Secretariat, Taipei City Government

On June 16, 2026, Taipei Mayor Wan-An Chiang met with Singapore Northwest District Mayor Alex Yam over a bak kut teh breakfast. During the 2026 Taipei International Cities Forum in March 2026, Yam invited Chiang to sample Singapore’s renowned street food on his next visit. During Chiang’s return trip to Singapore, the two longtime friends reunited over breakfast, enjoying a warm and lively conversation.

Chiang recalled that during the forum in Taipei in March, he began his keynote by introducing Taipei’s signature breakfast items (i.e., xiaolongbao, egg pancakes, and soy milk) and greeted the audience with the Taiwanese phrase “Tsiah-pá bē?” (meaning “Have you eaten?”). In response, Yam incorporated local cuisine words into his own remarks and invited Chiang to visit Singapore again to enjoy its culinary delights. Chiang mentioned that he had been looking forward to this bak kut teh breakfast for quite some time and that he was delighted that the meeting had finally taken place as planned. He also noted that he first visited that specific restaurant during his first trip to Singapore three years earlier and that seeing their photo from that visit displayed on the wall made his return feel especially meaningful.

Building upon their previous discussions, the two mayors exchanged views on topics of mutual interest, including urban governance, smart cities, artificial intelligence (AI) applications, people-centered transportation, and livable city development. Chiang and Yam also shared their observations and experiences regarding public services, community governance, and urban innovation in Taipei and Singapore, expressing their hope to further reinforce the friendship and substantive cooperation between the two cities. In addition, Chiang thanked Yam for his presentation at the Taipei forum in March, stating that after their breakfast meeting he would visit the Punggol Digital District, which Yam had highlighted in his presentation, to learn more about one of Singapore’s premier smart city living laboratories.

During his visit to Taiwan in March, Yam engaged in in-depth discussions with Chiang on various topics, including the integration of AI technologies into municipal governance, smart transportation, declining birth rates, and people-centered urban development. At the time, Chiang noted that Singapore’s National AI Strategy 2.0 closely aligned with Taipei’s vision of becoming an AI-driven smart city. Yam also shared how Singapore’s Northwest District had adopted AI-powered image recognition technology to facilitate attendance tracking for community fitness groups, thereby improving administrative efficiency. He emphasized that AI should be harnessed by people, rather than people being controlled by AI.

Before concluding the breakfast meeting, Chiang presented Yam with a Taipei Projection City Tray as a commemorative gift, and Yam reciprocated with a calligraphy artwork bearing the inscription “Zheng Tong Ren He” (政通人和), conveying a wish for effective governance and social harmony. The breakfast meeting allowed the two mayors to continue their close exchanges and reciprocal visits, further reinforcing the sharing of policy implementation experiences between Taipei and Singapore and providing fresh inspiration for addressing the urban governance challenges faced by both cities.