Singapore

[Brief] BBC News reported on September 8 that Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will receive another salary increase, bringing his annual pay to 3.6 million Singapore dollars, approximately 2.8 million US dollars, with the annual increment equivalent to roughly 1 million US dollars. Wong will continue to firmly hold the position of the world’s highest-paid national leader. The Singapore government explained that the salary adjustment is intended to ensure that political leaders’ pay maintains a reasonable proportion relative to senior private sector managers, in order to preserve the government’s talent competitiveness. The decision has triggered a new round of discussion in Singapore about the reasonableness of public sector compensation. ...

Core Summary Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek has officially announced its exit from cryptocurrency investments, shifting strategic focus to artificial intelligence. The mega-fund managing $400 billion in assets plans to expand its AI-related investment share from the current 6% to 15% by 2031, demonstrating strong confidence from traditional capital giants in the AI sector. Event Overview According to CoinDesk, Temasek’s move reflects differing judgments by global large institutional investors toward crypto and AI. Despite the crypto market’s significant recovery in 2024-2025, Temasek believes AI technology offers more certain long-term investment value. ...

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that the US will not turn its back on Asian allies, but expects them to take on more defense responsibility, while also praising improved US-China relations.