Again in uncharted waters, Singapore steers ahead, at 60

This is part of a series of primers on current affairs and issues in the news, and what they mean for Singapore.

- Tham Yuen-C

International students headed to universities in the United States found themselves in a quandary earlier in 2025, when the US State Department ordered its embassies around the world to stop scheduling appointments for student visas.

This came as President Donald Trump battled elite universities over their vetting of international students, amid a wider crackdown by his administration on immigration. It was also seen as a punishment for the institutions, which he considered too liberal.

For the 4,500 Singaporean students enrolled in US universities, the policy changes created delays and uncertainty, leaving degrees and scholarships in jeopardy.

Back home, other young Singaporeans were facing pressures of a different kind.

On online forums, many commiserated about having sent out hundreds of job applications without receiving even one callback.

The data from the latest Joint Graduate Employment Survey, by Singapore's autonomous universities, for the 2024 cohort showed that 12.9 per cent of graduates were still looking for work six months after graduation. This was up from 10.4 per cent in 2023, 6.2 per cent in 2022 and 5.6 per cent in 2021.

Even though they were halfway across the world from places facing turmoil, these young Singaporeans could not escape the upheavals on the world stage.

Geopolitics aside, technological disruptions from artificial intelligence (AI) and the existential threat of climate change make the future challenging.

In trade, security and cooperation, the intensifying rivalry for economic supremacy between the US and China has very much reshaped global dynamics.

But Mr Trump's war on trade is no longer just against China. On Aug 6, he levied sweeping tariffs on many countries to rebalance a global trade system that he claims has been unfair to the US, and to achieve certain geopolitical goals.