PAP talent-spotting system 'has worked'

The Straits Times, April 23, 2007
By Zakir Hussain


Party not stagnant. It cannot be, says MM. At stake is 'losing your future'


WHO will be the next generation of government leaders?

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew does not know, and he does not think the Cabinet ministers know either.

But one thing he is certain of is that they are out there somewhere, and must be found.

'They must be inducted in, they must be indoctrinated, they must be trained, they must learn the ropes, and they bring a fresh burst of enthusiasm with their generation's ideas to flower,' he told some 400 Young PAP activists on Saturday.

'That's the PAP: It is not stagnant. It cannot be.'

Mr Lee stressed that the PAP government had worked out a system of spotting, recruiting and nurturing talent which had worked.

He recalled how, in the late 1970s and 1980s, he saw that most of his Cabinet colleagues were older than him: 'I told myself, 'Oh, I'm in trouble. Where do I find strong, capable leaders to head the ministries?'

'So I went out, talent spotted.' he said.

He had an argument with former deputy prime minister Toh Chin Chye, who was 'a believer in doing it naturally'.

'He says: 'Oh, they will come up from the branches'.

'I looked at him. I said: 'You will get activists, yes. You will get enthusiasts, yes. You will get committed, dedicated workers, yes. But managers, thinkers, implementers?'

'So you come back to talent, you come back to character, you come back to capabilities, performance. Slowly we trawled the whole society; and you got to get them elected.

'You not only must be able to do things, you must also be able to connect with people and carry them with you. And we worked out this system which has worked.'

To keep Singapore going, Mr Lee said, the party had the task of recruiting top men who, despite the attractions elsewhere, were willing to work in the constituencies.

The 24 new MPs elected in last year's General Election had changed the quality and upgraded the content of parliamentary debate, he added.

'Let's be blunt about this. At stake is not the PAP losing a few seats. At stake is losing your future.'

If there was no equally competent, capable and dedicated government, Singapore could not survive.

Turning to Young PAP chairman, Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, and to event host, Marine Parade GRC MP Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, he said he did not know them before they entered politics.

'They're not my cronies. They went through a process.' he said.

'We need this kind of people who'll spend time mobilising, attending to the needs of people and making sensible suggestions of how to improve their constituencies and improve the government. And that is the way we move forward.'

The PAP was not a party that was stagnant. Nor was it nepotistic, Mr Lee said.

Referring to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, he said: 'I held my son down. I said, 'You cannot succeed me. It will do you harm. It will do Singapore harm'.'

MM Lee said he knew that PM Lee had special talents from a very early age, and mastered four languages, including Malay and Russian.

'He's good in mathematics, Russians are great scientists, learn Russian. He passed his O levels with distinction in Russian. But what to do, the Soviet Union collapsed.

'That I did not foresee. So that was lost investment. But not quite. The Russian Federation may come up, so you never know,' he said to laughter.

Mr Lee added: 'You know, they used to say, 'Oh, nepotism, dynasty'.

'No. I have not created this Singapore to have it ruined by my son. If he can't do the job, I would have stopped him faster than anybody else.

'Why? Because the future of Singapore is more important than his future. It's as simple as that.'

'If you are not motivated, driven by what you think is your responsibility for the people who have put their lives in your hands, you shouldn't be there.'





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'You know, they used to say, 'Oh, nepotism, dynasty'. No. I have not created this Singapore to have it ruined by my son. If he can't do the job, I would have stopped him faster than anybody else. Why? Because the future of Singapore is more important than his future. It's as simple as that.'