5月15日，执政新加坡20年的李显龙，把接力棒交给了第四代领导人，留下一句：“我对Lawrence Wong（黄循财）完全有信心。”

与李显龙2004年上任时相比，如今，新加坡所处的国内外环境都发生了深刻变化。迎接黄循财的，将有哪些命题和考验？普通家庭出身、学习成绩优异、爱音乐爱狗狗……步入政治舞台中央后，黄循财又会有哪些新标签？

1972年，黄循财出生于一个四口之家。

二 | 父亲在中国海南岛出生，在马来西亚怡保长大，后来到新加坡做销售。母亲是小学教师，黄循财还有个比他大两岁的哥哥。

与出自精英学校的同僚不同，黄循财从小跟家人一起住在政府提供的组屋里，读的也是家附近的中小学。

但他读书成绩优秀，高中毕业后拿到政府奖学金，赴美国留学。    PHILADELPHIA -- Spencer Strider could not watch Nick Castellanos' second home run off him in Game 4. The 20-game winner simply accepted his fate — he gave the ball to Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker and awaited a reception almost as rude as the homers.Strider put his head down and walked toward the dugout as 45,000 fired-up, towel-waving Phillies fans — that had heckled and derisively chanted his name since he warmed up — pointed fingers at the pitcher and gave him the business one more time.Strider never broke stride, never looked up. If he had, Strider might have read the sign that read “Bye-Bye Strider.”It was soon bye-bye Braves — once again an October departure in Philly.When the bats in a lineup that hit 307 homers this season fell silent, so did Atlanta in a 3-1 loss to Philadelphia in Game 4 of the National League Division Series on Thursday night.“You look at the playoff format, you don't need to be a great team all year,” Strider said. “You need to get to the playoffs and then it's a different game.”One the Braves haven't yet mastered.A year after the 101-win Braves were eliminated in Game 4 in Philly, this season's 104-win edition suffered the same cruel fate. They scored a total of eight runs in the series.“Pretty much just told them they have nothing to hang their heads about. It stinks what just happened,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “We wanted to go deep into this postseason, but I said it my first meeting every year, it’s like we want to check the first box, win the division because you never know what might happen. And we hit 300 some homers and didn’t happen in this playoff series.”Maybe it was the short break from the regular season to the start of the NLDS that cooled off the Braves. Ronald Acuña Jr., one of the front-runners for NL MVP, was 2 for 14 in the four games. Marcell Ozuna and Orlando Arcia each went 2 for 13. Michael Harris II went hitless in 13 at-bats.Austin Riley homered in the fourth inning of Game 4, but that was it for the Braves.Trailing 3-1 in the seventh, Atlanta loaded the bases on three two-out walks. Craig Kimbrel then retired Acuña on a deep fly ball that was run down by rookie center fielder Johan Rojas.Rally, over.Strider allowed two homers to Castellanos, a go-ahead shot to Trea Turner — who entered 0 for 17 lifetime against Strider — struck out seven and threw 96 pitches in 5 2/3 innings.“They didn't have a cheat code,” Strider said. “If you ask them, I'm sure they'll tell you I hung a couple of sliders.”Just one month earlier, the Braves took three of four and clinched their sixth straight NL East title in Philadelphia. The Braves went 8-5 against the Phillies in the regular season.Those numbers were as empty as the Braves offense.The franchise that put together an unprecedented streak of 14 straight division titles in the 1990s and 2000s tried for one more memorable run just two seasons removed from winning a World Series.But outside of a fantastic Game 2 rally, little went right for the Braves.Phillies fans had saved the worst for Strider, who is 8-0 in the regular season against the Phillies and a disaster in the postseason against them. Phillies fans chanted “We Want Strider” in Game 3, and then reserved their loudest pregame boos for him in Game 4.Strider, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, had said in an interview “there should be no fans” at the ballgame.“Get rid of the fans, it’s too loud,” he told MLB Fits. “It’s too loud, everybody be quiet. We don’t need the cheering, we know you’re watching. I don’t need the fans.”Joking or not, the Phillies needed little incentive to jump all over the ace right-hander. Some fans wore T-shirts that read “Is This Too Loud For You Spencer?” and others held signs with the same message.It was part of quirky series overall for the Braves.The social media user behind the account for the mascot Blooper oddly took aim on the Phillie Phanatic, writing “his last highlight was recorded with a flash.” Phillies fans spent the rest of the remaining games roasting Blooper.But Blooper was far from the only error.After Philadelphia star Bryce Harper committed a baserunning blunder that closed out Atlanta's Game 2 win, Arcia cracked “Attaboy, Harper!” inside of the Braves' jubilant clubhouse. Harper responded with two homers in Game 3, staring at the shortstop as he rounded the bases after each drive.Atlanta joins this year's list of playoff teams that tore through the regular season only to flop in October. The teams with the five best regular-season records — the Braves, Baltimore (101 wins), Dodgers (100), Tampa Bay (99) and Milwaukee (92) — all failed to reach the LCS.“We got beat and didn’t play good enough to win the series. It’s as simple as that,” Snitker said. “We got beat by a really good club that has a penchant for it this time of year.”___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb。他先后在威斯康星大学和密歇根州立大学拿下经济学学士和硕士学位，后来又在哈佛大学拿下公共管理专业硕士学位。

学霸的人设，也是黄循财政治生涯的起点。2011年，代表人民行动党首次参加大选的“新人”黄循财，在记者会上这样讲述他从政的原因：“我在学校表现不错，有机会得到政府奖学金去美国学习。从那时起，我就立志要回馈社会，参政报效国家。”

1997年，黄循财加入新加坡贸易与工业部担任经济师，开启公务员生涯。

之后他在财政部和卫生部任职，期间协助时任财政部长李显龙，准备他的第一份财政预算案。

在2005年到2008年，黄循财担任李显龙的首席私人秘书。之后，年仅37岁的他执掌能源市场管理局，成为当时最年轻的局长级公务员之一。

2011年，黄循财当选西海岸集选区议员，正式完成从公务员到政治家的转型。

三 | 之后，他先后就任国家发展部、财政部、教育部等部门。

纵观黄循财的公务员和从政历练，他在至少八个政府部门担任过要职。这为他的政治领导生涯累积了多元且丰富的经验。

2020年，突如其来的新冠疫情席卷全球。黄循财临危受命，成为新加坡抗疫联合部门的主席，他也因此有更多的机会出现在媒体面前。

四 |

黄循财经常在会议上，以清楚易懂的语言向全国人民解释抗疫政策，以至情至性的态度向医务人员表达感谢：

“我们所有的前线人员，不管是在医院或在关卡，每天穿着防护装备，非常努力地保护新加坡的安全。

五 | ”

亲临前线、安抚人心、维护救灾物资的发放，疫情期间的表现让黄循财在新加坡老百姓心中脱颖而出，也充分显示他的协调能力，让李显龙政府对继任者的选择逐渐清晰。

2022年，他正式当选为人民行动党内部的下一代领导人。

除了应对国家内部事务，黄循财如何在外交舞台上找到新加坡合适的位置，也备受关注。

在担任财政部长之初，他曾经在一次会议上回答外媒的提问时表示，“美国与中国的脱钩并不会让经济恢复，反倒是很可能变成一堆碎片。”

黄循财认为美国当务之急不应该是过度抑制，而是应该放下成见，加强双边合作。

六 |

2023年5月，黄循财在一次经济论坛上表示“全球经济最终的方向会是共同发展”，“现在的分散化和脱钩化只能导致难以想象的糟糕结果”，而且他还明确指出“欧盟不应该效仿美国对待中国的态度”。

在出席纪念李光耀诞辰的会议中，有美国记者对黄循财提出有关中美尖端科技问题，黄循财毫不掩饰地对CNN记者回答“美国的科技竞争无法击败中国，最多只是在一定程度上减缓发展的速度”。

之前，黄循财还曾担任过新加坡——天津经纪贸易理事会联合主席，负责中新天津生态城项目，推动两地拓展和深化金融、数码和创新领域的合作。

从黄循财几次公开发言的态度来看，他对于中国的态度相对缓和，曾经多次表示“美国应该学会接纳中国，和中国共存”。

黄循财喜欢在社交平台上分享生活点滴。最常和他一起出镜的，一个是爱犬“夏天”，另一个是他的吉他。

七 |

前任李显龙喜欢音乐，很小的时候就可以用单簧管演奏莫扎特的曲子。

黄循财同样喜欢音乐，在美国勤工俭学时还曾经和好友一同背着吉他在街头卖艺，据说还“生意不错”。

之前“霉霉”泰勒·斯威夫特在新加坡连开多场演唱会时，黄循财在自己的社交平台发布用吉他弹奏“霉霉”成名曲《Love Story》的视频，“吸粉”无数。

李显龙执政近20年，给新加坡留下了深刻的印记。他带领这个城市国家实现GDP历史性增长，也为小国大外交树立典范。

八 |

站在“后李显龙时代”的起点，黄循财又将走出一条怎样的道路？也许还要时间，才能给出答案。