SINGAPORE - Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew was “generous with his views” when younger leaders sought his opinion, but always left the final decision to them as they were in the driver’s seat, said Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean.

The Coordinating Minister for National Security thought the late Mr Lee was “very wise” in the way he managed the transition to a new generation of political leaders.

“The answer to continuity and stability in policy is not to send out search parties all over the world to find the elixir of eternal life,” said Mr Teo at the Asia Future Summit 2023, a conference to discuss Asia’s future amid growing uncertainty.

Instead, countries – and even organisations – need to have good succession and planning to have continuity and stability in leadership, he said.

The two-day summit is an inaugural collaboration between The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao and The Business Times. It takes place on Wednesday and Thursday at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore.

This year’s event is themed Revisiting Lee Kuan Yew’s View Of The World: Looking Ahead To Singapore And Asia’s Future Amid Turbulent Times, as Singapore marks the 100th anniversary of his birth.

The conference features more than 20 distinguished local and international speakers, and around 300 delegates including thought leaders and senior representatives from the public, private and people sectors.

ST editor Jaime Ho, who was the moderator of a dialogue that followed Mr Teo’s opening address at the summit, had asked what Mr Lee would do or say if he were around today, and if it would provide some guidance for Mr Teo.

The question reminded Mr Teo of a conversation he had with a Chinese friend about China’s approach to many of its international issues – and what the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping would have done if he was around.

“His reply – with a completely straight face – (was that) Mr Deng would have done exactly what (China’s leaders) are doing today,” he said.

One of the guideposts Mr Lee put out about good succession planning was to look for “good people with the right motivations, bring them in, give them the opportunity to learn, have experience, and then put it in their hands”, Mr Teo said.

“This is what Mr Lee did, what Mr Goh (Chok Tong) did, and is the most important task that PM Lee Hsien Loong has set for himself,” he added.

Looking at the current crop of fourth-generation – or 4G – leaders, Mr Teo said that “we are confident that (they are) up to the task”.

He noted that many of them have more experience and knowledge of the world, and were older when they became ministers, compared with the third-generation of leaders.

“I’m confident that they have the ability, and we must put it in their hands,” he said.

Mr Teo was also asked about the kind of foreign policy leader Singapore needs to have as the country goes through a political leadership transition.

He said the 4G leaders have “been on the circuit” and interacting with their counterparts for many years – both in the region and on the world stage.

He used Asean as an example of how relationships have been nurtured. Despite the bloc being an “unwieldy organisation”, Mr Teo noted that what makes it work is the connection between its member countries.

He said that each member country’s ministers, across sectors such as economics, social issues, defence and law and order, have “intense rounds of meetings”.

This builds a familiarity and an understanding of the issues among new generations of political leaders and civil servants, he said.

“This is very important because if you don’t talk to each other, you don’t understand each other. You can’t put yourself in the other person’s shoes. You can only stand in your own shoes, and you end up preaching to each other and talking past each other.”

Mr Teo also pointed out that Singapore has the advantage of continuity and longevity in leadership.

“If we were changing government and changing ministers all the time, we would have great difficulty maintaining consistency and reliability.”

• OCBC is the presenting sponsor for the Asia Future Summit 2023. The event is also supported by GuocoLand and Kingsford Group.