And so Singaporeans are getting better acquainted with their next Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. He just delivered a speech not only spelling out some of his thoughts on how he and his 4G team will bring Singapore Forward but, in my view, also stressing how the 4Gers will befrom the previous teams. On surface, I detect what appears to be a major departure from the public stances of the 2G and 3G teams which tended to under-appreciate the importance of the Singapore core.
We have had similar exercises before, carried out by DPM Heng Swee Keat in 2012 and 2019. Lawrence Wong should start afresh and stamp his own mark and prove that he is different and more in tune with a population that has been taken for granted for far too long. A couple of statements stood out in his speech at a Labour Movement Conversation organised by the NTUC:
He is an unencumbered leader. No baggage. No SAF hotshot sense of self-entitlement. Not related to any previous PAP leader, I think. Self-proven. “And I want to assure everyone, Singaporeans and Singaporean workers will always be at the centre of everything we do.”