Jeremy Au speaks with Valerie Vu about Vietnam’s sudden shock from the 46% US tariff under Trump. What started as optimism turned into panic factories collapsed, partners pulled out, and even personal tragedies occurred. The government acted fast, but trust with the US was damaged. Vietnam is now shifting toward multipolar trade, owning more of its value chain, and exploring new diplomatic lanes with countries like China, Singapore, and the UAE. They also explore how digital platforms like TikTok are emerging as tools of modern diplomacy.

1. Vietnam was blindsided by the 46% tariff, causing financial losses, factory shutdowns, and even suicides from sudden business collapse.
2. The government responded immediately with emergency meetings and a direct call from the General Secretary to Trump.
3. The US refused to reverse tariffs without demanding currency reform, trade surplus reduction, and blocking Chinese transshipment.
4. Vietnam expanded trade talks with China, UAE, Australia, and others, while strengthening regional ties with Singapore and Indonesia.
5. Factory owners are now investing in branding, design, and IP to move up the value chain and reduce reliance on OEM contracts.
6. Cambodia and Malaysia are also recalibrating as China freezes infrastructure investments and US tariffs shake regional trade flows.
7. Singapore’s PM Lawrence Wong went viral in Vietnam through TikTok, showing how soft power now runs through short-form media.

Jeremy Au sits down with Li Hongyi, director of Open Government Products, to explore his journey from aspiring physicist to building digital tools for public service. They discuss agency, leadership, and the realities of driving change in government—from the impact of a Google internship to lessons in management and building systems that protect against fraud.

1. Dreaming in equations: As a kid, Hongyi wanted to be a physicist—he loved thinking in systems and solving puzzles like the resistor cube challenge in secondary school.

2. Systems over subjects: He saw physics, economics, and computer science as different languages for modeling how things work and how people behave.

3. Google made it real: His internship showed him that his work could help real users, shifting his focus from theory to practical impact and leading him to computer science.

4. Agency isn't given—it's taken: He realized in university that waiting for the “next step” wasn’t enough. A friend pushed him to apply to Google, which changed his mindset.

5. Becoming a manager meant unlearning: Early on, he micromanaged engineers. Over time, he learned that great managers remove roadblocks instead of redoing others' work.

6. Empowerment beats control: Inspired by his Google boss, he now sees leadership as creating the right conditions for others to thrive—not just setting direction.

7. Parking.sg was the easy part: Coding the app took 3 months, but aligning agencies, digitizing data, and syncing with enforcement took 8–9 months.