Singapore finance minister Heng Swee Keat put in line to be next PM

Singapore's ruling party on Friday named Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat to a key leadership post, possibly putting him in line to take over as prime minister when current leader Lee Hsien Loong steps down.

Mr Heng's appointment as the first assistant secretary general of the People's Action Party follows months of behind-the-scenes moves to select a new leader, a departure from the wealthy city-state's normally orderly and anticipated succession process.

In a post on the party's Facebook page, Prime Minister Lee said members of its top decision-making body, the central executive committee, had picked Mr Heng to be their leader.

"I support the decision of the younger team, and am happy with this outcome," Mr Lee said, adding that he would soon reshuffle the cabinet.

The role is immediately under the secretary general position, now held by Mr Lee. He has pledged to step down in coming years, with an election expected as soon as next year.

"Going by the PAP’s past practice, the next-generation leader designated to succeed the current top leader is usually made first assistant secretary general of the ruling party," said Eugene Tan, a law professor at Singapore Management University.

"This was the case for both Mr Goh Chok Tong and Mr Lee Hsien Loong when they were understudying their predecessors," said Mr Tan, an expert on Singapore's political process, referring to the island's second and current prime ministers.

The potential leadership transition comes as rising global protectionism threatens the city-state's open economy, while at home the government tries to tackle growing unease over wealth disparity and social mobility.

Mr Heng, 57, was one of three ministers tipped this year to succeed Mr Lee, 66. He is the most experienced of the leading candidates but concerns about his health after he suffered a stroke and collapsed during a cabinet meeting in 2016 had raised questions about his suitability.

Another of the three, Trade Minister Chan Chun Sing, 49, was appointed second assistant secretary general on Friday.

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Jewel of the Expo 2020

252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome

13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas

550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome

724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses

Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa

Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site

The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants

Al Wasl means connection in Arabic

World’s largest 360-degree projection surface

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.