Public report cards on Ministers not my style, says PM

SINGAPORE — Unlike the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, who used to publicly give report cards on his ministers, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stressed that this was not his style.

Instead, he had tried to reinforce his team of ministers following the elections, and the public will make its own assessment on how each minister is performing, said Mr Lee.

“I’m not sure I want to do what Mr Lee did in the old days — he used to give report cards publicly, and I have not generally been doing that. But I think the process is progressing, and I think people are making their assessments and getting the measure of the ministers,” said the Prime Minister, who has said that he would like to step down by 2020, at a dialogue held by EDB Society and The Straits Times.

The session’s moderator, Mr Han Fook Kwang, had earlier asked Mr Lee whether it is clearer now who his successor would be. Mr Han, who is also The Straits Times’ editor-at-large, had voiced his doubts that Mr Lee would not be involved in the selection of his successor, given that he assesses the ministers’ performance.

Mr Lee said, “I have my views, we all have our views. But finally, the new team has to gel and have a leader they will support and work with. And it’s best that the team, who are going to work with that new leader, be the ones who determine who the new leader is going to be.”

He said that in the case of his predecessor — Mr Goh Chok Tong, now Emeritus Senior Minister — the latter’s peers had also decided he should be the next Prime Minister, despite the late Mr Lee preferring Dr Tony Tan.

“We had a meeting after the 1984 elections ... and we decided on Mr Goh. Mr Lee said he preferred Tony Tan, but the younger ones settled for Mr Goh, (so) he supported Mr Goh.

“When it came to the next time, we had a lunch, which (former Deputy Prime Minister) Wong Kan Seng and the other younger ones convened, there were about eight or nine of us, my generation, and they settled on me. So I imagine the next time, somebody will host lunch!” Mr Lee said, to laughter from the audience.

During the dialogue, a member of the audience asked how the Government should balance the need to win elections with bringing back the focus on Singapore’s long-term growth. The speaker said he felt that, since 2011, the Government’s priority had been to win elections, at the expense of sacrificing long-term goals, such as attracting foreign talent here.

Mr Lee replied that Singapore continues to welcome people to come here to work, but it has to be “selective”.

“It’s a very difficult balance to strike ... We have to make the judgment overall, is it good? And if so, do our best to persuade people. Now if the numbers are very large, then that becomes an issue ... No society can remain completely open, and we have to find the way in which we remain open in Singapore,” Mr Lee said.