Direction S’pore takes will not be ‘diametrically opposite’ regardless of who is next PM: Minister Chan

SINGAPORE — The direction Singapore takes in future will not be completely different regardless of who becomes Singapore’s next Prime Minister, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing on Monday (Oct 31).

Speaking at a lunch forum organised by the Foreign Correspondents Association (Singapore), he was responding to questions on whether he was going to be the next Prime Minister and if the successor has been identified.

“In Singapore, you’re not going to expect as if person A becomes the Prime Minister versus person B, that the direction is going to be so diametrically opposite as to cause a huge discontinuity or disruptions,” Mr Chan said.

It is also more important to look at the team instead of the individuals, and the policies in place today have been “thought through by the team, carried by the team and owned by the team”, he said.

Each leader may have his or her own personality and style but, by and large, the central policy direction is determined by the team, he added.

“Within that finite permutation, you can have confidence that there will be business continuity in Singapore… (and we will) constantly reinvent ourselves to stay relevant to the world,” he added.

Asked pointedly if he would like the job of becoming the next Prime Minister or “kee chiu” (Hokkien for “hands up”) for the position, Mr Chan said all his Cabinet colleagues have to be prepared to do the job if any of them is asked to take the helm.

Quoting Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan, Mr Chan said the Singaporean political leadership “is a responsibility to be borne, not a position to be sought”. And when political leaders are asked to lead the country, they would not shirk responsibility, he added.

At the same time, he noted, the challenge for the country is to attract committed people to step forward and serve the nation.

“It is a fact that in… every successful country, the more successful you are, the more difficult it is to find people who are prepared to put aside their personal aspirations to come forth, to serve over and beyond what they want to do,” Mr Chan said.

During the hour-long question and answer session, Mr Chan was also asked about how the international community had viewed the way Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong handled the Oxley Road saga between Mr Lee and his siblings.

While it was an “unfortunate incident”, Mr Chan said it is not the incident but the responses that will define Singapore.

He said some had questioned the need to set up a ministerial committee to look into the options for the home of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. But Mr Chan added: “(If) no one in the current or future Cabinet (had) the sense of responsibility to think through the issue in context, according to the needs of the society at the time, what would it speak about the quality of the leadership in Singapore?”

Adding that no man is above the law, Mr Chan said another way to honour the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew is to uphold the values system and rule of law he had left for Singapore.