A Morning Scroll… and a Glimpse into Leadership Communication

Not long ago, during a routine morning coffee — the kind that naturally comes with a bit of Facebook scrolling — Mr. Old Man happened to stumble upon the page of Lawrence Wong.

His full name is Lawrence Wong Shyun Tsai — which, in Sino-Vietnamese reading, becomes Hoàng Tuấn Tài. Just hearing that name, one might already sense both capability — and a certain weight of authority

Born in 1972, he succeeded Lee Hsien Loong in 2024, while also serving as Minister for Finance. Put simply: he’s both the “captain” — and the one holding the keys to the treasury.

What caught Mr. Old Man’s attention wasn’t the title — but… Facebook.

His page has over 400,000 followers and more than 5,000 posts. A quick glance suggests he posts almost daily. But these are not your typical “morning coffee check-ins” — they’re updates on meetings, discussions, speeches… in short, a full-HD view of public service life.

It feels like:

Singaporeans can simply follow along and know what their Prime Minister is doing each day

And for everyone else, it opens a small window into how a country operates

Some recent examples:

• Just hours ago, he posted a cheerful selfie with New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, before heading into official discussions. Looking at it, he seems… quite like any ordinary person
• A day earlier, he spoke about Singapore’s tripartite model — Government, Businesses, and Unions — in the context of Middle East tensions affecting the country.
• On World Book Day, he shared a clip encouraging people to read — very much in line with a nation that treats knowledge as a key resource.
• He also held a call with Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, to discuss regional developments.
• On April 16, he called to congratulate Vietnam’s new Prime Minister, Lê Minh Hưng — with a message that was diplomatic, yet easy to follow.
• And there was one particularly striking moment: Lawrence Wong became visibly emotional, pausing several times while delivering his Labour Day speech on May 1. He was reading a letter from a Singaporean who had been on a repatriation flight from the Middle East — a reminder that politics, at times, is also deeply… human.

To be honest, since retirement, Mr. Old Man has been taking a lighter approach to current affairs. Who rises, who falls… well, that’s for the news to worry about.

But browsing Mr. Wong’s page turned out to be rather enjoyable:

• A way to keep up with the world, just a little
  • And a chance to keep his English from… quietly “rusting away”

In truth, it’s not uncommon for world leaders to use Facebook. Within ASEAN, quite a few do. But Lawrence Wong has a clear advantage: he communicates in English — which makes his page accessible not just to Singaporeans, but to a global audience.

And in Vietnam?

As of 2024, there are over 86 million Facebook users — no small number. Yet Vietnamese leaders generally do not use social media as a personal communication channel. Instead, this role is typically handled by official agencies — in a more structured, traditional manner.

Different countries approach social media differently. There’s no right or wrong — just choices shaped by context and how each system operates.

Mr. Old Man looks at this the way one might from a quiet café:

Not to compare. Not to judge.
Simply to observe:

“Ah… so there are many different ways for a leader to connect with the public.”

And sometimes, just a simple selfie before a meeting…
is enough to make politics feel a little less distant

Different leaders choose different ways to communicate — and sometimes, a simple, human moment can connect more than any formal message.

________

Mr. Old Man