Hsein: We Succeeded More Than Expectations

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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This Tuesday while being interviewed by the regional newspaper editors, Prime Minister Lee Hsein Loong expressed that Singapore’s economy has fared better than expected over the last decade. He further added that the success has brought greater challenges that have to be faced by the country. He said Singapore had paid the price of this fast growth, as infrastructure wasn’t able to keep up with the rapid development.

“We succeeded more than we expected, and so in terms of the infrastructure, we were not able to catch up — our public transport, building houses,” said Mr Lee. “And we paid a price. We have spent the last three, four years working hard to try and come up back to speed. I wish we had been able to foresee this outcome, and then we would have acted sooner. But that’s 20-20 hindsight.” Mr Lee was questioned about Singapore’s success during his time as the Prime Minister and whether there was success in any field that exceeded expectations. Mr Lee replied in a yes, answering that the country had done economically better than expected and grown faster.

He informed that as foreign investments increased, the government had put in resources and brought in foreign labour to grow. This he said resulted in developments at the Marina Bay area to increase to a level which was expected to be achieved in 20 to 30 years. Questions regarding media development was also brought up by the editors . Responding to a question on Singapore’s relatively low ranking by global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, Mr Lee said, “I have given up that (Reporters Without Borders’ ranking)… I do not take them seriously.”