PM Lee said he thought it was possible for Singapore to have a non- Chinese prime minister, but it may not happen soon. - WP politician asks... Wheelchair-bound woman struggles getting in and out of home because of inconsiderate neighbours and no lift access, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce their first Netflix series, S’pore to contribute S$27.7m to IMF for low-income countries coping with Covid-19, MPs show support. ... My favorite parts are LKY's response when the reporter asked his opinion on the future of China speaking as a Chinese who understands China. Taking issue with this last statement, WP member Yee Jenn Jong asked why the PAP thinks Madam Halimah would have lost an open election based on her race since a minority candidate that has contested past presidential election has never lost in the history of independent Singapore. Pointing out that it would have been the vote of Singaporeans if Madam Halimah did not win an open election and that Singaporeans should be trusted with their ability to discern, Mr Yee wrote on Facebook: Asserting that Singaporeans are not unhappy with Madam Halimah as a person but are frustrated with the process that deprived them of their opportunity to elect a president in an open contest, Mr Yee continued: PM Lee, his father Lee Kuan Yew and his presumptive successor Heng Swee Keat have all publicly said that they don’t feel Singapore is ready for a non-Chinese PM. PM Lee said he thought it was possible for Singapore to have a non- Chinese prime minister, but it may not happen soon. SPH Digital News / Copyright © 2021 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Co. Regn. In October 1951, a large shipment of opium was hijacked by … He was the co-founder and first secretary-general of the People's Action Party, and led the party to a landslide victory in 1959. During his long rule, Singapore became the… During his long rule, Singapore became the most-prosperous country in Southeast Asia. 7 years ago. Singaporeans told Mr Tharman that he is still the clear “people’s choice” for PM when he later congratulated Mr Heng on his appointment as Deputy Prime Minister – an appointment which marked Mr Heng as the Government’s choice to become the next PM. She told me: "Tell Lee Kuan Yew I will always support him. Posted by. A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 04, 2015, with the headline ''Matter of time' before S'pore has non-Chinese PM'. Lee Kuan Yew and his cabinet also took their oaths of office on June 5, 1959, in the City Hall Chamber. It is up to PAP to decide if S’pore is ready to have non-Chinese PM, not the people: WP’s Yee Jenn Jong. 26 January. Yes, if I did not, had I not done that, we wouldn't be here today. Mr Yee asked whether PM Lee’s reasoning that minorities would feel disenfranchised and the founding values of the nation would erode if a non-Chinese almost never becomes President would apply to the Office of the Prime Minister. A Blackbox survey commissioned by Yahoo Singapore confirmed the results of our poll. Here it … The common space where everyone is growing up in is much larger than it used to be. Independence was thrust upon Singapore. We've got a meritocracy, it is an open system. Dr Tan lost the 2011 presidential election by less than 0.35 per cent of votes to establishment pick, Tony Tan. Mr Goh said making the presidency an elected one did not preclude Malays, but acknowledged that one man, one vote might see the Malay candidate struggling to get elected. Harry and his wife Meghan... Singapore – Parliamentarians supported Singapore's US$20.57 million (S$27.7 million) contribution to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) initiatives to help the vulnerable and low-income countries cope with the Covid-19 pandemic. And more importantly, to go beyond what Singapore has achieved in multiculturalism. The past three ministers since Singapore gained independence in 1965 have been Chinese: Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Chok Tong, and Lee Hsien Loong. Lee Kuan Yew also spelled as Lee Kwan Yew 李光耀 is known as a very successful politician, born in Singapore, Mr.Lee successfully turned Singapore from a third world to first world.The other 2 non western countries that managed to reach developed status are Taiwan and South Korea, but both are still behind Singapore in term of Human Development Index (HDI) and Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). Archived. Interview with PM of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew on the Vietnam War (1967) Video. LEAVING HIS MARK ON SINGAPORE Richard Harrington / Stringer In 2000, Lawrence Koh represented a top-rated book about Lee Kuan Yew’s childhood years, Growing Up with Lee Kuan Yew. It is also about overlapping circles," he said. Lee Hsien Loong echoed his father’s views in 2008, shortly after Barack Obama got elected as the first black president of the United States of America. While detractors have been quick to criticise Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, it is imperative to bear in mind that he is, after all, only human. He will be remembered by many for many reasons. At the same time, we must proactively strengthen our structures and institutions that support our multiracial and multi-religious society.”, PM Lee called the President a “unifying symbol” of multiracial Singapore and asked: “How would the minorities feel if the president of Singapore were almost always Chinese? At yesterday's hour-long dialogue, a member of the audience asked Mr Tharman what he felt were the "key tenets of a more positive narrative of an ageing Singapore" and ways to achieve it. Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's founding father, retires from cabinet This article is more than 9 years old Former PM, who led country from independence in 1959 to … All done! Join ST's Telegram channel here and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. During his leadership, Singapore separated from the Federation of Malaysia in 1965 and grew from an underdeveloped colonial outpost with no natural … In remembrance of our founder, Lee Kuan Yew, we commemorate his third death anniversary with this video. Lee was born into a Chinese family that had been established in Singapore since the 19th century. According to him, it’s all ‘utter rubbish’ and people are saying what is ‘politically correct’. After all, both PM Lee Hsien Loong and MCI Minister Dr Yaacob Ibrahimspoke out against Pin Pin’s film, stating that it gave a one-sided account of what occurred back in the 1960s and did not do justice to the people who gave their li… "Let me put it this way. Lee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH was a Singaporean politician. "Are we ready for a non-Chinese PM then?" On Sunday, PM Lee told PAP cadres that the reserved election issue was a “political minus for the government, for the PAP” in the short term but added that he is “convinced that we did the right thing.”. He was the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. In that survey, 69 per cent of 897 respondents said they would support Tharman as a candidate to become prime minister. And these sentiments—who votes for whom, and what makes him identify with that person—these are sentiments which will not disappear completely for a long time, even if people do not talk about it, even if people wish they did not feel it.”. Founded by Harry in 2014, the Invictus Games is the Paralympics-style competition for wounded service personnel and veterans. You have reached your limit of subscriber-only articles this month. The question of whether and when Singapore may see a minority prime minister has come up in recent years. 63 quotes from Lee Kuan Yew: 'I am often accused of interfering in the private lives of citizens. Madam Halimah’s seat at Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC has been vacant since she left the ward and the Government did not call for a by-election. Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has said it is a matter of time before Singapore gets a non-Chinese prime minister. The fundamentals of our foreign policy were forged during those vulnerable early years. You go through common experiences together, national service, so it is a matter of time.". SINGAPORE, Dec 29, 2018, The Straits Times. We all have our preferences and I was always, in sports, playing centre-half rather than centre-forward. DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM, on a non-Chinese becoming prime minister of Singapore, DPM Tharman, who is also the Finance Minister, said: "Singapore is evolving. In 1992, craftsman Lai Kui Fang introduced authentic oil artworks of Lee Kuan Yew’s 1959 swearing-in service as prime minister, which are important for the National Museum of Singapore’s assortment. u/The_Turk2. Lee Kuan Yew, (born September 16, 1923, Singapore—died March 23, 2015, Singapore), politician and lawyer who was prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. In March this year, Heng Swee Keat said that Singapore might not be ready for a non-Chinese PM as he spoke to students at a Nanyang Technological University (NTU) forum. Days after Mr Barack Obama was elected in 2008, becoming the first black American president, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was asked whether Singapore was ready for a non-Chinese prime minister at a dialogue with Malay-Muslim community leaders. All rights reserved. At a blogger’s event specially organised for the launch, the “elephant in the room” in everybody’s head loomed large. But he does not see himself taking on the job, he said when replying to Washington Post columnist Fareed Zakaria, who had asked whether Singapore could see an Indian prime minister. 2021. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's first project with Netflix will highlight one of the Duke's most passionate causes. Was the reprint of the book a strategy to counter Tan Pin Pin’s To Singapore, with Love? The building underwent major renovations from 1987 to 1991. They can read the article in full after signing up for a free account. The sentiments Singaporeans expressed in the latest poll match the result of The Independent’s own poll over two years ago when we asked our readers who should be the next PM. No. “Please do not twist facts”: Netizens chide Education Minister after claiming rise in imported cases not due to travellers entering S’pore . Days after Mr Heng said that he does not believe Singaporeans are ready for a non-Chinese PM, a whopping 92 per cent of 19,900 individuals responding to a viral Facebook poll voted for Tharman Shanmugaratnam to succeed PM Lee and become the nation’s next head of Government, instead of Mr Heng. He informed me that PM Lee Kuan Yew would be arriving in Anuradhapura two days later, with Minister Gamini Dissanayake in attendance. She subsequently won the election by walkover when two other presidential hopefuls were disqualified by the Elections Department. Mr Lee Kuan Yew once said that former Cabinet Minister S. Dhanabalan was one of the four men he considered as his successor, but decided against him as he felt Singapore was “not ready” for a non-Chinese prime minister. This article is now fully available for you, Please verify your e-mail to read this subscriber-only article in full. By registering, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy. Speaker of Parliament and PAP MP Halimah Yacob subsequently vacated her parliamentary position to contest the 2017 presidential election.