MINISTER Mentor Lee Kuan Yew was
interviewed by The Wall Street Journal last week on a range of
issues, including the May 7 general election. The interview was
carried on Tuesday. Here is an edited excerpt of his comments on
the polls:
Wall Street Journal (WSJ): What do you think will be the key
issues?
MM Lee: I think we will remain the strongest party. There may be
a few seats for the opposition either as constituency or
non-constituency members because we have introduced new rules so
that up to nine of the best losers from the opposition will be in
Parliament, so the opposition’s voice is heard.
At the moment, there are two Members of Parliament from the
opposition and only one non-constituency member, but the law has
been changed to increase the number of opposition members to at
least nine in the next Parliament.
WSJ: What do you think the main issues
will be for voters in Singapore?
MM Lee: Cost of living, cost of housing for young couples. We
are building many new HDB homes but they cost
more because they are better designed and more elegant.
But Singaporeans do not like waiting. They blame the immigrants
for pushing up prices of the homes. The immigrants who are not
citizens cannot buy new flats directly from the government, but
they can buy off the open market from owners who want to sell their
HDB flats.
So there is some discomfort on this issue. We have got new
permanent residents who have entered the market. But our birthrate
or fertility rate is 1.16.
We need 2.1 to replace the existing population. 1.16 means we
are halving our population. If we do not accept migrants, we will
be an ageing and a declining population. It is a trade-off.
But our people feel discomforted seeing about one million
foreign workers in our total population of 5.1 million. But most of
these are people on two-year work permits, that can be extended but
they have to go home eventually. They do the construction and the
heavy work.
If we do not have them seen in the trains and on the buses, how
are they going to get to their work? If they are not here, who will
do this work? They are mostly from China, India and the region.
Our citizens want the best of all worlds. But in real life, we
have to make trade-offs.
WSJ: You know politicians want the best
for all citizens.
MM Lee: That is our job.
WSJ: Any other issues that you think will
be defining in this particular campaign?
MM Lee: Not really. The economy is doing well, we have raised
living standards, employment prospects, education for their
children; schools, institutions, tertiary institutions. We have
catered for both the top end and the lower end for those not
academically inclined. We formed and created institutes of
technical education.
http://www.straitstimes.com/GeneralElection/New…
