Questions you would have liked to ask MM Lee at the Kent Rid
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9 of the best questions selected from a pool of 500 stayed largely on the safe side. Photo by: The Kent Ridge Common
Questions you would have liked to ask MM Lee at the Kent Ridge Ministerial forum
By The Kent Ridge Common
Published: October 24, 2009
Compared to the lively exchange Minister Mentor (MM) Lee Kuan Yew had with a certain Mr Jamie Han from 2005, the recent forum was concluded in a less, riveting and dramatic fashion. This could be attributed to the fact that the questions to be asked were pre-selected from a huge batch of 500 questions. Apparently, the 9 best were selected, with some on MM Lee’s legacy even contradicting the theme of the forum that was on the future of Singapore in the next 50 years. Criticisms abound that the easier questions could have been preferred over the harder ones, which led to allegations that what we witnessed was an orchestrated performance. However, whatever happened has happened. We understand that those of you out there may feel that you are more than capable of asking better questions than those 9 pre-selected ones. Allow us to start the ball rolling with some questions of our own. Do participate by indicating your question(s) in the comments section.
1) Much of your previous speeches focus on China, however, there have been suggestions from certain quarters to adopt an increased focus on the ASEAN region. Do you believe there should be a shift in our foreign policy towards greater engagement of ASEAN nations rather than engaging China?
2) Do you believe there will ever be another Singaporean who is equally capable of running Singapore like your son, the current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong?
3) Do you think there are other alternatives of resolving debates (which you believed carried defamatory messages) with certain members of the opposition other than the use of defamation suits?
4) When you eventually leave the political scene, how would the political landscape change for the PAP and Singapore in general?
5) The ministerial cabinet has seen the infusion of new blood. How do you think these relatively new cabinet members fared as compared with your former colleagues such as Goh Keng Swee, Ong Teng Cheong, Toh Chin Chye, S. Rajaratnam, etc?
6) From question 5, the cabinet that you previously worked with had lower pay as compared to the current one. What kept your former colleagues going despite the lower pay and was there any difference in their attributes as compared to the current one?
7) From question 6, is it really difficult nowadays to find a talented cabinet comprising candidates like the ones you previously worked with when you were Prime Minister with the following attributes – passionate, willing to serve the people and a greater willingness to soldier on regardless of the pay?
8. Most, if not everyone would often self-reflect on the things that they could have done better. If you ever had a chance to self-reflect, what do you think you could have done better during the years you have helmed Singapore?
9) You previously mentioned that the next 2 elections would be the PAP’s to win and beyond that, it could be anyone’s guess. Thus, what do you perceive as the most imminent threat to PAP’s dominance?
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this coming elections got any goodies for me or not....
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Got, one day extra holiday for the election day.