<TABLE class=forumline border=0 cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=3 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=row1 vAlign=top width=150 align=left>matt
Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 260
</TD><TD class=row1 height=28 vAlign=top width="100%"><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD width="100%">
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 9:47 pm Post subject: NSP's statement on retirement of MM and SM</TD><TD vAlign=top noWrap>
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong have today announced their decision to step down from the Cabinet.
While the National Solidarity Party disagrees with many of the policy directions taken under their respective administrations, we nevertheless want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to their decades of extraordinary service to the country. Despite our disagreements over their policies, we have no doubt that they have always been motivated by what best serves the Republic.
MM Lee is the architect of modern Singapore having skillfully guided the country through its turbulent post-independence years and then transforming it into a First World city within one generation. Under SM Goh’s leadership, not only did Singapore successfully navigate several crises such as the Asian Financial Crisis and the SARS outbreak, but it also emerged from these stronger.
But while we have achieved tremendous prosperity under their leadership, a sense of nationhood – that every Singaporean has a stake in the country and a say in how it is run, has been elusive. We welcome their decision to encourage new, younger voices in their leadership structure. But this renewal must not be limited to the People’s Action Party; it must extend to our political culture with an inclusion of perspectives from outside the Party.
Nation building is not a top-down process. It must be a joint project between the people of Singapore and those whom they elect as their representatives in government. Every generation must be able to decide its present course without fear of its turbulent past. In this regard, we feel that the country is best served by seeing only one Prime Minister at a time. This is why the NSP welcomes the decision of MM Lee and SM Goh to retire from the Cabinet.
In the last General Election, the people of Singapore have demonstrated that they are ready to stand up and take ownership of their country. For now, they have chosen to keep their faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and have given him a fresh mandate to govern over the next five years.
We hope that he will reciprocate this trust with a more open and accountable approach to government.
We hope that his government will tackle the problems of stagnant wages, skyrocketing costs of living, housing that is fast becoming unaffordable to average Singaporeans and infrastructure that is becoming strained due to overpopulation.
We hope that Prime Minister Lee will engage alternative voices in a constructive debate so that we may all seek solutions to our common problems.
Finally, we want to once again join all Singaporeans in thanking MM Lee and SM Goh for their service and wish them a happy retirement.
Sincerely,
The National Solidarity Party</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 260
</TD><TD class=row1 height=28 vAlign=top width="100%"><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD width="100%">
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 9:47 pm Post subject: NSP's statement on retirement of MM and SM</TD><TD vAlign=top noWrap>
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong have today announced their decision to step down from the Cabinet. While the National Solidarity Party disagrees with many of the policy directions taken under their respective administrations, we nevertheless want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to their decades of extraordinary service to the country. Despite our disagreements over their policies, we have no doubt that they have always been motivated by what best serves the Republic.
MM Lee is the architect of modern Singapore having skillfully guided the country through its turbulent post-independence years and then transforming it into a First World city within one generation. Under SM Goh’s leadership, not only did Singapore successfully navigate several crises such as the Asian Financial Crisis and the SARS outbreak, but it also emerged from these stronger.
But while we have achieved tremendous prosperity under their leadership, a sense of nationhood – that every Singaporean has a stake in the country and a say in how it is run, has been elusive. We welcome their decision to encourage new, younger voices in their leadership structure. But this renewal must not be limited to the People’s Action Party; it must extend to our political culture with an inclusion of perspectives from outside the Party.
Nation building is not a top-down process. It must be a joint project between the people of Singapore and those whom they elect as their representatives in government. Every generation must be able to decide its present course without fear of its turbulent past. In this regard, we feel that the country is best served by seeing only one Prime Minister at a time. This is why the NSP welcomes the decision of MM Lee and SM Goh to retire from the Cabinet.
In the last General Election, the people of Singapore have demonstrated that they are ready to stand up and take ownership of their country. For now, they have chosen to keep their faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and have given him a fresh mandate to govern over the next five years.
We hope that he will reciprocate this trust with a more open and accountable approach to government.
We hope that his government will tackle the problems of stagnant wages, skyrocketing costs of living, housing that is fast becoming unaffordable to average Singaporeans and infrastructure that is becoming strained due to overpopulation.
We hope that Prime Minister Lee will engage alternative voices in a constructive debate so that we may all seek solutions to our common problems.
Finally, we want to once again join all Singaporeans in thanking MM Lee and SM Goh for their service and wish them a happy retirement.
Sincerely,
The National Solidarity Party</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
