While political succession is a “very important issue” that must be done properly, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, who has been touted as one of the frontrunners to be Singapore’s next Prime Minister (PM), urged Singaporeans not to lose sight of the bigger picture of having a cohesive group of leaders.

Mr Heng reiterated on Wednesday (Jan 31) that this is not the first time Singapore is going through a political transition, and that the process is “quite well-established”.

He was responding to a question raised at a forum organised by the EDB Society and Singapore Management University on the topic of leadership succession, and how the authorities plan to instill confidence among businesses during this transition.

While there has been a focus on who could be the leader of the Cabinet, it is important to have a strong cohesive team in Singapore’s political system and building that team work is critical, noted Mr Heng.

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“Rather than think about what is the timeline which this must be done, we should think about the quality of the process to ensure that at the end of it, we’ll have a strong cohesive team to take Singapore forward,” he said.

Turning to Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s earlier speeches as a young PM, Mr Heng said Mr Lee had been concerned about the thin layer of leadership, and wanted to make sure that it was not fragmented and could work together.

That insight is still relevant today, he said, adding that the same concern about a sense of unity and purpose must apply to all leadership levels. For instance, companies cannot have a capable chief executive officer, but hopeless directors.

“We have to think hard about how do we continue to grow the leadership at all levels of our society now that challenges we are facing are much more complex, much more multifaceted and in a way much more unpredictable,” said the minister.

He also added that good responses and anticipation are needed at all levels of society for it to come out stronger. Over the years, the leadership layers in organisations here such as in academia, the private and people sectors, have also grown.

Questions about the pace of political succession in the ruling People’s Action Party resurfaced in January when Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong described it as an “urgent challenge” he would like to see settled in about six to nine months’ time. In response, the 4G political office holders, including Mr Heng, issued a joint statement saying that they were “keenly aware that leadership succession is a pressing issue”, and that they “will settle on a leader from among us in good time”.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also said last week that while there will be a Cabinet reshuffle after the Budget next month, there will be no new deputy prime ministers. The 4G leadership’s process of picking a leader among themselves could take “a bit longer” than nine months, he said.

Singaporeans’ concern about political succession is something that Mr Heng was “very happy” with. He said: “I agree that in Singapore’s case, (with) a very small open economy, good political leadership is important for our future.

“If we take a wrong turn, or if we do not adapt well to a change in global environment, the country can go in the wrong direction very quickly and it is not easy for us to recover. For those reasons, I think it is very encouraging that Singaporeans are taking this seriously.”

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by SIAU MING EN

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