I ATTENDED the Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum on Monday, where Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew was the guest of honour.

It was the first time I had seen MM Lee in person. He was not as stern and unsmiling as I thought he would be, and he shared several light-hearted moments with the audience.

MM Lee mentioned that Singaporean youth lead a much better life than our forefathers, and hence do not know what it is like to be poor.

Therefore, we may not be driven to work as hard as our forefathers.

I agree with him on this. However, my generation would be able to make up for this shortcoming by exhibiting other traits which are essential and relevant in today's society.

We are worldlier, well-versed in information technology and better-educated.

Hence, while our forefathers built Singapore through hard work, youths, with their skills, would similarly contribute to the knowledge-based economy of the present and future, where not only hard work but also sophisticated skills are prerequisites.

After all, many years ago, Singaporeans and the rest of the world did not expect much from our forefathers' generation. Despite this, they achieved a lot.

Today, high hopes are pinned on Singaporean youth, but I would not be surprised should we be able to match - or even better - our forefathers' achievements.

This aside, I was disappointed that questions directed at MMLee by students were pre-selected and supposedly vetted.

The questions were direct and politically correct. This, despite the fact that the forum's project director had called for active participation from the audience in his opening address.

I hope future Kent Ridge Ministerial Forums would allow for more spontaneous participation from the floor, as this is how a forum should be.

Mr Calvin Ng

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