NEW YORK — As Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wound down his week-long trip to the United Nations (UN), his final event in New York on Friday evening (Sept 27) was to meet some 350 overseas Singaporeans eagerly waiting to take selfies with Mr Lee and his wife Ho Ching.

Mr Burhan Gafoor, permanent representative of Singapore to the UN, said at the event: "He saved the best for the last."

Slated to only deliver short remarks, Mr Lee spent more than five minutes telling his countrymen about how all week, foreign delegates and media representatives have been asking him how Singapore intends to navigate an increasingly volatile world.

To these foreign queries, Mr Lee would describe the practical problems faced by Singapore — climate change, providing affordable housing, quality healthcare and good public transportation — and the actions it has taken for each.

Speaking to overseas Singaporeans at the Republic’s Permanent Mission to the UN, however, Mr Lee pointed out: “What is harder to describe are the intangible things – the people who will be there, who give life, purpose and meaning to the place.

“How do we cope with all these uncertainties in the world? The answer is to stay together and deal with (problems) as one people, one country and one Singapore.”

He said the key is to build hope for themselves and their future generations: “Because you must be convinced that we are building in Singapore a place, a home, a country where you will be safe and where you can develop talents and skills and interests and the human spirit.”

In a separate interview with the Singapore media before the event, Mr Lee said this is the advantage that Singapore has over many other countries, and involves the “emotional sense of camaraderie” between Singaporean citizens.

He said: “We are more united, we are more cohesive, we have more resources, we're better able to train our people and to deliver results and be competitive.”

ADDRESSING PRACTICAL CONCERNS

Nevertheless, he noted that part of the answer lies in “addressing practical issues which people are concerned about”. The Government also has to make sure that “everybody can see that when there are problems which concerns Singaporeans, we tackle them and we work together to find solutions to them”, he said. 

“They may take time, they may not be perfect solutions, but we work at them,” he added. 

Giving the example of the cost of living, Mr Lee said this is an issue grappled by many cities and countries, whether it is in New York, Sydney, Hong Kong, Tokyo, or Singapore.

Depending on their income level and life circumstances in these cities, people may feel that the key necessities — housing, transport, education, healthcare — are “not quite within reach”.

“What we can do in Singapore is to make sure that for each one of these things, we tackle effectively, and people can see that ‘I do have a path forward’,” said Mr Lee. 

In income inequality, for example, Mr Lee said it has actually improved over the last 10 years in Singapore, if one considers the additional government measures in helping people from all walks of life. This is through measures such as Goods and Services Tax vouchers, Workfare, ComCare and CareShield Life.

What the Government and the people need to do is to help Singaporeans understand when the nation is making progress, he said.

Describing Singapore’s situation today as a ship sailing resolutely across choppy waters, Mr Lee said the Republic must also be mindful of the problems around the world “so that we understand our own situation and context and we can take the rough weather smoothly”. 

He said: “If we don't tackle the problem and we just explain that it's rough weather, I think that will not cut a lot of ice with Singaporeans. But if we do the best with our own problems in Singapore, people can see that things are getting better.”

A ‘MORE COMPLICATED’ ENVIRONMENT 

Turning to the external environment, Mr Lee said he was “quite sure that the next 10 years will be more complicated than the last 10 years”.

“They are not temporary issues which can blow away (when) you sign a US-China trade agreement and then that's the end of the matter. These are very deep conflicts of interest, even friction or what some of them will see as fundamental contradictions, although they need not be,” said Mr Lee on the myriad of issues facing the world today. 

“That will mean a very complicated world. And we have to be prepared for that.”

In New York over the past week, the US-China conflict was one of the central narratives in the UN General Assembly (UNGA). The jostling between the two powers has led to more countries focusing inward on domestic policies, giving rise to nativist mindsets and undermining the multilateral international system.

Asked for his observations of the stances taken by the US and China during the UNGA, Mr Lee said neither side had budged.

“I think both sides expect this to be a long discussion, and I don't think they're expecting a quick breakthrough.”

“Therefore, I think the uncertainty, the side effects are being felt not just by US and China, but also by the rest of the world, in terms of investment, in terms of confidence, in terms of dampening of consumers' spending. And therefore it's one of the factors why our gross domestic product growth this year is lower,” said Mr Lee.

He added that Singapore’s full-year economic growth in 2019 will likely be lower than 1 per cent, but he remains hopeful that it would be higher. “We have to be prepared for this bumpy weather for some time to come," he said. The official forecast is between 0 and 1 per cent. 

At the reception with overseas Singaporeans, Mr Lee told the audience how he had given a televised interview to CNN on Thursday, but the network decided to hold off broadcasting the segment due to ongoing events in the US.

US President Donald Trump is facing a fresh scandal involving a whistle-blower’s complaint over alleged improper dealings with Ukraine, and impeachment proceedings have started against him.

Mr Lee said of the postponed broadcast: “It is a sign of the significant things that are happening which are preoccupying the Americans, which we all have to pay attention to, because if they are preoccupied, it is going to impact their attitudes on the rest of the world and their perspectives, and is going to have an impact on us on the other side of the world.”

LEADERSHIP TRANSITION

In the interview with the Singapore media, Mr Lee was asked whether Singapore’s fourth generation (4G) leaders are ready to handle these challenges.

Mr Lee said: “There is no preparation which can make you 100 per cent ready until you're actually in charge and then making the decisions.”

He said his team has been working with the 4G leaders for some years now, and they too are familiar with the issues facing Singapore today. “One great advantage they have is that we will all work together to support them and to make sure that they succeed,” he added. 

As long as the 4G team is able to bond with younger Singaporeans, Singapore will be able to see through the rough weather ahead, he reiterated.

On the immediate horizon is the next General Election (GE), which is due by April 2021 but expected to be held in the coming months.  

Asked about the ruling People’s Action Party’s preparations for the GE, Mr Lee said: “We are always ready.”