The Straits Times, Nov 16, 1992
By Chiang Yin Pheng
THE challenge for the younger leaders is to convince a sceptical and complacent public that the good life they enjoy today is not forever, Mr Lee Kuan Yew told PAP cadres yesterday.
Today's peace and plenty would come to a halt if Singaporeans do not venture overseas to build up an external economy.
He also said that Singaporeans should not be distracted by domestic issues to the extent that they ignore the danger of being left behind in the economic race.
These were the main points of the Senior Minister's hour-long speech, summarised for the press by Mr Matthias Yao, one of the party's three organising secretaries, after yesterday's PAP cadres' conference.
Mr Lee said that the country's leaders had to impress on the people that stability, development and "the sensations of plenty and peace" after the Cold War were only temporary.
The road ahead was difficult, he said, and it was not certain if Singapore could continue achieving high growth.
The country could be left behind when other more outward-looking newly industrialised economies (NIEs) surged forward and the Republic's Asean neighbours caught up with it.
If Singaporeans lacked the shrewdness and the daring to take business risks overseas, and if they became so comfortable with life here that they decline to work abroad, then "we are in danger of becoming an economy that nearly made it but had stalled halfway and got left behind".
Mr Lee had earlier noted that Singapore had "leap-frogged" in economic growth by bringing in multi-national corporations that sold their goods to markets in the developed world.
It was now time for Singaporeans to venture abroad in order to succeed, he said.
With a domestic and an external economy, the other three NIEs had two wings with which to take flight.
Singapore, however, had one wing built from the domestic economy.
"With only one wing, we will stay on the ground and not get airborne," he said.
Copyright © 1998 Singapore Press Holdings. All Rights Reserved.
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