Keep looking outwards while dealing with domestic challenges: PM Lee
SINGAPORE — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong today (Oct 3) urged Singaporeans to “look outwards even as we deal with challenges at home”.
SINGAPORE — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong today (Oct 3) urged Singaporeans to “look outwards even as we deal with challenges at home”.
With so much focus on urgent issues in Singapore, Mr Lee said he feared that Singaporeans are not paying enough attention to what is happenining outside of Singapore.
“We are absorbed in our daily lives, leaving little time and energy to track less immediate concerns,” he said, listing three reasons why it is important to have a broader view. Among them, he noted that it “sets our own issues in perspective”.
It is useful to study how others are tackling their problems and learn from their experiences, he said. It is also useful to understand how well we are doing and how we can do better.
Another reason is that major changes in the Asian landscape are having a big impact on us, more so as we are a small country.
“Unless we undestand what is happening, we cannot anticipate ore respond properly to events.”
Mr Lee pointed out globalisation and technological advances can create and disrupt business swiftly. For instance, car-sharing apps such as Uber and Grabtaxi are changing the nature of the taxi business.
Mr Lee was speaking at the NUSS 60th anniversary lecture at the University Cultural Centre.