The Three Questions Dr. Clemen Chiang Couldn’t Stop Thinking About

What a residents’ session with Minister Chan Chun Sing taught Dr. Clemen Chiang about leadership, resilience and Singapore’s future.

For Dr. Clemen Chiang, a recent residents’ session with Minister Chan Chun Sing, Coordinating Minister for Public Services and Minister for Defence, became one of those moments.

The session began warmly, with jokes, laughter and an easy exchange between Minister Chan and the residents around him.

Then one gentleman asked a question that changed the mood in the room.

“In this fast-changing Singapore — AI, declining birth rates, an ageing population — how do we compete with so much shifting around us?”

It was a question about Singapore. But the answer carried lessons that went far beyond national policy.

Three Questions About Singapore Future

Minister Chan Chun Sing did not respond with a slogan or a simple reassurance.

Instead, he spoke about real challenges facing Singapore businesses, including trade decisions and higher US tariffs. These were decisions made far beyond Singapore’s borders, yet their impact could be felt by businesses and individuals here. It was a reminder of an important reality. Singapore is a small country operating in a world shaped by much larger economic and geopolitical forces.

Minister Chan then framed his responsibilities as Defence Minister around three questions:

• How do we stop others from bullying us?
• What value can we offer others?
• How do we keep Singapore’s body and soul?

These three questions stayed with Dr. Clemen Chiang. Because they aren't only questions for a nation. They can also apply to businesses, families and individuals.

Do not allow larger forces to determine everything for you. Create enough value that others want to work with you. And while pursuing progress and opportunity, never lose the values and identity that define who you are.

A Lesson in Singapore Leadership and Resilience

What stood out to Dr. Clemen Chiang was not simply Minister Chan’s answer.

It was his mindset. There was a clear understanding of how exposed a small country like Singapore can be to developments beyond its control. At the same time, there was no panic and no false comfort. Instead, the message was practical:

Understand what you cannot control, and become very serious about what you can.

That way of thinking matters. For countries, resilience does not come from assuming the world will remain favourable. It comes from preparing for the possibility that it will not.

For businesses, the same principle applies.

Markets change. Technology changes. Regulations change. Competitors change.

The question is not whether uncertainty will appear. It will.

The real question is whether you have built enough strength, usefulness and adaptability to continue moving forward when it does.

Dr. Clemen Chiang left the session with a feeling he does not express lightly — a quiet and deep confidence about where Singapore is headed. Not because the road ahead will be easy. But because of the calibre of the people thinking seriously about how the country should navigate it.

Three Meetings, One Principle

This was not the first time Dr. Clemen Chiang’s path had crossed with Minister Chan Chun Sing.

Over more than 20 years, it has happened three times. As a young Lieutenant in 1st PDF, Dr. Clemen Chiang heard him explain why he chose to lead the “obese battalion.” An army can only run as fast as its slowest men. So you lead them. You don’t leave them behind.

For years afterwards, Dr. Clemen Chiang would also see him at Evans Road pool, book in hand, waiting for his son. A father. No cameras.

And then came this residents’ session — a conversation about Singapore’s future. Three very different moments.

The same man. The same principle each time: No one left behind.

That is a leader men will rise to defend. We’re in good hands. 🇸🇬