Lim Swee Say: MM (Lee Kuan Yew) once said Heng Swee Keat has one of the best brains in S'pore

The veteran politician also found ways to weave in almost all his signature catchphrases into what might be his valedictory speech in Parliament.

Martino Tan | Jeanette Tan | February 27, 2020, 12:44 PM

Like Yaacob Ibrahim, former minister Lim Swee Say is also in his 24th year as a member of parliament.

Both Yaacob and Lim entered politics in their early 40s, during the 1997 General Election (GE).

And like Yaacob, Lim delivered what might be his valedictory speech on Wednesday (Feb. 26), the first day of the Budget debate, if the upcoming GE is called before next year’s Budget.

In a speech that was praised by fellow MP Murali Pillai and also received the House's chair-thumping applause, Lim spoke about the impact of globalisation on Singapore, about nation-building in relation to economic growth, and Heng Swee Keat.

Here's what he talked about:

1. A summary of the terms, catchphrases & truncations he came up with in his time in Cabinet

Lim is known for a vast range of phrases he has used in his time among our political leadership, "cheaper, better, faster", "two-thirds plus one-third is more than one" and "upturn the downturn" being just a few among them.

And true to form, all these and more emerged in his speech recapping how Singapore's economy progressed over his two-plus decades in government.

"Cheaper, better, faster", he said, not by lowering wages but by raising skills and productivity, and developing new business capabilities in order to command higher wages for our people and higher premiums for our businesses.

Singapore "upturned the downturn" where other countries were trying to "survive the downturn"; where they cut jobs to save costs, we cut costs to save jobs. And therefore, other countries faced an "L-shaped recovery" and so took years to recover, while Singapore took just a few months, a "V-shaped recovery" to return to full employment.

"Not many Singaporeans remembered what we did right at a time when much could have gone wrong. But for my brothers and sisters in the labour movement, we would never forget how much was at stake, and how important it was and always will be that we get it right every time."

"Same same but different" came in when Lim touched on sustainability, in particular revisiting how Singapore managed and multiplied our water supply, turning "every drop of water into two drops or more" through advancements in membrane technology, not just with NEWater but also with green sand and zero landfills.

2. Recommendations for the government, with more signature phrases

Lim moved into recommendations he had for the sitting government, among which include:

  • Expanding the Progressive Wage Model to "many more jobs in many more sectors":

"The success of a country is not judged by how well the people at the top are doing, but how well the people at the bottom are helped by the government and treated by the general public. The widening income gap can and must be narrowed.

The Progressive Wage Model (PWM) has four ladders of Job, skill, productivity and wage. It can help transform every low wage job into a better job, every low wage worker into a better worker.

I urge our 4G leadership to widen and deepen the adoption of PWM, more proactively and more passionately, to many more jobs in many more sectors, so that the social divide of High versus Low can be turned into the social unity of High and Low, moving up our employment ladder together."

  • Doing a lot more to make many more jobs "ESS": easier, safer and smarter, for our older workers:

"Retirement age and re-employment age are set to move up progressively. This is good, but I hope much more will be done to transform many more jobs to be ESSeasier, safer, and smarter for our older workers, so that they can live more years of H2P2 life: (H2P2 is really happy and healthy, productive and purposeful), as we live longer."

  • Doing more to transfer capabilities, especially new and emerging ones, from foreigners to locals:

"I hope will do more to transfer capabilities, especially new and emerging capabilities that are in short global supply, from the foreign manpower both local, here, and overseas, to our people, more systematically and more proactively.

This is one best way to reduce a lose-lose mindset of local versus foreign, two third vs one-third, and grow the win-win mindset of two-third plus one-third greater than one (2/3 + 1/3 > 1)."

3. A vote of confidence for DPM Heng Swee Keat

Lim devoted the concluding section of his speech in tribute to our prospective next leader, Heng Swee Keat.

He talked about a private dinner he had with DPM Heng a few months ago, from which he said Heng "left a deep impression" on him, not just of his "vast and deep knowledge" about nation-building, but also that he "also has one of the most caring hearts for Singapore, and for Singaporeans".

"MM (Minister-Mentor, the last-held political office position of the late Lee Kuan Yew) once said Heng Swee Keat has one of the best brains in Singapore. And what came across clearly and strongly for me that dinner, over that four-hour dinner, was that he also has one of the most caring hearts for Singapore, and for Singaporeans.

We shared many views on many topics and many issues. But the one that stood up clearly was his passion and commitment in what is known today as Singapore Together.

At the dinner, Singapore Together was not launched yet. But later on, the more I heard about Singapore Together, the more I understood what he's trying to do, and why that night he was so passionate about talking about this."

 

In One Man’s View of the World, one of his autobiographies, the late Lee had this to say about Heng, who served as his PPS from 1997 to 2000:

“Heng Swee Keat… was the best Principal Private Secretary I ever had. The only pity is that he is not of a big bulk, which makes a difference in a mass rally.”

Now we know that LKY not only thinks that Heng is his best PPS, but also a person with "the best brains in Singapore".

Awww.

Top photo: screenshots from Parliament videos