Minister Heng, whom Mr Lee Kuan Yew once described as his best Principal Private Secretary, shared his thoughts about Mr Lee.

Minister Heng Swee Keat spoke at a day-long conference titled “The Big Ideas of Mr Lee Kuan Yew” yesterday. The conference marked the ninth anniversary of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and also coincided with Mr Lee’s 90th birthday.

Mr Heng was Mr Lee’s Principal Private Secretary between 1997 and 2000. In his speech, Mr Heng called Mr Lee a “man of action” with an “unwavering and total dedication” to Singapore.

Below is a summary of his speech about his experiences with Mr Lee and Mr Lee's legacy.

1. Singapore as the Focal Point: Mr Lee's favourite question is “So?” His instinct is to cut through the clutter, drill to the core of the issue, and identify the vital points. Singapore is the focal point. “So, what does this mean for Singapore?” What are the implications? What should we be doing differently?

2. Mr Lee's openness: He has strong views but is open to robust exchange. He made it a point to hear from those with expertise and experience, but he can be persuaded.

3. One Man Intelligence Agency: Mr Lee listens and reads widely, but he does so like a detective, looking for and linking vital clues while discarding the irrelevant. He has a mental map of the world.  He constantly scanned for changes and matched these against the map.

4. Expanding Singapore's external space: Mr Lee was a principled advocate of collaboration, based on long-term interests. As the face of Singapore, he made fast friendships with senior world leaders who appreciate his view of things, and respect Singapore’s principled stance on international issues.

5. Mr Lee in Person: He is a pragmatic idealist. He does not hesitate to speak the hard truths but he is also an idealist, with a deep sense of purpose.

6. Mr Lee in Person (2): Mr Lee and his family are closely knitted. Mr Lee was particularly close to Mrs Lee and her presence gave Mr Lee much strength.

Source

Featured Photo from Minister Heng Swee Keat Facebook.

His full speech can be found here.

Find Mothership.SG on Facebook and Twitter.