PM LEE: I WANT SPOREANS TO CONSTANTLY BE PARANOID ABOUT SOMEONE STEALING THEIR LUNCH Post date: 29 Oct 2014 - 8:23am Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was speaking at a dialogue session at the Forbes Global CEO Conference on Tuesday evening when he said that he wants Singaporeans to always be paranoid about someone else stealing their lunch. He explained that this was the mindset needed in order to improve: Looking forward beyond the 50th anniversary, I think that is what Singapore needs to do - to be aware, to be paranoid so you always know that somebody can take your lunch away, at the same time have the confidence that I have a good base, I have a strong position and I am determined to do better, and I think thats what we want Singaporeans to think and to feel. The dialogue session was hosted by Steve Forbes, the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media LLC who asked PM Lee a wide range of questions about the future and issues such as population and democracy. PM Lee explained that he hopes he will be able to have the confidence to “push the limits” further in 5 to 10 years from now. It seems that PM Lee believes he will probably still be in power and still be the PM that so that he will still be able to make such decisions for Singapore in 5 to 10 years’ time. Speaking also about population growth, PM Lee explained that there are constraints on infrastructure now and overcrowding problems but overall, it was still worth it. They came in, well, they put a load on us, I think if we had not brought them in and shut them off, we would have faced other problems. But the infrastructure shortfall was a problem and we have been building houses, we have caught up now, expanding our metro - our train system has not quite caught up, but it is in progress and we are seeing improvements already. So I think the infrastructure problem can be resolved, Mr Lee said. During the dialogue, PM Lee also spoke about the regional peace issues such as the ongoing disputes in the South China Sea and the threat of ISIS. He said that if these problems become too big, there will be real problems in Asia and in Singapore. PM Lee also spoke about how democracy may not always be a guarantee of good governance. He said If you look at Singapore, we have elections, we have a parliament, we have an elected government, and yet if you ask whether that is a formula which would automatically yield a good government and a successful country for the next 50 years, nobody can say. It depends on the people, it depends on the values of the society, it depends on the quality of the leaders, and the connection between the leadership and the population. So I think each country has to find its own way forward. I dont think there is salvation in saying we need more democracy and that will make these countries prosper. And Hong Kong is just one of the cases in point.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 12:22:46 +0000
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