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Ministry of Finance (MOF)
Speeches

The Business Times’ 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner GOH Address – 2M Jeffrey Siow

1 October 2026

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Mr Khaw Boon Wan,
Mr Chan Yeng Kit,
Ms Chen Huifen,
Colleagues,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

  1. A very good evening to all of you. I am delighted to join you tonight to celebrate The Business Times’ 50th anniversary.

TRIBUTE TO MR KHAW BOON WAN

  1. Let me first begin with a very special tribute.

  2. Tonight, Mr Khaw Boon Wan is handing over his responsibilities to Mr Chan Yeng Kit, after five fruitful years as Chairman of SPH Media Trust and SPH Media Holdings.

  3. I first knew Mr Khaw back in 2015, when he became my Minister at the Ministry of Transport. This was back when I was still in the civil service.

    1. He already had a reputation by then as a leader who was entrusted with some of the most challenging national issues – whether in healthcare, housing, or transport.

  4. My learnings and takeaways from the time under Mr Khaw went far beyond the policies and projects that we worked on. But what stayed with me the most was how deeply he cared for the people he worked with – the over 250,000 transport workers, maintenance engineers, bus and taxi drivers, as well as public officers.

    1. Mr Khaw always believed that the best way to improve outcomes was to get people to work together.

    2. He called this the OneTransport approach: different organisations, operating as one team around a common mission.

  5. When I returned to MOT last year, one of the first people I went to for advice was Mr Khaw.

    1. His message remained the same: get the team aligned; focus everyone on the same mission; and then work patiently on the fundamentals.

  6. After his retirement from politics, Mr Khaw was persuaded to return to working life to chair the newly formed SPH Media Trust and SPH Media Holdings.

    1. The same principles guided his work there.

    2. In 2021, SPH's media business was undergoing a fundamental restructuring.

    3. The old business model was no longer sustainable. Audiences were moving online. Advertising economics had changed. Competition for attention had intensified.

    4. SPH Media was reconstituted under a not-for-profit structure, with a renewed mission to sustain quality journalism as a public good.

    5. Mr Khaw took on the task of helping the new organisation find its footing, with a focus on building the new leadership team.

  7. Five years later, this new team is firmly established, and SPH’s transformation has gained significant momentum.

  8. Ladies and gentleman, in all, Mr Khaw Boon Wan has dedicated almost 50 years of his life to public service. Please join me to thank Mr Khaw for his leadership and his lifetime of contributions to Singapore.

HISTORY OF BT

  1. Ladies and gentlemen, on this very day exactly 50 years ago, The Business Times (BT) appeared on the newsstands for the very first time.

    1. For years, it had existed in the shadows as a supplement to the Straits Times.

    2. But upon its launch as a standalone daily newspaper, it had already a modest but loyal daily circulation of around 2,500 copies.

    3. BT’s aim, as stated in its own words, was to bring the business community the news it wants and needs.

  2. I went back to look at that very first issue.

    1. Within its dozen pages was a surprisingly wide coverage – from stronger economic cooperation between ASEAN and Japan; to import controls in Britain; and updates on the Singapore shipping industry.

    2. Interestingly, there was a specific section on transport – air, land and sea news.

    3. The advertisements were also super interesting – for wooden golf clubs, large business calculators, and car cassette players – a reflection of those times.

  3. A dedicated financial publication like The Business Times was important for local businesses.

    1. Singapore was then at the cusp of an economic transformation.

      1. We were industrialising rapidly, bringing in multinational companies, expanding our links to global markets, and developing ourselves as a financial centre.

    2. Understanding what was happening beyond our shores was essential.

    3. A small country like ours with those ambitions needed a business press that could explain the financial world, in real time and with rigour.

    4. This was the opportunity that BT seized.

  4. Over the next five decades, The Business Times would chronicle key milestones in our economic history.

    1. The 1985 recession.

    2. The Pan-Electric crisis and reforms to our securities markets.

    3. The Asian Financial Crisis.

    4. The Global Financial Crisis.

    5. And more recently, COVID-19 and its unprecedented disruptions.

  5. All these were reported with BT’s trademark precision.

BT’s ROLE TODAY

  1. Today, The Business Times remains the only daily business and financial newspaper in Singapore. It has over 25 million unique annual users, both locally and abroad.

  2. This is the collective achievement of generations of editors, journalists, and staff over the last fifty years. I congratulate all of you.

  3. Fifty years ago, a newspaper created value by gathering information and delivering it to readers.

  4. Today, information is abundant.

    1. Anyone can publish to a global audience.

    2. And we have more access to more information than at any previous point in human history.

  5. So the value of a good business publication has changed.

    1. The premium is not simply about access to information or speed of publication.

    2. Increasingly, it will be on three factors: trust, judgement and perspective.

Trust

  1. Trust is fundamental to all journalism. But it is especially important in business and financial journalism.

    1. Financial news is often acted upon instantly.

      1. A report can affect how an investor deploys capital, how a company responds to a new regulation, or how a business assesses its market and risks.

      2. And conversely, inaccuracy has serious consequences.

  2. Today, in an environment where rumours can travel around the world in minutes, the value of verified information will only grow.

    1. This is where an established newsroom like BT has an advantage.

      1. The facts have been checked.

      2. Sources have been tested.

      3. Different perspectives have been considered.

    2. For example, if people want to understand how Temasek's portfolio performed over the past decade, or want to read about the bonds that Singapore Airlines issued during COVID-19, all they have to do is to find that information in The Business Times.

Judgement

  1. The second element of a good publication is judgement.

    1. Facts are the foundation of truth. But readers also need help deciding which facts matter.

  2. Consider the decisions that a Singapore business leader has to make today.

    1. What does a change in US trade policy mean for my supply chain?

    2. How will AI change my industry?

    3. Where are interest rates heading, and what does that mean for my financing?

  3. That is where journalism adds value beyond reporting.

    1. Not just telling readers what has happened.

    2. But helping them understand why it matters and what to watch out for next.

  4. Good business journalism is not just produced in the newsroom.

    1. Journalists need to understand what businesses are experiencing on the ground — where they are investing, what risks they are worried about, and where they see future opportunities.

      1. And on this front, The Business Times has found new and creative ways to bring the business community together, such as the Enterprise 50 Awards, editorial roundtables with business leaders, as well as thematic dialogues and forums like the Sustainability Impact Dialogue.

      2. Such events give businesses and business people the opportunities to exchange ideas and learn from one another. They also allow BT’s journalists to keep a close pulse on what is top of mind for companies, entrepreneurs, and investors.

  5. These insights then feed into products.

    1. For example, BT’s Decoding Asia series curates key developments across the region, and dives into what they mean for businesses.

    2. The latest edition analysed what to make of the recently concluded Trump-Xi Summit, the impact of China’s Pinglu Canal on Southeast Asia’s ports, and closer to home, the extent to which the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone has contributed to the recent investment boom in Johor.

  6. These products all demonstrate good judgment: deciding what deserves attention, and supplying the context, helping readers see the larger pattern.

PERSPECTIVE

  1. The third and final element is perspective.

  2. Every serious international publication sees the world from somewhere.

    1. The Financial Times grew out of London.

    2. The Wall Street Journal out of New York.

    3. Nikkei out of Tokyo.

  3. Their influence comes from understanding their own economies and regions deeply — and using that knowledge to interpret developments beyond them.

    1. BT has the opportunity to do the same from Singapore and from Southeast Asia.

    2. For much of your first 50 years, BT brought global business perspectives to Singapore.

    3. Over the next 50, you can also bring a Southeast Asian perspective to the world.

  4. There is a real need for this.

    1. Southeast Asia is becoming more important to the global economy.

    2. And businesses around the world are looking more closely at this region for their next opportunities.

  5. Of course, the eleven Southeast Asian economies are at very different stages of development.

    1. Our industrial structures, institutions, and comparative advantages all differ.

    2. Understanding the region requires knowledge of individual markets, businesses, and people on the ground.

      1. Therefore, there is value in having a business publication that understands Southeast Asia well.

    3. BT is well placed to provide this perspective and has in fact, begun moving in this direction.

      1. In January this year, you launched BT Global, specifically to cover regional and international developments through a Southeast Asian lens.

      2. Early response to this regional focus has been encouraging.

      3. Since the launch of BT Global, overseas views of BT coverage have more than doubled from the same time last year, to around 35 million views.

    4. Having this regional perspective not only expands your readership; it will also strengthen a longer, unique value proposition.

Conclusion

  1. Ladies and Gentlemen, fifty years ago, The Business Times began with a dozen pages and a promise to give the business community the news it wanted and needed.

    1. The world has changed much since then.

  2. Yet that original promise has proved durable.

    1. Businesses still need someone to help them make sense of a changing world.

    2. When information is everywhere, we need sources we can trust.

    3. When events move at extraordinary speed, we need judgement to understand what matters.

    4. And as Southeast Asia becomes increasingly important to the global economy, we need a stronger perspective from this part of the world — one that helps us understand the world, and also helps the world understand us.

  3. For its first 50 years, BT has chronicled Singapore's emergence as a global business and financial centre.

    1. In your next 50, you have the opportunity to do something larger: to become one of the institutions through which the world understands Singapore and Southeast Asia.

    2. I look forward to you achieving this new mission.

  4. Congratulations to Huifen and the team at The Business Times, past and present, on this remarkable milestone.

    1. Happy 50th birthday, Business Times. Thank you.