Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has taken to Facebook to congratulate American President-Elect Donald Trump. He said that Trump’s candidacy not only took many by surprise, but that at each stage he defied expectations. Mr Lee said that while many will celebrate the result, others will understandably be surprised and disappointed.
“Mr Trump’s victory is part of a broader pattern in developed countries – reflecting a deep frustration with the way things are, and a strong wish to reassert a sense of identity, and somehow to change the status quo,” Mr Lee said.
Adding: “US voters have elected a President whom they feel best represents them. Singapore fully respects their decision. We will continue to work together with the United States to cultivate our strong ties.”
A commenter to Mr Lee’s post who garnered the most number of likes, Amos Maximilian Lee pointed out that the Prime Minister was just being diplomatic, and that the bottomline for Singapore is – it is a very bad news.
“No TPP, and his mouth is going to cause more instability in the South China Sea and Middle East.”
Trump however in his victory speech has reached out to the global community.
“I want to tell the world community…we will deal fairly with everyone. We will seek common ground – not hostility, partnership not conflict.” – Trump
Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin writing in his personal Facebook however, did not offer the American President-Elect any congratulations. He instead asked his Facebook friends for their thoughts and insights on Trump’s victory.
A senior Singapore government official had earlier refused to grant an interview to BBC about the possible win for Donald Trump in the American Presidential race. The unnamed senior official reportedly said: “Not much use doing an interview now. Governments the world over will require time to ponder the result.”
President-Elect Trump had earlier singled out Singapore as being among the list of countries which steals jobs from America. Speaking at a campaign rally in Florida on 6 Nov, Trump told his supporters that they are “living through the greatest jobs theft in the history of the world.”
He added: “There’s never been a country that’s lost jobs like we do, so stupidly, so easy to solve…Goodrich Lighting Systems laid off 255 workers and moved their jobs to India. Baxter Health Care laid off 199 workers and moved their jobs to Singapore. It’s getting worse and worse and worse.”
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This is an in-house report.