SINGAPORE, April 20 — To try to ensure long-term good leadership, “a strong and capable” fourth-generation (4G) leadership team has been put in place to take over from the current leadership, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday (April 19).
However, the 4G team will need everyone’s support to see through the safety and well-being of the country, Mr Lee said in Parliament.
Mr Lee, who was speaking on the third day of a debate on the President’s address, was talking about how to keep a good system of leadership going in Singapore, even after the existing team which he leads steps down.
Describing the ensuring of long-term good leadership as an “unending and demanding challenge” for successive generations, Mr Lee said that the current leadership team is doing its part to ensure that a strong team takes over.
“Then the new leaders can take Singapore further forward, and the country has the chance to produce and support new generations of leaders to come after them, who will be up to the job.”
Earlier in his 50-minute speech, Mr Lee had spoken about the significant risks facing the world and Singapore, such as tensions between the United States and China and the war in Ukraine. He also spoke about the tasks ahead for the nation.
Mr Lee later spoke on the importance of leadership transition, citing how foreign investors choose to invest in Singapore owing to its “good government, stable politics and a system that works”.
On the 4G leadership, Mr Lee said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, Singapore experienced first-hand the importance of strong political leadership.
Mr Lee noted that the 4G team had played a key role during the pandemic, with several ministers on the national Covid-19 task force.
However, the country’s response and results would have been very different without political leaders who could “set the direction, make the tough calls and rally the people together”.
The pandemic was a “formative experience” for the 4G ministers, added Mr Lee.
“Handling the crisis, they got the measure of each other, and gained confidence in each other’s judgement and abilities.”
Mr Lee said that the 4G ministers are increasingly responsible for the safety and well-being of the country, but need the support of every Singaporean to see their domestic and international agendas through.
He added that the quality of a country’s government and its leaders matter in attracting investments to a country. However, there is no formula that can guarantee that Singapore’s system will continue to work well for the long-term.
As attitudes and mindsets change among the populace, new stresses and strains will appear and people could forget the values and experience of the founding generation of Singapore, Mr Lee said.
“Slowly, things can go awry and start to fall apart.”
While there is nothing that can “magically prevent Singapore from going down this road”, Singapore can give itself the best chance of staying on the right track by doing several things.
These include ensuring that the country’s economy is sound, that Singaporeans have the skills and instinct to work hard and together, and that the nation’s accumulated reserves are well-managed to give a critical advantage in a major crisis.
Singapore’s leaders must also be “capable, dedicated and trustworthy stewards” who are worthy of their responsibility for the country, he added.
He called on Singaporeans to give the 4G ministers, led by Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, their fullest support.
“Show your support for a Government that works hard and works well for you. Elect leaders whom you can trust to take us forward,” Mr Lee said.
“Give yourselves the best chance to keep our system working well for Singaporeans for many years to come.”
What can Singapore do?
In his speech, Mr Lee also spoke about other things that Singapore could do to get through the current global situation, which he described as “graver than we have experienced for a very long time”.
Firstly, Singaporeans need to stay united as one people, he said.
Singapore has “painstakingly” created a harmonious and multi-racial and multi-religious society to avoid schisms and factions that have troubled other societies.
It had also tackled sensitive issues that could easily create rifts in society, such as last year’s repealing of Section 377A of the Penal Code, which had criminalised sex between male homosexuals.
”We handled these issues firmly and fairly, in a way that maintained mutual trust and understanding between different communities, and kept ourselves together,” he added.
Mr Lee also said that Singapore must not allow external pressures to divide Singaporeans along fault lines in society “whether old or new”.
“Like the ‘haves’ versus the ‘have nots’, the ‘liberals” versus the ‘conservatives’, the “locals” versus the ‘foreigners’, ‘new’ versus ‘old’ citizens and above all, differences between races and religions.
“In this new troubled world, it is all the more important for us to close ranks. Divided, we stand no chance.”
Singaporeans must do their best to see eye-to-eye on the fundamentals, and try to appreciate each other’s perspectives, he said.
Secondly, the go-getting spirit of self-reliance and enterprise will also be important for Singapore to achieve prosperity and remain “an exceptional place” in the world.
He quoted then-Minister of Labour S Rajaratnam’s speech in Parliament in 1968, where he called on Singaporeans to brace for tough times ahead as it was then faced with possible mass unemployment and economic collapse as British military forces prepared to leave the country.
Mr Rajaratnam said then that Singaporeans needed “a sustained effort, a willingness to mobilise savings, a readiness to take risks, a propensity for innovation, a passionate vision of the future, a willingness to make the painful adjustments required by modernisation and, most important of all, a readiness on the part of the people as a whole to postpone immediate rewards for greater gains in the future”.
Mr Lee said on Wednesday that there is “good reason to be confident” that Singaporeans have not “gone soft” and forgotten these same fundamentals.
“In a world of troubles, not every country will prosper, but Singapore will not perish,” he added.
“Of course, we must make the right moves to continue thriving. We must be able to do things more competently and efficiently than our competitors to maintain our edge.”
Singaporeans cannot just work harder, but should also be able to do business with the world to deliver value to others.
To this end, the country’s strategy is to stay open and connected to the world and form good relations with other countries, Mr Lee said.
It must also upgrade its existing capabilities, build new ones and transform the economy to stay abreast of new technologies and industries.
Singaporeans must uphold the country’s good reputation and standing in the world, Mr Lee added.
Among other things, Singaporeans are known for being competent, skilled and hardworking. They are also known to honour their commitments.
The country’s leaders speak with mandate and authority to deliver on what they say because the enjoy the support and confidence of the people, Mr Lee said.
Singaporeans make useful contributions on global issues, added Mr Lee, citing the example of how Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam is co-chairing the global commission on water governance.
For these reasons, confidence and trust in the Singapore brand has grown and is a “precious asset in an uncertain world”, Mr Lee said.
He asked all Singaporeans to uphold the country’s reputation, especially when they are overseas.
“Make full use of this Singapore brand, but remember, never sully it.
“Build on it, enhance it for future generations. A high international reputation makes all the difference to Singapore.” — TODAY
