Loke Kok Fai:
WHAT ARE THE MAIN ISSUES WE WILL FACE HEADING INTO 2016 AND ONWARDS?
Teo Chee Hean:
I won’t speak only of security threats because security threats are only one component of the challenges we face in the country, and I won’t look ahead just one year because that’s not the way the Government thinks and plans. We think and plan for the medium to long term for the good of Singaporeans and the good of Singapore. That’s the hallmark of Singapore. So I would say there are four things which we are looking to for the medium term – for the coming years.
The first is the economy, and Mr Heng Swee Keat is leading the Committee for the Future Economy, and this is a very major component of making sure Singapore thrives and does well in the future – good jobs, a thriving economy and continues to be a hub, a place where people would want to come to to do business and which provides a good living for Singaporeans as we move up the economic ladder. So this is a very important component, and we face serious challenges here because our population and our workforce are no longer growing. Our Singaporean population and workforce in the next five to seven years will stop growing, and this is a major, major challenge for the economy.
On the other hand, the skill levels of our people are increasing and can be increased further, so there are many opportunities to be exploited, what kinds of economic sectors, what kinds of activity, how do we link up with growing areas of the world, what are the sectors in which we have a competitive advantage. So this is one major component – the economy.
The second is security – something which we’ve been talking about earlier. Security is not just in terms of terrorism and extremism, although that’s the most salient threat that we are facing today, but also the more traditional security threats. Singapore will always be a small country in a part of the world which historically if you look back has been a place in which there have been instability, in which there have been wars and conflict. And so if we want to survive in peace and security as an independent country able to determine our own future, defence and security will always be an important component of Singapore.
Third is social cohesion, community bonding. How do we as a country maintain our social cohesion and bonds going into the future? And in particular, as we have migrants who come to Singapore, and the migrants include families of Singaporeans who marry with those who are non-Singaporeans, have children, and how do we bring (in) all of them and integrate them into Singapore. And I think eventually it is really the ideals and the values which Singapore lives by and which has grown by which unites us all.
And fourthly, I would say the most important of all is to make sure that we continue to have good, stable, clean leadership for the future. The last General Election has provided us with this platform and opportunity to do that, and it’s not just the leadership for the next term, next five years, but to prepare the leadership for the next 15 years to make sure that Singapore remains lead by able, honest, capable people with the right motivations, and the right heart for Singaporeans in Singapore. That itself is a major enterprise which should not be left to chance.
Because it’s a small country, if we fail on this one, we may never have a chance to recover with it.
Excerpt of interview with CNA
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