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SINGAPORE – United States President-elect Joe Biden is perhaps best remembered by Singaporeans for his surprise pit stop at the Adam Road hawker center while making his first official visit to the Republic as vice president in 2013.
At the hawker center, he and his son-in-law, Mr. Howard Kerin, drank $ 3 lemon juice, posed for pictures, and stopped to chat with diners.
The two-day visit saw back-to-back engagements for Biden, which included a meeting with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at Istana.
As vice president during the Obama Administration, Biden forged ties and ties with Singapore, and Prime Minister Lee, in a letter of congratulations to the president-elect on Sunday (November 8), said he hopes to meet with him again.
Prime Minister Lee noted that during Biden’s tenure as vice president, significant progress was made in U.S.-Asia-Pacific relations, including the U.S. entry into the East Asia Summit and the appointment of its first ambassador to Asean.
The Prime Minister also referred to the United States’ “enduring, multifaceted and strong partnership” with Singapore, including in the economic and defense spheres, as well as in many other new areas, including infrastructure development and cybersecurity.
“I look forward to working with you to deepen the partnership between our two countries and enhance America’s presence in Asia-Pacific. You can continue to count on Singapore as a friend and partner,” Prime Minister Lee said in the letter.
During his visit, Mr. Biden also visited then-President Tony Tan Keng Yam and met with Founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, whom the then US Vice President described as “one of the most admired men in the world.”
Biden used to speak about his meetings with Lee in public speeches and, after the latter’s death, wrote a one-page message of condolence saying that few world leaders possessed Lee’s vision and wisdom on world affairs.
Biden’s wife, Jill, and their daughter Ashley, who is married to Kerin, accompanied the vice president on his visit to Singapore.
He and his wife had a deep purple orchid hybrid, the Dendrobium Joe and Jill Biden, named after him when they visited the National Orchid Garden at the Botanical Gardens.
“I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would have an orchid with my name and my wife’s name on it. That is beyond any expectations I have had as a child or as an adult,” Biden said.
His wife, a former high school teacher and now a university professor, and his daughter also visited the National Library, where they read to a group of elementary school students.
Mr. Biden concluded the trip with a visit to the US aircraft engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, and to the USS Freedom, a littoral combat ship deployed at the Changi Naval Base.
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