Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong delivered his National Day Rally 2026 speech on 23 August 2026 at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) Headquarters. PM Wong spoke in Malay and Mandarin, followed by English. Artist impressions shown during the speech are for illustration only; actual developments may differ. Transcripts of all the speeches are available on the PMO website: www.pmo.gov.sg

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Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“Prices matter. Costs matter. Incentives matter. Stated like this, they sound very obvious. Yet these basic principles can be surprisingly easy to ignore – especially when there is pressure to act quickly, or when a simple solution sounds more attractive. And we have seen this around the world, where bad policies are introduced with the best of intentions. Prices are held artificially low. Benefits are promised withou”

“Good intentions alone do not make good policies. Nor is the answer simply to leave everything to the market. Because markets can fail. And there are important things we care about as a society that markets alone cannot provide. And that is why Singapore has never taken a laissez-faire approach. The government intervenes actively in many areas – we are not shy about intervening, and we do so to correct market failures”

“There is a perception that civil servants joining politics enjoy a pay increase. I want to dispel that myth. That does not happen. There is no increase when civil servants join politics. Sometimes it's even a pay cut. And when you look at the earnings over subsequent years for civil servants, if they had stayed on and done well, they would very likely have earned more in the civil service.”

“The benchmark does not mean that we intend to recruit our political leaders only from these 1,000 individuals. Plainly, we do not. The benchmark is a reference point. It seeks to capture in a broad and objective way the opportunity cost faced by the sort of people we hope will step forward for political service. People with the ability and experience to take on very demanding national responsibilities whether they co”

“The mistaken premise that the purpose of the salary framework is to entice people into politics with money. It is not the case. Mr. Pritam Singh said for that for the workers party the MP's allowance is not the key to recruiting candidates. This is not unique to the workers party. And no one has a monopoly on virtue. All PAP candidates too step forward because they want to serve Singapore and their fellow Singaporean”

“I have decided that for the next 5 years, assuming I remain prime minister, I will donate the full increase in my salary arising from this adjustment. The government will continue to pay me the salary provided for under the framework, which is how our system works. I will then donate the increase to suitable good causes. This is my own decision. I do not expect other office holders to do the same.”

The summary and quote tags on this profile are produced with AI assistance from verified, first-person interview transcripts, then checked by our team to confirm the speaker's identity and the accuracy of every quote. See how we verify →