li hsien-long was born on february 10 , 1956 graduated from the faculty of mathematics cambridge university and the department of political science at harvard university in 1984 elected as a member of parliament from the ninety- fourth to ninety-eighth minister of industry and trade from the ninety-eighth chairman of the monetary department of the financial authority of singapore since 2001 minister of finance since august 12, 2004 prime minister of the republic of singapore you have a reception here , if you are a reception minister of a very large globe and it is very clearly visible on it, what a unique i would say, in my opinion, a very advantageous position in the world dealing with singapore between europe, australia, asia, there is a very large globe on the globe. and if we look at singapore, this is a very small red spot. on it, we look around us and see the great partner countries, the opportunities, as well as the dangers that must be avoided so that our small craft can be safe. sail further towards a brighter future and prosperity, looking at the asia-pacific region as a whole, w