We moved to a system where each HDB is priced differently to reflect its real value.

In the 1960s, most Singaporeans lived in over-crowded shop houses or squatter huts. People were poor and life was hard. There was no running water, no modern toilets, no expectation of a better future.

The immediate task of the Government was to tackle this housing crisis, and build homes in the shortest time possible. It would have been easier and simpler to build simple rental one and two-room flats to give people a roof over their heads, Mr Lee said.

But right from the start, Mr Lee Kuan Yew wanted a home-owning society to give every citizen a stake in the country. Mr Lee said ownership is critical because we were an immigrant community with no common history.

"Our peoples came from many different parts of Asia. Home ownership helped to quickly forge a sense of rootedness in Singapore. It is the foundation upon which nationhood was forged."

When HDB first launced the homeownership scheme in 1964, there were many skeptics.

"We had little reserves then. Singapore was still in Malaysia. Our future looked bleak. The post-war baby boom and the high unemployment added to our pressures. Our construction industry was low in skills and lacking in building management. Few believed a home-owning Singapore was possible."

"Against the odds, through grit and determination, we housed the nation progressively and systematically.

"By the end of the 1960s, 35% of the population was living in HDB flats. By the 1980s, HDB had housed 85% of the population. Few nations have managed to house its population in such a short span of time."

"Singaporeans know that the HDB flat gives them a tangible and valuable stake. If Singapore prospers, their flat values will appreciate and they will share in the growth. Home ownership motivates Singaporeans to work hard and upgrade to better flats for a better quality of living. The HDB story reflects the social mobility in Singapore. ... The home ownership programme is the success story of Singapore, shared by all Singaporeans.

From the 1980s...

"We moved to a system where each HDB flat is priced differently to reflect its real value. We cannot price a new flat in Punggol or Tanjong Pagar the same, because when they are resold, we know there will be a tremendous difference in price. From the 1980s, we moved towards a market-based system. By liberalizing the resale market and allowing HDB prices to move in tandem with the economy, we unlocked the value of HDB flats to allow citizens to share in the fruits of the nation’s growth. Home ownership of a HDB flat is a store of value that can be monetized when needs be."

"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞@𝐃𝐮𝐱𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 .. 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐃𝐁 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐦 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐮𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬.

"The Pinnacle@Duxton is a strong testament to our tenacity and capabilities as a people, to get to where we are today.

"𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡. ... 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝."

- Excerpt from Mr Lee Kuan Yew's speech
KEY HANDOVER CEREMONY FOR THE PINNACLE@DUXTON, 13 DECEMBER 2009 

What happens when a leadership and a people forget the constraints we face? Lee Kuan Yew

A reminder of how we can go down, and go down very quickly.

Because we have had success for the past 50 years , some have forgotten that we are an improbable nation. Perhaps they do not even understand what it means to be an improbable nation, a small island without any natural resources.

In fact, success has turned to arrogance when people think companies have no choice but to come here to do business.

In any parliamentary debate, the outcome is either Singapore wins, or Singapore loses.

Parliament is a place to further the interests of Singapore and Singaporeans, not a place to further the political agendas of any political party.

Global companies are here to play the global game. They are not here to serve the Singapore market. They are here to serve the region and the world. They want to bring together an international team. That is our value proposition to them and that is why they find Singapore attractive. If they cannot bring in an international team, why would they find Singapore attractive?

Would you turn away a company that has 69 high end jobs for Singaporeans because they want to bring in 31 foreigners?

The least appreciated part of Lee Kuan Yew's legacy: ensuring one generation will not bankrupt future generations by living selfishly beyond its means

Mr Lee Kuan Yew's legacy according to American political journalist, John Fund is his method of ensuring that one generation will not bankrupt future generations by living selfishly beyond its means.

This is why the government is required to operate a balanced budget for each term of government. This is why the Constitution does not allow the government to borrow for recurrent expenditure. Each generation must pay for its own recurrent needs.

A political leader must have the courage to tell the people the truth about the limits of government's power to pass out goodies.

And of course, the surest way to bankrupt a country is to let the people think the country has limitless assets like land to sell and use the proceeds to fund recurrent expenditure. Thankfully, the government has rejected this dangerous proposal.

What is recurrent expenditure? It's expenditure that recurs, the day-to-day expenditure like salaries of nurses and doctors in public hospitals, teachers, social workers, subsidies for the needy etc.

You generate income to fund these expenditures, not sell your assets to fund these expenditures.

Wrong ideas have to be challenged before they influence public opinion and make for problems.

Wrong ideas have to be challenged before they influence public opinion and make for problems. This is especially so in today's world where social media is a medium for propagating and entrenching wrong ideas.

Not only wrong ideas need to be challenged, hypocrisy needs to be exposed.

Wrong ideas like revealing the full size of Singapore reserves and encouraging currency speculation to stabilise the Singapore dollar put Singaporeans' jobs, livelihoods and careers at risk.

For a long time, the WP has pressured the government to spend more from reserves including the direct use of land proceeds for recurrent needs.

Yet, when the government had to dip into reserves because of a unprecedented crisis, they suddenly became very concerned with the dip and asked for an independent budget office to scrutinise the spending for outcomes.

WP calls for an independent body to examine spending, but you will also recall that they resisted an independent audit of their town council finances all the way from the beginning of the saga, fighting every step of the way in court against an independent body to review their finances. They talk, but do not walk their walk.

Speech by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew Guest-of-Honour at NTUC's 50th Anniversary Dinner, Marina Bay Sands Grand Ballroom, on Friday, 13 May 2011

I began my political life by representing trade unions.  I was a young legal assistant at the firm of Laycock & Ong, and the postmen were about to go on strike.  I was asked to look after them.  They went on strike.  For two weeks, the union ding-donged in the press against the Commissioner for Posts representing the Colonial government on the merits of their case.  I drafted their statements.  Public sentiments swung towards the unions, and the Colonial government had to give way: higher wages and better terms and conditions of service, removal of thick printed red stripes on their trousers making them look like circus attendants.  Because the union won, I was next briefed by the clerical union of Post & Telegraphs for their demands, which went to arbitration.  Again the union won.

Thereafter, I became adviser to innumerable trade unions English-speaking, Chinese-speaking and Malay-speaking.  When I fought my first election in 1955, I chose Tanjong Pagar because that was where the postmen were based and also the dock workers. I won easily. 

I have maintained my relationship with the unions and, as Prime Minister, I have always been mindful of the interests of the workers and their unions.  Hence, we were able to develop the tripartite relationship and the National Wages Council with the advice of Dr Albert Winsemius, the Dutch Adviser the UNDP sent to help us.  On his own, he came back year after year because he approved of, and was attracted by our practical approach to problems. 

Today, I am happy to join you to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of NTUC.  NTUC nearly lost to SATU (Singapore Association of Trade Unions), then communist-led.  They were mainly the Chinese-speaking trade unions.  Fortunately, they lost or the history of Singapore would be changed for the worse. 

In government, I have never forgotten that it is in the interest of the workers and their unions that we must strive for growth and development.  In other words, growth is meaningless unless it is shared by the workers, shared not only directly in wage increases but indirectly in better homes, better schools, better hospitals, better playing fields and, generally, a healthier environment for families to bring up their children.  I am glad that since I stood down as Prime Minister, successive Prime Ministers, first PM Goh Chok Tong, now PM Lee Hsien Loong, both had the same policies - pro-worker, pro-trade unions.  We changed the attitude of antagonism by employees towards their employers to one of fair bargaining and accounts of employers open for inspection.  This led to cooperation in the National Wages Council with the government, unions and employers.  This is a unique system which has served us well.  It has stopped unions from being adversaries to squeeze employers out of business.  Instead, they have teamed up with the government and employers in a tripartite system which has brought benefits to workers, the government and employers because industrial peace creates confidence and increases foreign investments.  Whenever employers make above average rates of return on capital, profits are shared.

From the early 1980s, we put trade union leaders on key statutory boards so that they will understand and shape the policies of the boards.  It is especially valuable for our public organisations to have the voice of the unionists on public policies.  They were our channels for feedback and helped refine our policies.  It made union leaders take ownership of these policies, so they mobilised their fellow unionists and their workers to make them successful.  Since 1980, unionists also played a key role in the productivity movement.  They decided on enlarging the pie rather than fight for a bigger slice of a small pie. 

The most significant transformation of the trade union movement was the Modernisation Seminar in 1969.  It was proposed by the late Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Goh Keng Swee.  The late President Devan Nair, then Secretary-General of the NTUC, jointly organised it.  The Modernisation Seminar extended the activities of the unions to embrace the economic, social and recreational life of the workers.  NTUC set up co-operatives.  The first was NTUC Income, offering low-income workers affordable insurance coverage.  Then NTUC Comfort, enabling unlicensed taxi drivers to become owners of taxis and get a decent living.  In 1973, NTUC Welcome, now known as NTUC Fairprice, put a cap on private sector businesses as to how high they can mark up their prices.  Other cooperatives were subsequently set up for NTUC Childcare, Choice Homes, ElderCare, Foodfare, Healthcare, Income, Media and Thrift & Loan.  Trade union leaders were in charge of running these cooperatives.  This gave NTUC leaders personal experience as managers, and hence better understood the problems of management.  Because they were co-operatives, their prices were lower than that of ordinary businesses, and helped workers save money. 

Our trade union leaders and their members have been agents of change.  Unlike the old British and European trade unions, they accepted new technology and new ways of working.  They helped workers overcome the risk of unemployment due to the increasing use of computers and other new technologies.  Together with the government, they set up computer appreciation classes for the workers.  As a result, workers did not fear becoming redundant because of computers or have their pay reduced.  Instead, the training in the use of computers helped the workers increase their productivity and wages.  Together with the government, the unions also set up BEST classes to improve the command of the English language of our workers.  Then they also ran a range of courses for different skills.

I am honoured to be your Guest-of-Honour this evening.  We all remember the close relationships between the NTUC, the trade unions and the government.

I wish you many more years of active work for the workers and their unions, working with the government and the employers on equal terms.  You have helped to create jobs and upgrade skills for our workers to live a better life in the first 50 years of the Labour Movement. Your challenge now is keep up with the fast pace of economic transformation, and help our workers - young and old, professionals and rank-and-file - to secure better jobs, better pays and live a better life for many more years to come.

Happy 50th Anniversary, NTUC.

Lee Kuan Yew on his grandchildren

Like most grandfather, Mr Lee Kuan Yew loved all his grandchildren. He had 6 of them.

In an interview with Sinchew in 2011, he described them all as his favourites. But the favourite among favourites was his first grandson, Li Yipeng whom he described as polite, well-spoken and well-mannered.

Yipeng was slower in his studies due to his very poor eyesight and he need binoculars to help him see the words on the blackboard, but he did not give up and slowly caught up and graduated with very good results from NUS.

https://www.sinchew.com.my/content/content_1216753.html

Creating good jobs and opportunities for you and your children: Lee Kuan Yew

 

𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, said Mr Lee Kuan Yew, is 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬, step by step.

"Each step we take is to open avenues for yourself and your children’s future and that is the message I want to convey very strongly before I am not able to say it." - Lee Kuan Yew

The globalized companies that Singapore wants to attract are staffed by talents from many parts of the world. These are companies at the cutting edge, breaking new grounds, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.

Singaporeans may not have the skills needed for a higher level job in such companies.

What do we do? So 'no' to the investment because we lack the skills?

Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing said:

"We land the investment first. Create the jobs in Singapore first. Work hard to train our people, upgrade their skills to take over the jobs as soon as possible."

This is the way we create good jobs not just for present Singaporeans but also for your children in time to come.

Foreign talent policy cannot change: Lee Kuan Yew

The question on foreign talents is not a new question we face today. Back in 2003, Mr Lee Kuan Yew was asked by a student in NTU whether the Government would re-examine the foreign talent policy and this is an excerpt of Mr Lee's reply.