11 candid quotes from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's <em>Lunch with the Financial Times</em> interview

But is it still considered a lunch if PM Lee didn't really touch his food?

Belmont Lay| April 12, 08:38 AM

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong provided unusually candid answers in response to questions posed during the Lunch with the The Financial Times interview published on April 11, 2014.

The interview was conducted during PM Lee's trip to London last month. He was interviewed by Gideon Rachman, the publication's chief foreign affairs columnist.

Besides his frank replies, what was insightful about the interview was that Rachman noted how PM Lee barely touched his food, which consisted of halibut and pistachio crème brûlée.

Such a typical Chinese man who doesn't fancy non-Chinese food.

 

Regardless, here are 11 choice quotes from the interview with PM Lee :

 

1. "The NSA will give you a copy."

PM Lee said this to the reporter who was trying to make sure his tape recorders were working.

 

2. "No, I did not. It is not a family business."

Sounding testy when asked if knew that he would enter politics all along, a vocation which the reporter called "a family business".

 

3. "Singaporeans generally feel more secure these days."

"One of our tasks is to remind them that this is a result of a continuing act of will and an appropriate sense of insecurity is very helpful. You don't have to be paranoid but you do have to take risks very seriously."

On Singaporeans coming a long way since independence in 1965.

 

4. "Not very many small states have great longevity, other than Venice, which lasted 900 years in one form or another."

On Singapore's staying power.

 

5. "They don't like it, but they understand it."

On China's acquiescence to US military presence in Southeast Asia region.

 

6. "Yes, of course, they came to Singapore and they killed many tens of thousands of people, nearly including my father, which fortunately didn't happen otherwise I wouldn't be here!"

"But my uncle was taken away -- never came back."

On Japan's invasion of Singapore during WWII.

 

7. "My father used to say, 'Look at de Gaulle, once in a very long while he makes a statement and everybody pays close attention, otherwise he'll remain silent.' But that was then and this is a different world."

"My colleagues went on the internet, went on Facebook, and they found it helpful and they persuaded me that I should try, so I did. It's quite fun provided you keep it in balance and... from time to time slip in a serious message."

On how he has to take a different approach from his father when communicating with the populace.

 

8. "It may not be one team in, one team out, it may be more complicated -- you're getting used to more complicated than that in Britain now."

On the possibility of forming a coalition government in Singapore.

 

9. "I think the fairways are wider. It doesn't mean there are no limits but it means there is more free play."

"When people say they don't want a nanny state they are, in fact, in a conflicted state of mind. On the one hand, they want to do whatever they want and not be stopped. On the other hand, if something goes wrong, they want to be rescued."

On how people actually want a nanny state when they say they don't want a nanny state. So Freudian and reverse psychology.

 

10. "At some point, there will be some other financial crises."

"It's in the nature of a capitalist system. You just hope that you have put in enough fire breaks, that it is manageable, but it is actually very hard to do."

On how Singapore as a financial hub is hostage to gyrations in the market.

 

11. "I walk into bookshops. People know you, so they'll come and greet you and take selfies with you. But if they just pretended they didn't know you, you'd be quite upset too!"

On how fame copes with him.

 

Read the full Financial Times interview here.

Top photo from Prime Minister's Office.

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