When US President Donald Trump confirmed in the early morning of June 2 (Singapore time) that the on-again, off-again summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would go ahead as planned, many involved in helping to facilitate the summit heaved a sigh of relief.

On one hand, they knew that life for the next two weeks would be turned upside down. But on the other hand, the thousands of hours devoted to preparing for the hosting of such a high-profile meeting would not have gone to waste.

Despite the short runway for preparing for the summit, Dr Bilveer Singh, adjunct senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, has no doubt that Singapore will hold its own.

He said: “We are an event state – 365 days a year, event after event, big and small. So while the short runway is unprecedented, the Singapore government machinery is always well prepared and ready for all systems go. I have no doubt that Singapore will more than rise to the challenge of hosting this historic summit.”