Heng Swee Keat to return to work progressively
Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat. TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — The first thing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke about when he resumed his National Day Rally speech, after a bout of feeling faint, was the importance of leadership succession.
And he stressed that “what happened makes it even more important that I talk about it now”.
Mr Lee then announced that Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat will be going back to work progressively, focusing first on next year’s Budget and working on the Committee on the Future Economy, following his recovery from a stroke.
A second minister is needed to help Mr Heng with the operational responsibilities at the Ministry of Finance (MOF), and Mr Lee has appointed Mr Lawrence Wong, who helms the National Development Ministry.
Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam will stop covering for Mr Heng as Acting Minister.
While Mr Heng has been given the medical go-ahead to do office work, he cannot do community and grassroots work just yet, as doctors have recommended that he avoid contact with crowds for at least a few more months.
He should have “minimum” interaction, even in his office work. “Ministers or not, all of us are mortal. Heng Swee Keat recently gave us a bad scare, worse than what I gave you just now, much worse,” said Mr Lee.
In a Facebook post after the Rally, Mr Heng thanked his colleagues for covering his duties in the ministry, the CFE and his Tampines constituency.
“I am also happy that Minister Lawrence Wong will join our MOF team as the Second Minister. He will be a great member of the team,” said Mr Heng.
“(We) worked closely together ... when he led the Committee on University Education Pathways beyond 2015, a major piece of work that led to important policies. We had good robust discussions, and I look forward to more exchanges when he joins us.”
Both Mr Heng and Mr Lee thanked the Singapore Civil Defence Force team who had treated the former when he suffered his stroke. They were invited to the Rally as guests but ended up treating Mr Lee, he said to laughter from the audience.
On a more serious note, Mr Lee continued about one of his most urgent tasks: Putting in place the next team to take over himself and his senior colleagues. “Building up leadership and preparing for succession is one of my top priorities, nothing that has happened has changed my timetable or my resolve to press on with the succession,” he said.
“In the next GE, we will reinforce the team again, and soon after the next GE, my successor must be ready to take over from me.”
In his prepared text released to the media before the Rally, Mr Lee had noted that health issues could befall the ministers. “But what if more than one of us is out of action? I had prostate cancer last year. I have fully recovered, but life is unpredictable,” he said.
”My colleagues and I are not getting any younger. If we lose another minister, can I replace him quickly with someone of equal ability?”
The challenge, however, is in getting suitable, good people to agree to enter politics, he noted in his text.
“First of all, suitable people are not so many. And secondly, these few are very difficult to persuade. When the going is rough, people say (politely and indirectly): ‘Count me out, too nasty for me.’”
The search is on for candidates from all sources, including the public and private sectors, academia and civil society. “I hope you feel strongly enough for Singapore that if we ask you, you will say yes,” he appealed in his text.
Earlier in his speech, Mr Lee touched on the need for “good politics” that will unite the country.
In mentioning the Brexit referendum as a “vivid reminder” of the importance of good politics, he said it has deepened “fault lines in their society” between the young and old and the better educated and working class, among others.
“Why did it happen? Voters lost faith in their leaders and the whole political class. A lot of the population felt they were not benefiting from globalisation ... The educated prospered, the working class did not,” said Mr Lee.
He added that the same anxieties and pressures are present in Asia, but that Singapore can be different provided it has sound politics which work, leaders who are attuned to the people’s aspirations and people who feel they have a stake in the country and who fight to defend it.
