My other major goal in forming this Cabinet is to prepare the next team to take over from me and my senior colleagues. My responsibility, as it was with ESM Goh Chok Tong and Mr Lee Kuan Yew, is not just to govern Singapore well today, but also to prepare the next team to take over from us. This will secure Singapore’s future beyond this generation, and take the country another step towards SG100.
Leadership renewal was one of my major themes before and during the election campaign. I am grateful that with your support, I can reinforce my team and pursue renewal vigorously.
The clock is ticking; we have no time to lose. Therefore, I have made a decisive move now. In this new Cabinet, nearly all ministries have new Ministers, Ministers of State and Parliamentary Secretaries.
I have reinforced my team with backbenchers and newly-elected MPs, and entrusted major responsibilities to younger ministers. They have to be tested, learn the ropes, prove themselves, and shake down as a team. Increasingly they will carry the government’s programme – initiating, explaining and executing policies, and persuading people to support these policies, which will increasingly be their policies.
The older ministers are staying on in Cabinet. They will provide my team with depth and breadth to think more deeply about issues and to plan more systematically for the future. They will also help me to mentor and guide the younger ones. My overriding goal is to have a new team ready to take over soon after the next elections, to work with you, for you and for Singapore.
Full transcript of speech here: http://bit.ly/1WAQsIe
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