NUSSIFE

Even without the financial crisis, the world order will invariably be transformed in the next 10 to 30 years by the fast-growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China said Minister Mentor (MM) Lee Kuan Yew who was the Guest-of-Honour at the Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum held on 19 October 2009. He noted that for China, the financial crisis had shortened the time the country would take to catch up by three to five years.

Organised by the NUS Students' Political Association, this year's forum explored the topic "What will the next 50 years have in store for Singapore?". The forum, moderated by Ambassador-At-Large Prof Tommy Koh, kept the 1,200-strong audience riveted over an hour on the various aspects of Singapore's future.

On the economic sectors which Singapore should focus on, MM Lee said: 'It's very difficult to spot your niches. Whatever we do now, given time, the Chinese will do it better, because they've got more talent. So where do we retain our competitive edge? In my own analysis, it will take a long time to change the system from no protection of intellectual property rights to protection of intellectual property rights; from no rule of law to the rule of law. These areas ... they will not be able to compete with us." He added for Singapore, that constitutes a key draw for research and development as well as the pharmaceutical industry.

When NUS year 4 engineering student Zhang Xiaoying asked him about Singapore's stand at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change conference to be held in Copenhagen in December, MM Lee said that Singapore would resist pressure from Japan and Australia to commit to firm cuts in emissions. "The Australians wants us brought to Category One so that we have to slow down economic growth and the Japanese think so too. We'll see, but we have prepared all our arguments and it's not possible to just treat us like an ordinary country," he said.

MM Lee also fielded questions affecting Singaporeans which included the implementation of a minimum wage to narrow the income gap, the issue of migration, as well as developing a recycling culture in public housing estates. Answering to a question posed by NUS year 4 science student Jang Jia Hui, on important values and attitudes youth should have for Singapore to continue to thrive and prosper, MM Lee said that they should have the same "we'll make it, do or die" attitude as their forefathers. "Had we not had people with that attitude, we wouldn't have today's Singapore," he highlighted.

When asked how he would like to be remembered, MM Lee said: "My job is to get what I'm doing done well. My motto in life is if you've decided to do something, then do it well, or don't do it at all." He added that he would leave it to historians to decide on his reputation.