SINGAPORE (Commonwealth Union)_ – Britain’s Prince William, who is in Singapore for a four-day visit, called on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and also met Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana on Monday.
Prince William who seemed glad to be back in Singapore flew into Changi airport and was greeted with a warm welcome at Jewel, a nature complex within the complex. He said in an address he made after landing that it was fantastic to be back in Singapore after eleven years.
A large crowd of hundreds of people cheered when the prince looked out from a balcony with Sim Ann, Singapore’s senior minister of state for foreign affairs, Sim Ann, at the Rain Vortex, the world’s tallest indoor waterfall. Afterwards, he watched as a Tembusu tree, native to Singapore, was planted in his honour and then greeted the people of Singapore and posed with them for selfies as he walked through an indoor garden, the Shiseido Forest Valley.
Mr Tharman said in a Facebook post, that it was a pleasure to receive the Prince of Wales, and that they discussed the innovative solutions needed to hold back climate change and a worsening global water crisis.
Mr Tharman added that as part of the strategic partnership that PM Lee and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak launched two months ago, Singapore and Britain will step up collaboration in the “critical task” of tackling these issues.
The prince took part in a dragon boat race on Monday, and attended the United for Wildlife summit as part of his work to combat trade in the illegal wildlife trade. He also spoke about his last visit in 2012 with Kate Middleton to celebrate the late Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and how the summit aims to protect the natural world from global criminal gangs intent on plundering it.
