Lawrence Wong is Singapore’s presumptive next prime minister

IN MANY RESPECTS Lawrence Wong resembles the scholar-statesmen both epitomised and prized by Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding father. Like Lee, the country’s first prime minister, and his son Lee Hsien Loong, the third and current one, Mr Wong did a stint at Harvard, earning a masters in public administration. He then climbed the ranks of the civil service, ending up as principal private secretary to Lee the younger. As a politician, his ministerial portfolios have included education and national development. He is currently the finance minister and co-chair of the government’s covid-19 task force. Although Singapore is a multiracial country, Mr Wong is an ethnic-Chinese man, like all previous heads of government.