PAP must keep renewing, stay vigorous and in touch with S'poreans: PM Lee

The People's Action Party (PAP) must keep itself renewed, vigorous and in touch with the ground if it hopes to continue serving Singaporeans and Singapore for many years to come, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

This is especially so given today's challenging times, he said yesterday at the PAP's appreciation dinner for its MPs who retired at the last general election.

Thanking the 20 MPs who retired in 2020, PM Lee said the PAP continues to need new generations of people to come forward, enter the political arena and fight for the support of Singaporeans.

Such men and women must possess not only integrity, commitment and ability, but also "the grit to take the rough and tumble of politics, and the passion and imagination to build a better Singapore", said PM Lee, who is also the party's secretary-general.

As he paid tribute to the retired MPs for their various community activities and constituency projects that have benefited their residents, PM Lee said most important was their political work to mobilise support for the PAP and win votes in elections.

"We must never do things solely for political advantage, but unless good policies and good work translate into votes and electoral success, they cannot endure," he told attendees at the dinner held at Parliament House.

Addressing the 100-strong audience, which included current MPs and the party's branch chairs, PM Lee quelled the notion that PAP MPs are all cut from the same cloth.

"Some think that since PAP MPs all wear white and white, they are also monochrome in their ideas and perspectives," he said. "But this view is quite mistaken."

In fact, the PAP does its utmost to field a diverse team at each election and ensures that every MP brings something different to the table, which help make the Government's policies more rounded and robust, he added.

"We must maintain this diversity in our ranks, keep our party a broad tent, and field the best possible team in the next general election," he said. "And that work is under way."

PM Lee also presented valedictory letters to 13 of the 20 retired MPs. They are Mr Ang Hin Kee, Mr Cedric Foo, Mr Charles Chong, Dr Chia Shi-Lu, Professor Fatimah Lateef, Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar, Ms Lee Bee Wah, Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Dr Lily Neo, Mr Ong Teng Koon, Dr Teo Ho Pin, Mr Yee Chia Hsing and Mr Zainal Sapari.

The other seven - Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Mr Lim Swee Say, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Mr Teo Ser Luck and Mr Sam Tan - had already received their letters when they stepped down from political office.

The longest-serving of the 20 retired MPs is ESM Goh, who had served 10 terms since 1977, followed by Mr Charles Chong, who had served seven terms since 1989.

PM Lee said he was grateful that the outgoing MPs appreciated the need for the PAP to keep up leadership renewal and to make sure that Singapore always has the strongest team to lead it. He thanked them for making way for their successors, and for guiding and supporting them.

Prof Fatimah, who was formerly MP for Marine Parade GRC and served for three terms, told The Straits Times that her time in politics taught her that serving patients and constituents has many evidence-based similarities.

For instance, excellent communication was needed, just like for a doctor's bedside manner, and clinical reasoning was useful in solving problems for her residents, just as it is for diagnosing her patients.

The emergency department senior consultant at Singapore General Hospital said: "Medicine and politics - not a difficult mixture to swallow."