Fri, Apr 16, 2010
The Straits Times
Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hisen Loong was interviewd by
Emmy award-winning journalist Charlie Rose.
Charlie Rose previously interviewed Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew
and made many references to that interview throughout his
conversation with PM Lee.
In the hour-long interview, PM Lee voiced his views on a number
of issues ranging from the Nuclear Security Summit, US President
Obama's global leadership and the US relationship with Asia and
Singapore.
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He also analysed Singapore's sensitivity towards the issue of
nepotism.
Here are excerpts from the interview:
- On nepotism
Charlie Rose: All right, well, you seem to be
sensitive -- you were -- to the issue of what's called
nepotism.
PM Lee: We are very sensitive.
Charlie Rose: Tell me about the
sensitivity.
PM Lee The whole of our
system is founded on a basic concept of meritocracy. You are where
you are because you are the best man for the job and not because of
your connections or your parents or your relatives.
And if anybody doubts that I as prime minister is here not
because I am the best man for the job but because my father fixed
it or my wife runs Temasek because I put her there and not because
she's the best woman for the job, then my entire credibility and
moral authority is destroyed. I'm not fit to be where I am.
And it's a fundamental issue of fitness to govern. First you
must have the moral right, then you can make the right decisions.
It's a basic Confusion precept.
Charlie Rose: Only when you have to moral right
can you make --
PM Lee: Then can you govern and make the
country right.
And in Singapore people expect that. So if there's any doubt
that this is so, and people believe that I'm there because my
father fixed it or the whole system is just make-believe, then the
system will come down. It's not tenable.
If it's true, it better be proven and I better be kicked out. If
it's not true, it better also be proven to be not true and the
matter put to rest.
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Excerpts from the interview:
# Your father is enormously
respected around the world. You are his son. Your wife is important in Singapore as a business
person, correct?
I'm not sure you'll call her a business person. She's an employee, but you can call her what
you want.
# You seem to be sensitive to the
issue of what's called nepotism.
We are very
sensitive.
# Tell me about this sensitivity.
The whole of our system is founded on a basic concept of
meritocracy.
You are where you are because you are the
best man for the job, and not because of your connections or
your parents or your relatives.
And if anybody doubts that I as Prime Minister am here not because
I'm the best man for the job but because my father fixed it, or
that my wife runs Temasek because I put her there and not because
she's the best woman for the job, then my
entire credibility and moral authority is destroyed because
I'm not fit to
be where I am.
And it is a fundamental issue of fitness to govern.
First, you must have the moral right, then you can make the right
decisions. It's a basic Confucian precept.
Only when you have the moral right then can you govern and make the
country right. In Singapore, people expect that. And if there's any
doubt that this is so, and people believe that I'm there because my
father fixed it, or the whole system is just make-believe, then the
system would come down.
It's not tenable. If it's true, it'd better be proven and it better
be kicked out. If it's not true, it'd better also be proven to be
not true and the matter put to rest.
# So if some journalist writes
about nepotism and you think it's not true...
Well, then we
sue him, as we did recently.
# Why?
Well, we raised the matter with the International Herald Tribune,
and they paid damages and apologised and didn't go to court. They
could have gone to court.
# But you thought what was written
in the IHT would somehow attack the moral fibre of your trust with
the people you govern.
Yes of course. They compare... They put us in the same list as Kim
Jong Il.
# Because he inherited his power
from his father.
Yes indeed. And in a similar way.
# And you say we won't stand for
that because it goes to the essence of our moral authority to
govern.
Yes, and in this case, in fact, the same journalist and the same
newspaper had made the same allegations and apologised and paid
damages, and promised never to do it again. And they did it
again.
# Are you also anxious to send a
signal that 'You don't dare write about nepotism in Singapore
because the Singaporeans would sue
you'?
No. The signal we want to send is that if you want to make an
allegation, make sure it is true, and be prepared to prove
it.
We were prepared, when we sued them, to go to court, give evidence,
enter the witness box and be cross-examined under oath.
And they can bring their lawyers and demolish us and prove that
what they said is true. What more can you ask?
# What's the legacy of your
dad?
He made a state where there was none, a country which would become
a nation, which nobody believed could succeed. And he made a system
which can run without him and will endure beyond him.
# What's the most important lesson
he's taught you?
Never say die, however desperate the situation. If you think hard
enough, you will find the resource and you will find a way out of
it. And don't forget where you came from. It could all be very
different.