While acknowledging that many countries globally are facing “second, third, or even fourth waves of infection” which have prompted international borders to “remain largely closed”, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that “trade and travel” are Singapore’s “lifeblood”.
“The longer our borders stay closed to travellers, the greater the risk of us permanently losing out as an international hub, consequently hurting our livelihoods,” he said in a televised address on Monday (14 December).
Thus, Singapore’s “only option is to reopen our borders in a controlled and safe way,” said Mr Lee.
Noting that Singapore “will see more imported cases, and there will be some risk of these cases spreading to the community”, Mr Lee said that such is “a calculated risk we have to accept”.
“But the government will take every precaution, and do our best to prevent imported cases from triggering a new outbreak,” he said.
