The Commercialisation of Diplomacy

Note: This was recorded at 11am on Wed, 21 Jan 2026, before WP’s statement rejecting the LO nomination.

As the Workers’ Party weighs who should replace Pritam Singh as Leader of the Opposition, Singapore also responds to a surprising US invitation to join Donald Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace”.

𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙧: 𝙎𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙁𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 (𝙎𝙄𝙁)
𝘚𝘐𝘍 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘈𝘴 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯-𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘚𝘐𝘍 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺’𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘕𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘳, 𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘩 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺-𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴. 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘦 | yahlahbut.short.gy/764

𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘚𝘐𝘍 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰 | www.sif.org.sg

𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗸 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴

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(00:00) A Message from SIF
(01:00) Intro
(06:27) Who Should Replace Pritam Singh as LO
(34:11) Why Trump Wants S’pore on His “Board of Peace”
(53:50) One Shiok Comment
(55:50) One Shiok Thing

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𝗧𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲:
Who Should Replace Pritam Singh as LO

• 2 Sengkang MPs, former Hougang MP to sit on WP disciplinary panel looking into Pritam Singh’s conduct
• Pritam Singh, Sylvia Lim seen at outreach event as WP deliberates Leader of the Opposition nomination
• WP 'better off' taking up PM Wong's invitation to name new Leader of the Opposition, say analysts who cite four possible candidates
• [2018] History of leader of Opposition in S'pore, from LKY to Chiam See Tong and Low Thia Khiang

Why Trump Wants S’pore on His “Board of Peace”

• Singapore 'currently assessing' invitation from US to join Trump's 'board of peace'
• Trump says Board of Peace established to oversee reconstruction of Gaza ‘might’ replace the United Nations
• Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza to require $1 billion payment for permanent membership
• 'Let's dream big': US ambassador asks for 'financial contributions' from Singaporean firms for July 4 celebrations
• US Embassy in Singapore defends Independence Day donation request as standard practice

𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 @𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘦
𝘌𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘬