Calling for more design thinking in the reimagining of Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday described how such thinking shapes public transport, a "multi-level design problem".

On the surface, it looks like an engineering problem, he noted.

But it is also an economic problem - of setting up the right incentives for each stakeholder. Finally, it is a socio-political problem, as public transport can be an economic mobiliser and a social equaliser - and fare hikes have to be justified to the public, he noted. "We have to evaluate the trade-offs carefully and holistically, to decide what will work best, on the whole, for Singapore," he said at a forum at the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

Mr Lee was also asked about the design of the political system. He said it includes Non-Constituency MPs "because we wanted to have the advantages of a system where one party can be very strong, and yet will never completely shut out the others".

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