Frankly speaking, no one likes the Ah Nehs except for the PAP..
It is part of the strategy of "divide and rule".
The British Empire was big, but the Brits themselves do not have enough of their own to send to all parts of their far flung territories. Whichever race is the majority in a part of their empire, they will not delegate power to members of that race - in terms of civil service appointments, commercial opportunites, etc. Instead, they make use of a minority race as their allies.
In Malaysia & Singapore, the British's allies in this strategy of "divide and rule" were the King's Chinese or Peranakans, of which the Old Fart is one. When the British were forced to grant independence, it was in their interest to see that Fortress Singapore is left in friendly hands, as they still had a military base here.
The Old Fart and his PAP cronies use the same strategy and their minority allies are the Ah Nehs. He does not trust the Mats because in his mind they may be swayed by cultural affinities with fellow Mats in Malaysia & Indonesia. Mats make up the vast majority of the population in our two closest neighbours.
As Ministers or holders of other high office, they are the perfect puppets, for they have no support on the ground and must rely on their masters. Once ejected by the PAP machinery, for whatever reason, their chance of getting elected on their own merits is next to zero. That's why the Old Fart's most trusted minions are mostly Ah Nehs - Rajaratnam, Jayakumar, Nathan, Shamugam, Sundaresh Menon, Balakrishnan.
Syria uses the same strategy. Shiite Alawites and Christians are in the minority. The Assad dynasty uses these to help it control the majority Sunni population. The Lee dynasty will suffer the same fate for this sort of strategy builds up resentment in the majority population.