During his last media interview as Prime Minister, PM Lee Hsien Loong urged young people to join politics.

"If you are idealistic, if you want to do something, if you want to make a contribution, please seriously consider that," he said.

How about his own children? Would he encourage them to follow in his footsteps like he did with his father?

"If they had an interest, and if they were not my children and if they had an interest – Yes. But they are my children, and the hurdle is higher. So far, none of them have showed any interest. My grandchildren are much too young."

It's tough out here

He was speaking to members of the media at a wide-ranging interview on Apr. 26 at the Istana.

It was his final wide-ranging interview before he steps down in five days' time (May 15).

On the challenges of entering politics, PM Lee said: "It is very hard, it is harder now."

He pointed out that being a candidate is particularly difficult because it means putting one's family in the limelight and through online discourse — "which can sometimes be very vicious".

"That is why we disapprove strongly of the false and vicious stuff which comes out on the internet," he said.

Furthermore, being in politics means odd hours. Meet-the-People sessions, for instance, are typically conducted in the evenings after 7pm.

"If all your weekends are spent in the constituency, when are you going to take your kid to the zoo?" he remarked.

Next generation

He also responded to a question about whether he would encourage his children to join politics, given his own experience.

"If they had an interest, and if they were not my children... yes," he said.

"But they are my children, and the hurdle is much higher."

However, none of his children have ever shown any interest, he said, adding that his grandchildren are still "much too young".

This is not the first time he was asked whether his children would enter politics.

At a 2018 dialogue at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, he responded to a question about whether he would encourage his children to join the field by saying that they have so far not shown any interest in it.

"They have their own responsibilities and careers, and I am sure they will be good Singaporean citizens and make contributions in their own ways," he said at the time.

"But it would be unkind of me to add more burden on them. It's difficult enough for them as it is to carry my name."

The 72-year-old has four children: Li Xiuqi, Li Yipeng, Li Hongyi, and Li Haoyi.

Li Hongyi, the elder Lee's first son with his wife Ho Ching, previously declared that he "really [has] no interest in politics".

He now works as a civil servant at GovTech.

Meanwhile, his youngest son, Haoyi, works as a software engineer, and his only daughter, Xiuqi, is a curriculum fellow at Harvard Medical School.

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Top image from PM Lee/Facebook