The Straits Times published this story on Sept. 19, 2015, with the headline "PM Lee: Opposition's narrative in GE2015 'went against human nature'"

It was also sent as a news alert to the subscribers of the Straits Times app.

This was later edited -- without informing readers -- to "PM to actively push for succession in new Cabinet line-up":

This edited headline is the headline used in The Straits Times' frontpage today.

Why the change?

Because ST mucked it up.

Here is the original story, about PM Lee speaking to 400 policymakers and business leaders at the Singapore Summit at the Marina Bay Sands on Friday, Sept. 18, which can still be found copy-&-pasted wholesale on Business Times:

SINGAPORE – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the Government intends to honour its promise to work with Singaporeans and form a closer bond with the people, as he took a look back at the results of the GE2015.

When asked about his reaction to the outcome of the polls, which saw the People’s Action Party returned to power with 69.9 per cent of the vote, PM Lee said he was “surprised and relieved”.

But he would never use the word “vindicated” to describe his response, he added on Saturday at the Singapore Summit 2015.

Dialogue moderator Piyush Gupta, chief executive of DBS Group, had asked PM Lee to pick among the three words of surprise, relief and vindication to describe his reaction.

Asked for an explanation of the outcome, PM Lee said: “We will study it carefully. Nobody anticipated it, so any explanations are made after the fact.”

But he added that it seemed that Singaporean voters approved of what the PAP government did over its past term.

During the hustings, the Opposition’s narrative was that “the Government is doing well, vote for us to make them work even harder”, he noted.

This was a dangerous line of thinking which goes against human nature, he said, adding: “If your friend is nice to you, you’re nice to him.”

That is the most straightforward way to develop the relationship between the Government and the people, and most Singaporean voters seemed to have agreed, he said. [Emphasis ours]

Later, when asked if the poll results had validated the Government’s shift to the left in social policies, PM Lee said that he does not see its policy direction as “more welfare or less welfare”. Rather, he said that the Government tries to address specific sources of anxiety among the people, whether about housing, jobs or aspirations. Of these, aspirations are the hardest to meet, as once they have been met, new aspirations emerge, he noted.

At the dialogue, PM Lee also discussed international politics ranging from China’s economy to political uncertainties in Southeast Asia and the ASEAN Economic Comunity, as well as trends in Europe and the United States.

The portion in bold above was subsequently expanded to this:

As for what led to the election outcome, he said the PAP will study it but it was hard to say for sure.

But it seemed that voters approved of what the PAP Government had done over its past term and wanted them to continue on the same track, he said.

The opposition’s storyline, he noted, was “the Government is doing good; you vote for us, the Government will work even harder”.

“That’s a very dangerous approach and it goes against human nature,” he said. “If you have a friend and your friend is nice to you, you’re nice to him or her.

“Most Singaporeans agreed with us that the way to build a relationship and develop close bonds for the future was to work with the Government. The Government fully intends to honour that and to work with the people and to engage them in the decisions which we have to make, going forward.”

As for whether the results validated the shift to the left in social policies, Mr Lee said he did not see this as “more welfare or less welfare”.

Rather, the Government tries to address specific sources of anxiety, such as housing and jobs. But aspirations are hardest to meet, he said, for new ones emerge even as old ones have been fulfilled.

Here is PM Lee's full and unedited response that was uploaded on Prime Minister's Office, Singapore Youtube channel:

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"We'd study it carefully, I think it is difficult to say for sure because nobody actually anticipated the result which we received. So any explanations are ex-post talk.

I would say that voters approved of what we did and took the view that they wanted us to continue on the track which we were doing. And that the best way to do this is to send us a signal that they approve of what we did. That's the most straightforward way in which to develop a relationship and to build a bond and to make the system work.

The opposition had a different storyline. They said, 'The government is doing good, you vote for us, the government will work even harder'. I think that is a very dangerous approach. It goes against human nature. I mean, if you have a friend, and your friend is nice to you, you're nice to him or her. And I think most Singaporeans agree with us that the way to build a relationship and to develop a close bond for the future was to work with the government. And the government fully intends to honour that and work with the people and to engage them in the decisions we have to make going forward."

Here is the original Facebook post: