Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has entered the podcast space.
In the latest episode of The Hop Pod, PM Wong was seen discussing with the hosts on a range of bread-and-butter topics such as housing and cost of living.
Hilarity ensued when Budget 2025 was brought up.
One of the hosts shared a comment they saw on TikTok: “Someone called him “Voucher Wong” and I haven’t stopped laughing every time I think about it.”
It was announced during Budget 2025 that all Singaporeans aged 21 and above in 2025 will receive S$600 in SG60 Vouchers.
Seniors aged 60 and above will receive S$200 more – a total of $800 in SG60 Vouchers.
PM Wong admits that “people will always make jokes about the budget, about me” and added that he even saw one of him as the God of Fortune.
“I certainly am not the God of Fortune or ‘Voucher Wong’,” he laughs.
With that being said, one must wonder about PM Wong’s own financial habits.
After all, he is also the Finance Minister, a position he has held since 2021.
When one of the hosts asked PM Wong if he had any financial regrets in his younger days, he was seen pausing before he was egged on if it was a guitar. He is known to be an avid guitar player.
PM Wong was seen smirking and going, “Yeah, possibly…”
Though he did not reveal how many guitars he has owned, he laughs and says, “I’ve sold a few.”
“Obviously, [that] meant that I had purchased too many,” he adds.
When asked if he had Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS), he explains that he probably did when he was younger.
GAS refers to a musician’s constant urge to buy new instruments and equipment in the pursuit of better creativity.
“You are trying to think that you can be a better player by getting that better gear, then you buy, and it can be a slippery slope,” he says.
But wait, how and where did PM Wong sell his guitars?
We would think a minister hawking his personal items on say, Carousell would garner attention, right?
According to PM Wong, he once sold a guitar “to a guitar shop in Excelsior [Shopping Centre]” and that he knew the people there.
A quick check online showed that there are two shops at Excelsior Shopping Centre, The Guitar Shop Singapore and Luther Music, which sell musical instruments.
Though it is not revealed if the guitar sale happened before or after he became Prime Minister, one thing is for sure, it is probably worth a lot more now.