Singapore’s new Prime Minister Lawrence Wong vowed to make “tomorrow better than today” as he took his oath of office Wednesday in a carefully planned political succession designed to ensure stability in the Asian financial hub.

A U.S.-trained economist, Mr. Wong, 51, succeeds Lee Hsien Loong, 72, who stepped down after two decades. He is the city-state’s fourth leader and the first born after Singapore’s independence in 1965.

Mr. Lee’s departure marked the end of a family dynasty led by his father Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first leader, who built the colonial trading outpost into one of the world’s richest nations during 31 years in office.

Mr. Wong paid tribute to his predecessors for dedication to the nation, saying “we stand on the shoulders of giants.” But he said his leadership style will differ as he navigates Singapore through a more troubled world.

“This is a passing of the baton not just between leadership teams but also across generations,” Mr. Wong said. “We will lead in our own way. We will continue to think boldly and think far.”

The transition has been meticulously crafted by the People’s Action Party, one of the world’s longest-serving political parties and known for its clean and effective governance. It is not expected to change the dynamics in the tiny nation of some 6 million people.

Mr. Wong, a civil servant turned politician, came to prominence while coordinating Singapore’s successful fight against COVID-19. But he wasn’t the first choice for the top job.

Heng Swee Keat, a former central bank chief and education minister, was the anointed successor but he withdrew his nomination in 2021. Mr. Wong was then picked by the People’s Action Party in 2022 to fill the vacuum and quickly promoted to deputy prime minister.

Mr. Wong warned that Singapore must brace for a “messier, riskier and more violent world” by staying united and blazing new trails. As global powers fight to shape a new world order, he said protectionism and rampant nationalism will deepen.

Amid China-U.S. rivalry, he said Singapore — which has stayed neutral — would continue to engage both nations.

Mr. Wong has retained the Cabinet and held onto his finance portfolio as he prepares for his first big test in general elections. Those are due by 2025. Before taking office, he promoted Trade Minister Gan Kim Yong as one of two deputy premiers. The other deputy is Mr. Heng.

Mr. Lee stayed on as a senior minister, a path taken by all former premiers.

While victory in the election is assured, Mr. Wong must clinch a stronger wing after the PAP suffered a setback in 2020 polls over voters’ rising discontent with the government.

Singapore under Mr. Lee’s rule flourished into one of the world’s wealthiest nations, but it also became one of the most expensive cities to live in. The PAP has also been criticized for tight government control and a government-knows-best stance, media censorship and the use of oppressive laws against dissidents.

Issues like widening income disparity, increasingly unaffordable housing, overcrowding caused by immigration and restrictions on free speech are often used as fodder by the opposition and have loosened the PAP’s grip on power.

“One-party dominance in Singapore is weakening but the challenge for the PAP leadership is to slow down the process,” said Eugene Tan, a law professor at Singapore Management University.

Bridget Welsh, a Southeast Asia political expert, said Lee “will be remembered for steering Singapore quietly and successfully through turbulent waters from the 2008-2009 financial crisis and COVID-19. He helped to build resilience in Singapore. … (But) Singapore has become a more complex society, with more open demands, making the task of governing (for Wong) more challenging.”

Mr. Wong was born seven years after Singapore separated from Malaysia and gained independence. His father was a migrant from China and his mother was a teacher. Unlike many senior PAP leaders, he didn’t have a privileged background. Observers have said this could help him relate better with the common citizen.

Mr. Wong earned a scholarship to study in the U.S., later obtaining a masters’ degree in economics from the University of Michigan and another masters’ degree in public administration from Harvard University. He spent years in public service including as a principal private secretary to Mr. Lee before entering politics in 2011. He has handled the defense, education, communications, culture, community and youth portfolios.

Like Mr. Lee, Mr. Wong is active on social media. Married with no children, he doesn’t reveal much about his private life but has offered glimpses into his interests in music and dogs, and he is a fan of tennis star Roger Federer. He often posts videos of himself playing guitar.

Mr. Wong has launched a Forward Singapore plan to let Singaporeans have a say in how to develop a more balanced, vibrant and inclusive agenda for the next generation.

“This is my promise to all Singaporeans. I will serve you with all my heart. I will never settle for the status quo. I will always seek better ways to make tomorrow better than today,” Wong said.

Law professor Tan said Mr. Wong’s immediate priorities will be to address issues including the rising cost of living, housing affordability and job security. “Bread-and-butter issues remain vital even for a prosperous country, partly because of Singapore’s innate vulnerabilities,” he said.

Singapore:

Singapore swore in Lawrence Wong as the city-state’s new prime minister in a ceremony broadcast live on television on Wednesday after Lee Hsien Loong stepped down following two decades in office.

Wong, formerly deputy prime minister, was inaugurated at the Istana government office shortly after 8 pm local time (1200 GMT), to become the second person outside the Lee family to lead the affluent nation.

“I… do solemnly swear that I will at all times faithfully discharge my duties as prime minister according to law, and to the best of my knowledge and ability, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. So help me God,” the 51-year-old said.

Members of Wong’s cabinet were also sworn in, including his predecessor Lee, 72, who was appointed to the advisory role of senior minister.

The US-educated economist is widely seen as a social media-savvy stalwart who effectively handled the Covid-19 crisis when he oversaw the government’s pandemic taskforce.

“He brings a style of leadership that’s more attuned to a different generation,” said Mustafa Izzuddin, a political analyst with the Solaris Strategies Singapore consultancy.

“The core principle of what Singapore is about will remain because it is a system that has worked for many years. But I think his style may be slightly different because he comes from a different generation.”

Wong, who will remain as finance minister, was chosen as Lee’s heir-apparent in 2022 from a new generation of lawmakers from the People’s Action Party (PAP), which has ruled uninterrupted since Singapore’s independence in 1965.

Stern patriarch

Lee Kuan Yew, Lee Hsien Loong’s father, was Singapore’s first prime minister when it became a sovereign nation after a brief, unsuccessful union with Malaysia.

The stern patriarch, who once said he preferred to be feared than loved, oversaw the transformation of Singapore from a sleepy British colonial outpost to a financial hub in a little more than 30 years.

The elder Lee handed power in 1990 to his deputy, former shipping executive Goh Chok Tong, who was initially considered a “seat-warmer” for the patriarch’s son.

Goh, however, stayed on for 14 years before Lee Hsien Loong took over in 2004.

Wong, the fourth prime minister in Singapore’s history, must lead the PAP to the next general elections, which are not due until November 2025 but could be called as early as this year.

“We’re looking at a time when the ruling party’s stranglehold on politics appears to be weaker than it has ever been before,” said political analyst Eugene Tan.

“We’re talking about a more competitive political landscape, we’re talking about Singaporeans who feel that it might be good for Singapore to have a strong opposition,” said Tan, associate professor of law at the Singapore Management University.

The opposition had its strongest performance since independence in the previous election in 2020 but hardly made a dent in parliament, with 83 out of the 93 seats won by the PAP.

The PAP’s squeaky clean image was stained recently by scandals that saw two lawmakers resign and a minister charged with graft.

The Workers’ Party, Singapore’s main opposition party, has also suffered from scandals, with two members resigning and its leader charged for giving false testimony before a parliamentary committee.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

It so happens that succession stories are often scripted like thrillers. When Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew stepped down in 1990, after three decades in power, he picked Goh Chok Tong to be the “stopgap” Prime Minister until his son’s time came. At times, the plot glitches, and the heir is chosen due to chance and circumstance. Take Lawrence Wong, the former Finance Minister who will succeed Lee Hsien Loong — the son who has been in power for 20 years — to become Singapore’s fourth Prime Minister.

Mr. Wong was not the first and familiar choice. The 51-year-old former civil servant has not been trained in the way Mr. Lee or Mr. Goh have. In 2018, the first pick withdrew, and the smooth succession planning was crinkled with uncertainty. All eyes shifted to Mr. Wong during COVID. His was a steadying voice guiding Singapore through the pandemic; a credible face representing Singapore’s equitable future. Corruption and ethics scandals within the ruling People’s Action Party have left Singaporeans yearning for accountability. Mr. Wong is now tasked with fortifying the party’s walls, and earning back the lost trust, before next year’s general elections.

The budding economist

Mr. Wong on April 15 accepted the leadership position with “humility and a deep sense of duty”.

He was raised in the Methodist tradition of Christianity; the family of four living in public housing in Marine Parade. His mother was a teacher. “To have a strong sense of responsibility, of making sure that if I commit to something, I do it well… that shaped me in a certain way,” he said in an interview. His father is from China and travelled to the British-controlled Malaya to work with his grandfather. He later went to Singapore to work as a sales executive. If his mother passed along discipline, his father bequeathed him a love for music. At age eight, Mr. Wong received a guitar, sparking a love affair with rock, blues and soul, jazz. He put up pictures of Eric Clapton’s guitar on his walls; fostered an adoration for Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald. After high school, Mr. Wong pursued economics on a government scholarship in the U.S., because “all the guitarists and musicians I followed were largely American”, he told The Straits Times.

He often went busking; even took classes on rock and roll. Reality hit as he inched towards graduation when he failed to answer a question about Singapore’s model of development: he was going to graduate “without a mastery of the subject”, he recalled. The childhood discipline kicked in: he dedicated himself to mastering macroeconomics, economic modelling, even Singapore’s economic model. Mr. Wong later also completed a Public Administration degree from the Harvard Kennedy School.

The young economist picked a job in the Ministry of Trade and Industry circa 1997, the start of the Asian financial crisis (“nothing that I learned in school prepared me for such an assignment”, he said). Future stints included time at the Ministries of Finance and Health, after which he shadowed PM Lee between 2005 and 2008. The private sector beckoned in between; he told Petir he “was tempted to leave” for more lucrative opportunities. His mentor, former civil servant Lim Siong Guan, told him to be “patient”. The advice paid off: “my job started to grow considerably… [including] work that entailed national policies or working with fellow Singaporeans…”

Political entry

Mr. Wong’s first test came during the COVID-19 pandemic when he “rose to the occasion without breaking under the stress and pressure”, a colleague said in an interview. His “down-to-earth approach” and calm handling of the pandemic helped him build trust within the PAP. Mr. Wong is also known for spearheading the Forward Singapore agenda, involving more than 200,000 people in the exercise that maps Singapore’s priorities and vision.

The current deputy Prime Minister lives a guarded personal life. His first marriage ended after three years due to “incompatibility”; he is now married to Loo Tze Lui, a former banker working in wealth management. Mr. Wong’s social media offers a peek into his world; he is a “bookworm, guitar player and dog lover”, his bio reads. Scroll and one finds reels of Mr. Wong jamming to Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode and a rendition of Taylor Swift’s ‘Love Story’ dedicated to teachers for their hard work. He comes across someone “who is comfortable with emoting and personable,” but can be “tough” if required, analyst Eugene Tan told Bloomberg.

Over time, Mr. Wong has cultivated a professional reputation for being clear and persuasive; serious and sincere; attentive and amicable. Speaking of his work ethic, the politician said: “…in the Methodist tradition, you would say your work is your worship… [your work] is a testimony of how you as a person are an example… for the world.”

In him, politician Yaacob Ibrahim told The Straits Times was a rare quality: Mr. Wong “never had ambitions to become the prime minister”.

Mr. Lee had intended to step down before his 70th birthday, a plan upended because of the pandemic. The transition also overlaps with crises on the PAP’s frontiers. Three high-profile politicians resigned after a corruption and ethics case threatened to sully the reputation of the party. Mr. Wong said in July he would “work doubly hard” to earn Singaporeans’ confidence. “Everything depends on the success of this third transition in our history,” he said during a party convention.

In the successor’s hands lies the dynasty’s legacy. But what will be Mr. Wong’s legacy? Some think he may uphold the status quo without ruffling many feathers. The opposition Singapore Democratic Party in 2022 said Mr. Wong is “substantively no different” from his colleague [PM]. Critics have censured him for increasing taxes; it encumbers people living in one of the most expensive countries in the world. Others foresee more worker-friendly policies, devised through processes that engage citizens. Mr. Wong has also spoken about changing the “identity” of the island state to make it “a more middle-income society”.

Mr. Wong in a 2022 interview recollected a wisdom his mentor acquired when he worked with Goh Keng Swee, the deputy to Lee Kuan Yew. Dr. Goh’s philosophy was to always know the answers to Lee’s questions. If the deputy failed, he “would make it a point” to try and master the topic within hours. To the dutiful Mr. Wong, this was a “very inspiring example”.The designated successor is inheriting this advice. One month before the change of the guard, he said in a post: “I pledge to give my all in this undertaking.”