You'll set direction for S'pore's next 50 years: PM Lee

A general election will be called "soon", said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday, but he stopped short of mentioning a date.

"Soon, I will be calling elections, to ask for your mandate to take Singapore into our next phase," he said during his National Day Rally speech.

He said Singapore is at a turning point, having just completed 50 successful years and starting on its next 50 years of nationhood. The coming general election will be critical, he said.

"You will be deciding who governs Singapore for the next five years; but more than that, you will be choosing the team that will work with you for the next 15 to 20 years. You will be setting the direction for Singapore's next 50 years. You will be determining the future of Singapore."

Of the future, he asked if Singapore will become an ordinary country with intractable problems, slow or negative growth, overspending and a gridlocked government unable to act.

Or, he said, will it "stay special for our children" by being a multiracial society strengthened by diversity and not splintered by divisions, a rugged society where everyone strives to do his best and looks out for his fellow men, and a people who live up to the song One People, One Nation, One Singapore?

"If you are proud of what we have achieved together and look forward to the future that we are building, please support me and my team," he said.

"Because my team and I cannot achieve anything just by ourselves. We depend on you being fully with us, in order to do a good job for you. So that together, we can keep Singapore special for the next 50 years."

Get MyPaper for more stories.