SINGAPORE, Jan 21 — As celebrations to mark SG50 shift into high gear, Singaporeans must use the occasion as a springboard to further success, not a final destination, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said, adding that the Government is also charting a different course to adapt to a society that has changed dramatically over the decades.

Looking back over the country’s first 50 years, Mr Lee noted that Singapore had arrived at a “good place” after a journey that has been on the whole, stable and upward.

This, he said, contrasts with many other countries that have made the 50-year journey. “If you look at China, 1949 to 1999, from liberation to the Great Leap Forward there was a failed Cultural Revolution, total turmoil to reform to opening up,” Mr Lee said, “In 1999, they were in the process of reforming and opening up, taking off to growth but after enormous human pain and sacrifice.”

Singapore, he said, had been spared many of the upheavals that countries like China and Israel have endured, though it was not spared totally, from the uncertain first few years, to the British pullout to the oil shocks of the 1970s and recession of the 1980s.

Notwithstanding these bumps, SG50 is a good time for Singapore, Mr Lee said. “It is like reaching the end of a 50-metre swim. I touch, I take a breath, and I swim on.”

“And I think in swimming on, we have to set broader targets, but one common element will be that in Singapore, we have a home, in Singapore we have a future, and in Singapore our children can grow up and do well. And we can work together on that,” he added.

In a wide-ranging, 70-minute interview with local media at the Istana today, Mr Lee said the Government is also changing. In its present day incarnation, it does not want Singaporeans running to it as the first recourse when an issue crops up, takes a “detached” approach when interest groups seek to dominate public discourse, and wants to build rapport with the people, instead of going around “flexing its muscles and making macho speeches”, he said,

In fielding a broad swathe of questions, Mr Lee also gave his take on, among other things, the approach to governing a more educated and expressive Singapore society, where the young look for greater fulfilment while an ageing population looks to bread and butter issues, the evolution of the political system, the Singaporean-foreigner divide, and the need to press on with efforts to restructure the economy. He also reflected on his 10-year tenure as Prime Minister and his three decades in politics so far, as well as how the electorate has changed over the years, particularly with the advent of social media.

Returning to the theme of change, he noted how the population has different needs and issues today, and added: “We cannot say we follow the way we did in 1984 because that was a successful formula. Singapore has changed.”

Mr Lee, who will turn 63 this year, entered politics in 1984, and noted how the population’s education levels have risen sharply over the last three decades. “There will be more views and (this) is a very different society… social media has made a lot of difference,” he said. “Now, not only do people have views, but views can propagate, circulate and catch fire very quickly.”

National interest to the fore

Social media, Mr Lee said, has made it easier for Singaporeans to organise themselves into interest groups.

He cited the example of how Facebook groups are formed among new homeowners even before Residents’ Committees or management committees are set up. He joked that MPs sometimes feel a little anxious about the fact that residents are getting organised so fast and putting up requests.

While it is good that people are organising themselves, they ought to organise to get things done - not organise to ask for things to be done, Mr Lee said in expanding on his view that Government should become more detached.

He added: “We have to take a somewhat detached view of issues so that when issues come up, our first instinct is not: ‘Government, do something about it.’ Whether it is a problem with rats in the neighbourhood…whether it is a problem with neighbours… the Government should be the last recourse,”

The rise of interest groups also means that people are being mobilised to show support for different – and sometimes competing – causes. In particular, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues have become a lightning rod.

Mr Lee acknowledged that both LGBT and conservative groups are “pressing the Government”. But he noted that there are many other special interest groups, such as animal lovers, nature lovers, sport enthusiasts, and those with a passion for the welfare of foreign workers or persons with disabilities, and said lobbying by them is par for the course in a normal democracy,

“We have to be responsive to groups… but at the same time, we should not be captured by them… the Government has to be in touch with them, make friends with as many of them as possible,” he said. “But at the end, (it) must stand back and say, now what is in the national interest? How far can I accommodate you without compromising the national interest? And we have to make that judgment.”

Making tough, unpopular decision

Turning to a new style for the Government, Mr Lee said rapport with the population is a vital thrust.

“I do not think we want to go around flexing our muscles and making macho speeches. It is not necessary… what you need is rapport with the population so when you actually need to do something, we can explain it… we can do it and people can accept it even if you do not like it.”

But, he said, there are two areas where the Government will maintain a consistent stand: Population policy, and the emphasis on growing the economy and keeping it open.

Citing the spirited public debate over the Population White Paper last year, Mr Lee said: “We had to explain what we were trying to do, how we are calibrating our policies and how we can accommodate reasonable criticism and objections, but preserve what is necessary to be done… with (the population policy), we have been able to do that.”

On economic development, Mr Lee cautioned that if Singaporeans lose sight of fundamentals and deem economic growth as unimportant, it could spell serious trouble. “If the economy stagnates, you will be unable to do any other good things… people will turn sour and the mood will queer on you,” he said.

He stressed that the economy has to stay open, even as the Government calibrates its policies on foreign labour. “If we give wrong signals and people conclude that you have just become like any other country, with the same pressures and same inconsistencies in policy over time, and that you are no longer keeping that cause which has made us special and attractive to investors, they do not come or worse, they say they have to move out from Singapore.”

It is a message, he said, that is received differently by various groups.

“If you are working in a multi-national corporation and (it) is thinking of going somewhere else, (the message) will sink home… With the general population, it has to be said over and over again.”

He added: “It has to be at the top of our minds amidst all our other issues…. As Mr Lee Kuan Yew used to say, nobody owes us a living, and that is still true.”

In concluding the interview, Mr Lee looked ahead to the next 50 years, and said Singapore needs an “approach that is flexible... But I would say we maintain a consistency in some fundamental values.”

“When you talk about meritocracy, when you are talking about open competition, when you are talking about multiracialism. on those we are basically not shakeable,” he said.

“But when it comes to the implementation and the specific policies, then we can try and see what works and well.” — TODAY