Founding leader Lee Kuan Yew and his team were so successful, they made redundant the narrative of a vulnerable Singapore that needed the best to serve, says former veteran newspaper editor Han Fook Kwang.
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Every government minister since then has been a product of this search and every prime minister has made it his task to beat the same path to look for successors. It is self-evident that any country should benefit from having leaders with the highest ability, greatest commitment and be among the most selfless.
The recent hiccup over leadership succession with Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat stepping aside after his anointment was announced - paving the way for Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s appointment - is an early indication that the method is not yielding the same results as before.Why enter the fray when there seems no pressing need to do so?Most ministers serve for between 20 and 30 years as an elected Member of Parliament before they retire.
They believed in the cause which was that vulnerable Singapore needed the best to serve or it would perish.A vulnerable Singapore? It might still be, given that it is still a very small country dependent on the outside world, but the people, including elites, no longer hold on to the idea as strongly.
Singapore Politics Singapore General Election Lee Kuan Yew
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