Singapore's Prime Minister speaks at 7th Ho Rih Hwa Leadership in Asia Lecture

Published on 2 July 2015

On 30 June 2015, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore, became the seventh distinguished speaker of the Ho Rih Hwa Leadership in Asia Lecture Series organised by the Singapore Management University.

In his welcome remarks before Prime Minister Lee took to the stage, Mr Ho Kwon Ping, SMU Chairman, spoke of the lecture series having been established by Mrs Ho Lien Fung with the hope that it would inspire students and the public by giving them the opportunity to hear accomplished entrepreneurs, business leaders and political figures from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, share their experiences, insights and opinions.

[Photo: Mr Ho Kwon Ping delivering his welcome remarks at the 2015 Ho Rih Hwa Leadership in Asia Lecture.]

Staying true to its purpose, the lecture series has, since 2002, featured as its inaugural speaker, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, and subsequently other leaders such as Mr Mahathir Mohammed of Malaysia, Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, Benigno Aquino of the Philippines, and Mr FW de Klerk of South Africa.

In a wide-ranging speech , Prime Minister Lee laid out the stark reality of the challenges that Singapore faces in three critical areas: In a 10-year horizon, it is the economy; in a 25-year perspective, it is population issues; and viewed over 50 years, the main challenge would be identity. He warned that these challenges concern Singapore's survival, and said the country will face "profound problems" if Singaporeans do not pull together to meet them.

[Photo: Prime Minister Lee laid out the challenges that Singapore faces in three critical areas - economy, population and identity.]

Prime Minister Lee described how Singapore needs to maintain economic growth to improve lives in the short term, raise its total fertility rate in the medium term and forge a common identity in the long run. He spoke about the Government’s efforts in encouraging productivity and recently launching SkillsFuture “as a national movement to help Singaporeans become resilient and adaptable”, as well as how, over the last 30 years, various policies and measures were introduced to increase the nation’s Total Fertility Rate, or TFR, to prevent a shrinking and ageing society.

“To keep Singapore special; to maintain a sense of ‘I am a Singaporean. I am proud of it and I want to uphold it’ ... I think in the very long term, that is our biggest challenge,” said Prime Minister Lee.

[Photo: The audience, which included more than 1,200 students, was enthralled by the lecture.]

Addressing a 3,500-strong audience, which included diplomats, public officers, corporate representatives, as well as students and teachers from over 30 institutions, he emphasised that all Singaporeans, not just the Government, have a role to play in tackling the challenges as this will decide whether the country will thrive and survive. "The fundamental reason we have succeeded over the last 50 years is not just that we've had good policies... the policies have worked because the population has supported these policies, which could therefore be implemented.”

Citing some 200,000 Singaporeans currently residing abroad for work and studies, Mr Lee shared his concern that as Singapore becomes more cosmopolitan and Singaporeans are increasingly well-travelled, Singaporeans must not lose the sense that only Singapore is truly home. “... We will just melt away, be dissolved by globalisation,” he said.

[Photo: The 7th Ho Rih Hwa Leadership in Asia lecture was held at Suntec Convention Centre in Singapore.]

Singaporeans must have a strong sense of identity and nationhood. To bind society together, Prime Minister Lee said that Singaporeans must have a shared sense of what the country stands for and what they want to achieve together. He cited a few instances this year when the nation experienced the Singapore spirit, including during the SEA Games. He also lauded marathoner and SMU alumnus Ashley Liew, who forewent his lead during the recent SEA Games to wait for competitors who had mistakenly taken the wrong path, for his embodiment of “class and sportsmanship”.

Concluding his lecture, PM Lee spoke of Singapore needing committed and responsible leaders who could win the support of Singaporeans, rally the country together and work to "give our next generation not only good lives, but also a brighter future".

[Photo: Prime Minister Lee taking questions from the floor; on his right is Mr Ho Kwon Ping.]

While his speech was largely centred on the country’s domestic challenges in the years ahead, questions on global developments dominated the dialogue with Prime Minister Lee which followed his lecture.

The questions raised by 12 participants, mostly students, ranged from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement to territorial disputes in the South China Sea and the United States Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday to legalise same-sex marriage in the country. Participants also raised domestic issues such as the problem of competitiveness in Singapore, the challenges in balancing career and family aspirations, and how Singapore will be affected by China’s slowdown.

[Photo: Prime Minister Lee's lecture was followed by a question-and-answer session which saw enthusiastic participation from the floor.]

[Featured photo: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was the seventh speaker of the Ho Rih Hwa Leadership in Asia Lecture Series organised by the Singapore Management University. The inaugural speaker of the Lecture Series was the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, who spoke at the first Lecture in 2002. Other distiguished speakers included Mr Mahathir Mohammed of Malaysia, Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, Benigno Aquino of the Philippines, and FW de Klerk of South Africa.]