The People’s Action Party (PAP) held its lunch-time rally today (8 September) at the UOB Plaza. Speakers include new candidates Darryl David, Cheryl Chan, Chee Hong Tat, Tan Wu Meng, Victor Lye, Amrin Amin, as well as Ong Ye Kung, and Ministers Heng Swee Keat and Lim Swee Say. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s speech rounded off the rally.
Here is a summary of PM Lee’s rally speech in five important points:
1. Start of a new chapter for Singapore: SG50 is not a destination, but the start of a new chapter. PM Lee called for elections, to seek a new mandate to take Singapore forward, beyond SG50. PM Lee believe Singaporeans want to keep improving our lives, keep taking Singapore higher, build something worthwhile and lasting for our children.
2. Whom the government is working for: In this last term, and for many years before that, the PAP government has worked hard to improve lives, and take Singapore forward. And the results show.
3. Singaporeans must stay united and get our politics right: He said that whom Singaporeans vote for determines the kind of leaders we will have. The leaders will determine the kind of politics we have, and the direction of the country.
i) First, politics must stay clean and honest: voters must be able to tell the difference between those who are clean and truthful, and those who have a shameful record. He noted SDP’s Chee Soon Juan saying that “reputation is temporary, but character is permanent”. He added that politicians have to be honest and upfront, whether it is running a Town Council, ministry or country. It is not enough to say that “I didn’t go to jail, so everything is OK”.
ii) Second, our politics must serve the best interests of Singaporeans today and tomorrow – politicians cannot buy votes. He noted that opposition parties have offered a whole range of seemingly easy and attractive solutions in this campaign.
iii) Finally, Singapore needs a good Government, and we need good people in Government: PM Lee noted that Workers’ Party Hougang candidate Png Eng Huat says ‘never mind, vote the PAP out, you don’t really need a Government’. PM Lee said that if that is WP’s measure of good politics, and if WP ever forms the government, “Singapore will be finished”.
iv) PM Lee reiterated that Singapore must have a good Government, with good leaders and a strong Singapore team working with them. He highlighted several new candidates including Ng Chee Meng, Ong Ye Kung, Chee Hong Tat, whom he said have the “potential to make a contribution for many more years, beyond me and my generation”.
4. PM Lee urged Singaporeans to vote for him and his team if they support him.
PM Lee said that “politics is not just about policies, but also about people”. He said that he needed the right team to work with him and asked for Singaporeans’ support to deliver results for them. He added, “if you support what we have done together with you, if you want me to do more with you, please vote for me”.
5. Why PM Lee Hsien Loong is in politics
PM said that he had been in politics for 30 years and explained why he was still in politics. He said that he was “convinced that each person can make a difference”.
When ESM Goh Chok Tong asked PM Lee to enter politics, he did because he felt “a duty” to ” make life better for Singaporeans”.
He added that this was what drove him to explore new possibilities, to bring up and tackle spiky issues which cannot be dodged, like immigration, to work with Singaporeans and solve their problems, like the cost of living.
He said that this was the reason why he was in politics, to help “to keep Singapore going” and to “continue building a country where Singaporeans can fulfil their aspirations and dreams”.