By Hoe Yeen Nie | Posted:
22 September 2011 2207 hrs
SINGAPORE: Singapore's former minister mentor Lee
Kuan Yew said it is unlikely that Singapore and Malaysia will merge
in the future.
He was speaking at the Singapore Global Dialogue, held at the
Shangri-La Hotel, on Thursday evening. The dialogue was attended by
some 400 participants from all over world.
Mr Lee was asked by a Malaysian citizen if he foresees both
countries coming to a political or economic union in the future,
given the growing strength of Indonesia.
Mr Lee said having gone through a failed merger in the 1960s, such
a move is not likely.
But he also gave a positive outlook of bilateral relations, noting
the efforts of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
These include developing the Iskandar region in southern Johor,
which will complement Singapore's own economic growth.
"Najib has brought forth a positive view of bilateral relations and
the desire to develop southern Johor, the Iskandar region, using
Singapore as a kind of Shenzhen. (This) means a complementary set
of forces will be let loose, which will make it unprofitable for
either side to be unfriendly," said Mr Lee.
He added: "You want our investments, we want to invest. Having
invested, we don't want problems with Malaysia, and Malaysia which
wants more investments will not give us problems. So that's a
positive development."
Speaking on Singapore's growth, Mr Lee said that as a diverse
society, the country will not be sustainable if economic growth was
confined to only one section of society.
At the dialogue, one question raised was on what Mr Lee saw as the
two or three key factors that will continue to push Singapore's
growth in the next 10 years.
In response, Mr Lee said factors such as meritocracy, pragmatism
and a clean government have taken Singapore to where it is, and
losing sight of any of them will cause the country to lose
momentum.
When asked on how he hoped to be remembered, Mr Lee said he has no
desire to be remembered for any particular reason, but he has a job
to do - that is to maintain a fair distribution of growth for the
country, and to maintain good relations with neighbours.
- CNA
