Motion: Kenneth Tiong on reinforcing Singapore’s position as a global transport hub
Singapore is a major maritime hub with no national shipping line of its own. The sale of Neptune Orient Lines by Temasek was “a big failure of strategic judgement” and the government should not have allowed it, said MP Kenneth Tiong. He said the move “crystallised a financial gain”, but “sold the entire training ground” for a Singaporean seafaring core. In crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic or threats to shipping in the Red Sea, a nation relying on foreign lines is also served last, at whatever price is named, he said. Mr Tiong proposed that the government take action and “treat sovereign shipping as what it is - a strategic capability to be rebuilt deliberately”, even though it will cost billions. He spoke in parliament on Tuesday (Jul 7).
Singapore is a major maritime hub with no national shipping line of its own. The sale of Neptune Orient Lines by Temasek was “a big failure of strategic judgement” and the government should not have allowed it, said MP Kenneth Tiong. He said the move “crystallised a financial gain”, but “sold the entire training ground” for a Singaporean seafaring core. In crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic or threats to shipping in the Red Sea, a nation relying on foreign lines is also served last, at whatever price is named, he said. Mr Tiong proposed that the government take action and “treat sovereign shipping as what it is - a strategic capability to be rebuilt deliberately”, even though it will cost billions. He spoke in parliament on Tuesday (Jul 7).
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