Much attention is being paid to Singapore's ongoing transition to its fourth-generation (4G) leadership. This is not surprising. A small island-city that is also a state cannot but depend on strong leadership to survive and thrive. Apart from personal integrity and capability, and a willingness to work together without ambition tearing the team apart, Singapore's leaders have demonstrated, and will need to continue to display, the key trait of speedy decisiveness when difficult choices have to be made in critical areas such as defence, security and foreign policy. Economic and social security, and the prevention of racial and religious conflict, cannot be left to leisurely deliberation. The Government must move decisively in such matters, and stand up to hostile forces without or malevolent forces within.

But the process can be different in several other areas of national life. There, the soundness and credibility of policies are determined by, among other things, the degree to which debate occurs, the level of sophistication at which it does so, and the ability of the Government to countenance and counter contrarian views. It is in that inclusive spirit of consensus-seeking that Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat has said his generation of leaders plans to take Singapore forward by partnering citizens in new ways to design and implement policies together. He has encapsulated his thinking by speaking of the need to shift from a government that works for the people to one that works with them.