S1E59: PM Wong’s NDR speech lacks ‘bitter medicine’: Jeremy Tan

The Straits Times Podcasts

How Singapore can truly be a ‘we first’ society.

Synopsis: Join Natasha Ann Zachariah at The Usual Place every Thursday as she unpacks the latest current affairs with guests.

“It’s not ‘I’ or ‘me’. It’s ‘we’. To keep Singapore going, we must be a ‘we first’ society.”

This was Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s rallying call to strengthen the Singaporean Spirit – to put the welfare of the community ahead of individual interest.

It came towards the end of his National Day Rally address on Aug 17, perhaps as a reminder that the way forward is not only paved by policies meant to fix problems.

PM Wong’s first NDR speech after the 2025 General Election emphasised that “when the whole is strong, each of us becomes stronger too”. This message built on what was put forth during the Forward Singapore exercise – launched by the country’s fourth-generation team of political leaders – to refresh Singapore’s social compact and build a shared future.

But how does this rallying call resonate with Singaporeans?

In this episode of The Usual Place, Natasha hosts Dr Rebecca Grace Tan, a political science lecturer at the National University of Singapore, and Mr Jeremy Tan, who ran as an independent candidate for Mountbatten SMC at GE2025.

They chat about PM Wong’s style of governance, and why he emphasised that Singapore needs to be a “we first” society to keep going.

Highlights (click/tap above):

4:34 Why Jeremy wanted PM Wong to give Singaporeans the “bitter medicine”

7:45 Were the expectations of big announcements warranted?

9:18 “The disconnect is something that needs to be addressed”: Jeremy

16:15 Does PM Wong’s style of delegating announcements to his colleagues work?

21:00 PM Wong’s rally call dichotomy: Empowering Singaporeans, yet slightly paternalistic?

28:06 The big question about PM Wong’s We First message: What can be the new approach?

Host: Natasha Ann Zachariah ([email protected])

Read Natasha’s articles: https://str.sg/iSXm

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Filmed by: Studio+65

Edited by: Teo Tong Kai & Eden Soh

Executive producers: Ernest Luis, Lynda Hong, Danson Cheong & Elizabeth Khor

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Chapters

1. PM Wong’s NDR speech lacks ‘bitter medicine’: Jeremy Tan (00:00:00)

2. No bitter medicine? (00:04:34)

3. Too much expectation? (00:07:45)

4. Disconnect needs to be addressed (00:09:18)

5. Delegating announcements to ministers? (00:16:15)

6. PM Wong's style: Dichotomy? (00:21:00)

7. How to really approach 'We First' style (00:28:06)