smu hrh lecture lee hsien loong singapore future challenges

8/19/2019 SMU HRH Lecture Lee Hsien Loong Singapore Future Challenges

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Challenges Singapore will face

• (10 Year) Economy

• Need for more and better jobs to stimulate economy

• No eisting economic growth model to emulate as we are

already at the top• !f we stagnate at ceiling we will be li"e #aiwan and $apan

• (%& Year) 'opulation

• emography is destiny

• irth policies start to ta"e e*ect after %& years

• #otal +ertility ,ate (#+,) 1-%.1-& (/ot aim for young and

ibrant population coupled with foreign talent)

• (&0 Year) !dentity (ost 'rofound Challenge)

• !dentity present had motiated the population to support

goernment policies 23 results

•

Collectie will to succeed4 Nation building• eepened our common eperience with national challenges

• ust be sustained for future success

“10 Years” Challenge – Economy

Current

• EC /rowth more than 506 since independence

• /' /rowth 7 8or"force /rowth (8/) 9 'roductiity /rowth ('/)

• Singapore gradually slowing '/

• 'ossibly due to ceiling of technological and management

upgrades• Singapore gradually increasing 8/

• 'ast 'ost28ar aby oom and +oreign #alent !n:u

+uture

• #arget appro- %6 8/ and %6 '/ 7 ; the Chairman and 'resident of the

$apan 'roductiity Centre> re?uires a transformation of man"ind

thin"ing (@ marathon without a Anishing line)

• EampleB 'ort Security @uthority ('S@) recently upgraded

their Container #ransportation System from one2man2to2one2crane

to a one2man2machine2control2Ae2cranes4 !ncreases capacity for

business because formerly when the one man has to use the

washroom> the crane will be acated for half an hour because he

has to trael out of the platform

• '/ is both the solution and problem for economic growth

• 'otentially reduces employment with machinery automation

etc- NDESS total usiness olume improes

• !E and S',!N/ open mar"ets to eplore new mar"ets

• S"ills+uture• pgrade s"illsets to match technological leap


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• @djust to change in career re?uirements

(,educed labour wor" and higher ?uality wor")

• Een doctors need to upgrade as diagnosis can

be done digitally

• 'erhaps humanely touch has to be deeloped

(Serice sector)• Eeryone has a alue in the society

“25 Years” Challenge – Population

'ast and Current

• anaged to transform F0s aby oom into human assets with good

education

• ade use of businessmen> professors of di*erent academia and

bureaucrats to build up old foreign serice to deelop diplomacy before

our Arst batch of educated Singaporeans come through

• 1-G million (1GH&) I &-& million (%015) # #+, has been dropping to

the current of 1-%

+uture

• Jld ependency ,ate 1BF 23 1B% by %0&0

• #a and Social Serice pressure on the youngKus

• !mproe immigration policyL Social issentL

• Encourage M@ctie @ging

• 'roblem cannot be soled by policies

• ,e?uires a combined e*ort(Corporations> schools>goernment> social perceptions) to deelop a national culture

beneAcial for a Mfamily country

“50 Years” Challenge – Identity

Current

• Choices

• elt into the world and globaliOe fully

• ecome global citiOens and function as highly abled members

of the world

• Singaporeans are adaptable> English2educated>possess good education4 %00>000 Singaporeans liing or

study abroad

• # might be too comfortable with oerseas to lose

their directions to PJE (!f a countryQs centre cannot hold> it

will collapse from within)

• Split along fault lines into groups and "eep into those groups

• #raditionalB ,acial and ,eligion

• odernB ,andom +J, and @/@!NS#

• +oreign 'ressureB (Ethnic 'ulls) !ndia S China Con:icts etc-

• onetaryB !ncome disparity• ,adicalismB !S!S etc-


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• Strie hard to build a stronger national identity

• Shared stand on what Singapore stands for

• Shared Eperience (Created by Singaporeans and not

manufactured by the /oernment

• School Dife4 NS4 P

• Jercome national challenges (S@,S> E,S> +inancial

Crisis)

• Celebration (S/&0> SE@ /ames)

• /rieing (D=Y and t- =inabalu)

• +JJ !S NJ# +N@EN#@D compared to the aboe

• NEE +#,E DE@E,S to wholly commit their future and

lie to the surial of Singapore and its people

Qn

!mportant 'oints to noteB

• @ttitude towards competition R failures

• Competition is necessary motiation and process for the

reAnement of our people

• +ailure is common> just as common as the other chance down

the road

• !f eeryone beliees what they want is their natural right (D/# etc-)>

no cohesion and balance in the society can be achieed

• Singapore does not beliee in implementing laws based on

the Supreme CourtQs decision and hence beliee that such

controersial laws should be only formulated once the people haeachieed a near uniform agreement or hae left their shell of

conseratism to preent social strifes-

smu hrh lecture lee hsien loong singapore future challenges

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