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PM Lee shares social media lessons with China officials

SINGAPORE — Unlike in the past, when ministers were more circumspect in their speeches to the public, government officials now have to be ready to address issues every other day and through informal ways, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (left) sharing a laugh with Guangdong Party Secretary Hu Chunhua during a meeting at the Guangdong Government House in China. PHOTO: Ministry of Communications and Information

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (left) sharing a laugh with Guangdong Party Secretary Hu Chunhua during a meeting at the Guangdong Government House in China. PHOTO: Ministry of Communications and Information

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SINGAPORE — Unlike in the past, when ministers were more circumspect in their speeches to the public, government officials now have to be ready to address issues every other day and through informal ways, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday.

Mr Lee made these remarks during a candid conversation with Guangdong Party Secretary Hu Chunhua, when he visited him at the Guangdong Government House as part of his official visit to China.

“In the old days, our approach was don’t make too many speeches. Once in a long time, think carefully, prepare well, say something important, people will listen to you,” he said.

Today, one has to engage the public via social media fairly often, “or people will forget you exist”.

“I have to post nearly every day, sometimes serious events, sometimes just photographs, sometimes just a friendly message, just to let people know that you’re still there and there’s something interesting to watch,” Mr Lee said.

The rise of social media has changed the way societies interact with the state and while this is challenging, the Government has to adapt.

“The Government finds it not so easy as you have to respond in an almost instantaneous way and we can’t afford to do that because we’re afraid if we say the wrong thing, we won’t be able to take it back,” Mr Lee said, with a laugh.

Mr Hu, a member of the 18th Politburo of the Communist Party of China and a protege of former President Hu Jintao, who is considered a rising star in Chinese politics, agreed. Chinese officials, too, are facing added pressure.

In the past, officials did not have much experience interacting with the public, he noted.

Hu added that the public now has very high expectations and wants questions answered quickly, but some questions cannot be answered immediately as the Government would need time to analyse the issues to resolve them. “So it will be a long way for us to adapt to this manner of greeting,” he said in Mandarin.

During their 20-minute meeting — for which reporters were present throughout — Mr Lee and Mr Hu also spoke about the economy, with Mr Lee commenting that despite economic restructuring not being an easy task, it has to be done consistently. Singapore, for one, had been too anxious with regard to its restructuring exercise 30 years ago. “We raised wages and the companies adjusted to it, but we did it too drastically and we faced a severe economic downturn,” he said.

Even now, the Government is still grappling with how to upgrade the Republic’s economy, especially when it comes to educating the public and making sure that old companies that are no longer competitive survive the restructuring,

The two exchanged warm words about Singapore’s bilateral relations with Guangdong, particularly the Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City (SSGKC), a joint venture company established by Singbridge — a unit of Temasek Holdings — and the Guangzhou Development District. The SSGKC aims to become a vibrant and sustainable hub that is attractive to skilled manpower and knowledge-based industries. Industries to be developed in the park include biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, information and communications technology and clean technology.

Since its groundbreaking ceremony in 2010, 70 Memoranda of Understanding on investment projects have been signed with international companies. Among them is ST Kinetics, which, together with its partners, plans to drive the development of the electric vehicles industry in SSGKC by establishing a headquarters for their electric vehicles cluster, as well as a research and development (R&D) and testing centre. Companies such as ABB (China), Philips (China) Investment, Ralos New Energies AG and Schweizer Energy plan to conduct testing, product R&D and develop solutions relating to renewable energy and green buildings there.

Mr Hu said the project is progressing smoothly. He hopes it will serve as a role model for high-end industries to carry out development there. “Despite our achievements over the past few years, we realise that most of our industries in Guangdong are still the middle and low-end industries,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Mr Lee paid a visit to the Guangdong Provincial Museum, where he viewed exhibits which displayed the province’s rich historical culture. During his visit, Mr Lee will stop at Shenzhen, Guilin, Nanning and Hong Kong. In Nanning, he will deliver a keynote address at the joint opening ceremony of the China-ASEAN EXPO and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit. His trip ends on Sept 18.

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