May 2, 2024
SINGAPORE – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he has prepared a leadership team to succeed him that deserves Singaporeans’ confidence and support, and asked that all Singaporeans rally behind it to make the nation succeed.
Despite dark clouds on the horizon, the Republic has built a strong foundation for its future generations to continue to write new chapters of the Singapore story, PM Lee said at the May Day Rally on May 1.
In a valedictory speech at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, he said he felt “a sense of satisfaction and completeness” as he prepared to hand over Singapore in good order to his successor, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, on May 15.
“I have done my duty, and I am very happy I chose this path of public service all those many years ago,” said PM Lee to a standing ovation from the 1,400 unionists, business leaders and government officials who were present.
However, leading a country is never a one-man job but that of a national team, he said as he thanked MPs and union leaders, as well as Singaporeans for their trust and support.
“I have strived to lead you and to govern Singapore in the way you deserve, to mobilise Singaporeans to show what we can do together,” he said. “I have also prepared a leadership team to succeed me that deserves your confidence and support.”
‘We have improved everyone’s lives’
PM Lee, who had spoken at almost every May Day Rally since he became prime minister in 2004, said he had sought in his tenure to build on Singapore’s strengths under past leaders such as founding PM Lee Kuan Yew and Mr Goh Chok Tong.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his team overcame tremendous odds to forge an improbable nation with multiculturalism as its creed, and made home ownership, education and healthcare available to all.
Mr Goh showed it was possible to take Singapore forward with a different style for a different era, and under his leadership, Singapore matured and became more vibrant, resilient and cohesive, PM Lee said.
Of his 20 years since he took over in 2004, PM Lee said Singapore has become better off.
Investments in promising sectors such as biotech, information technology and financial services have paid off, while the economic base has diversified as the country climbed the value chain, from factories to research and development in pharmaceuticals and nanotechnology.
Singaporeans’ quality of life has also improved across the board, including for those with lower incomes, he added.
New Housing Board towns with green spaces and amenities have been built, such as Punggol, which has turned from an ulu (Malay for “remote”) place to an attractive town full of young families.
Meanwhile, older towns have been kept up to date with the many upgrading programmes that made them fit for a more elderly population.
“This is why, unlike public housing projects elsewhere in the world, our HDB estates never turn into slums or ghettos,” he said.
Public transport has likewise improved, going from just the red (North-South) and green (East-West) lines to a much more colourful map today with the addition of the purple (North East), yellow (Circle), blue (Downtown) and brown (Thomson-East Coast) lines.
In time to come, there will also be a light green Cross Island Line and light blue Jurong Region Line, PM Lee added.
Singapore has also invested heavily in a first-class healthcare system to make it accessible and affordable to all, and poured more resources into pre-schools and infant care while transforming the broader education system to have more diverse pathways.
“In Singapore, unlike in some other countries, your postal code does not determine your destiny,” he said.
The Government has also made every effort to leave no one behind as the country progressed, PM Lee added, alluding to the promise he made in his 2004 swearing-in speech to forge an inclusive society.
One of his earliest moves as PM was to create ComCare, which brought together existing social programmes and enhanced them to channel more resources towards the needy.
Workfare was then launched to supplement the incomes of lower-wage workers, and the Progressive Wage Model to raise wages and skills in a sustainable way.
Today, children from disadvantaged backgrounds also get an extra boost through KidStart, while ComLink+ works with vulnerable families to put them on the path of home ownership.
Other components of Singapore’s social safety net were also strengthened, PM Lee added.
MediShield Life and CareShield Life help deal with large medical bills and long-term care costs; CPF Life and Silver Support are for retirement adequacy; and the Pioneer, Merdeka and Majulah packages take care of older Singaporeans.
PM Lee said he was also proud of the Singaporean pride and work ethic that has evolved, which the trade unions had helped to foster.
Whether they are teachers who spend their own time to help weaker students, uniformed personnel who become first responders even when off duty, or healthcare professionals who go the extra mile for their patients, Singaporeans take their responsibilities seriously even though not everyone can be at the top of the totem pole, he said.
“Ours is a society that takes pride in whatever we do and makes a point of doing it well,” he added.
“A society that is egalitarian and meritocratic in its ethos, where those who have done well feel a sense of duty to give back to the society that nurtured them.”
Next chapter of the S’pore story
The next chapter of the Singapore story is off to a strong start, though there are many uncertainties in the world, PM Lee said.
These include rising tensions and rivalry between big powers, deglobalisation and protectionism, technological advances and climate change, and questions of war and peace.
“The world has changed, and we must come up with updated creative responses, but some hard truths have not changed,” he said. “These imperatives will stay relevant in the years ahead.”
First, social cohesion is important, and race, language and religion are traditional fault lines that will never go away for Singapore.
While huge efforts have been made to build a shared Singaporean identity, the nation will always be subject to external forces that pull different segments of its population in different directions.
Singaporeans cannot disavow their diverse ethnic roots and religious affinities – Chinese Singaporeans with China, Indian Singaporeans with their various ancestral homes in India, Malay Singaporeans with the rest of the region, and with the global Muslim ummah (Arabic for community), he said.
While these can be vulnerabilities, Singapore does not want to lose these rich cultural and historical heritages.
“Therefore, for us, racial and religious harmony will always be a continuing work in progress,” PM Lee said. “Never think that we have ‘solved the problem’ and that we have left it behind.”
There are also other potential divisions, he noted, between the haves and the have-nots; Singaporean-born and naturalised citizens; conservatives and liberals; and the current and future generations.
“All these differences can be exploited politically, to pit Singaporeans one against another, and divide and weaken us,” he said. “Hence, we have got to continue to work hard to overcome social stresses and tensions, to enlarge our common space, and to strengthen our shared Singaporean identity.”
This is why the Government moved to allow Muslim nurses in Singapore’s public healthcare sector to wear the tudung, and repealed Section 377A of the Penal Code. These were controversial and difficult issues, but they were tackled instead of being left to fester, PM Lee said.
“So we prepared the ground carefully, worked out practical compromises and moved to a more sustainable, long-term position, while fostering mutual understanding and acceptance.”
Second, the PAP Government has always planned and acted for the long term. While having a vision and sense of stewardship beyond immediate problems and crises is important for every country, most find it very hard, he said.
Pointing to the rally venue, he recounted the long journey to turn Marina Bay into today’s reality.
The Government started thinking about reclaiming land there in the 1960s, and the reclamation project began in 1971. When he took over as PM, the Government started talking about integrated resorts (IRs).
“This was one of my first major decisions as prime minister – whether or not to allow IRs in Singapore, which would introduce casino gambling to Singapore,” he said. “After a full public debate, we decided to proceed, but with suitable safeguards in place.”
The IRs opened in 2010, just in time to catch the recovery from the global financial crisis, and they took off, he said. Today, besides the IRs, Singapore also has Gardens by the Bay, the Marina Barrage, Marina Reservoir and an iconic skyline around the bay.
There are more plans for Singapore in the decades ahead, he said. They include a new megaport in Tuas, a new Terminal 5 at Changi Airport, a redeveloped Paya Lebar after the airbase there is relocated, and a Greater Southern Waterfront for future generations to live, work and play.
Singapore will also reclaim a Long Island along the east coast, to protect itself from rising sea levels, and create more land and another freshwater reservoir, he added.
“I have no doubt that the next team and their successors will conceive more creative and ambitious projects, which will challenge us, inspire us and take our country to the next level,” he said.
Stability key to S’pore’s exceptionalism
The third fundamental principle is political stability and trust, PM Lee said.
Singapore’s whole system is anchored on a strong base of trust between the people and their Government: The people elect a PAP Government, and in turn the PAP Government works hard to maintain their trust and support.
“It shows, through words and through deeds, that it has the nation’s best interests at heart and is improving your lives,” he said.
At each election – 15 times in a row – the PAP has won a renewed mandate, fair and square, and continued to deliver results for Singaporeans, he added.
“Getting our politics right is absolutely crucial,” he said. “Please understand: We have succeeded, and Singapore has made exceptional economic and social gains, because our system is exceptional.”
The system does not have to fail outright for Singapore to get into trouble – as a 700 sq km island without a hinterland or natural resources, just being average means that the Republic will be worse off than other countries, he stressed.
“Graver still, if our system malfunctions – becomes beset by populism, tribalism, nativism, or obsessed by short-term gains, like some other countries – then we will certainly be sunk,” he said, on why it is crucial that Singaporeans uphold an ethos of excellence and to maintain political stability.
Concluding, he urged the people to make the most of the advantages that Singapore has accrued – adequate reserves, international respect, a cohesive society, and a vibrant and inclusive economy – without taking them for granted or tossing them away.
PM Lee, who was also marking his 40th year in politics, said that having done his best to lead a team that has stewarded Singapore and safeguarded its future, his successors must do the same.
“That is our path forward: For each generation to steward Singapore to the best of its ability, so that the next generation can take on a better Singapore, and, in turn, lead our nation onwards and upwards.”