Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam stressed that the country's stance on drugs has 'saved lives in Singapore'.
In his response, the minister also talked about the impact of drugs, citing several examples and statistics such as a World Health Organization report that about 500,000 deaths a year were linked to drug abuse.
But Mr Shanmugam stressed that in Singapore, help is offered to drug abusers “who haven’t committed any other offence”. Prior to taking questions from students at the dialogue session which lasted for almost two and a half hours, Mr Shanmugam gave an opening speech where he spoke at length about the internal and external challenges faced by Singapore.
Mr Shanmugam raised examples to depict competition faced by Singapore’s two key sectors – maritime and aviation. For instance, the former, which supports about 170,000 jobs and accounts for 7 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, faces challenges such as shifting trade routes and the emergence of newer ports in the region.
“We want them to do well but we want to be relevant so the key task is to find a way in which we can continue to be relevant,” he said. “So what's your value proposition? Why should people invest in Singapore and employ you?” he asked students gathered at Lee Kong Chian Lecture Theatre.
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