Full transcript of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s interview with BBC
March 20th, 2009 | 
Author: You can hear the interview here and watch an extract here
BBC:
Has the region been too complacent about its dependence on Western markets?
PM Lee:
We’ve had no choice. The whole world is plugged in as one globalised world. The consumption, the markets are in America. India and China have been growing rapidly … but on a world scale, they’re still very small.
BBC:
Has there been a failure to focus on developing domestic markets in the Asia-Pacific region?
PM Lee:
The big domestic markets … will be China and India. The way to develop the markets will be to raise their standards of living. Then, they have the money to consume.
BBC:
How concerned are you about the huge paper losses that have been made in the two sovereign wealth funds here?
PM Lee:
The value of the portfolios have gone down — 20, 25 per cent. Everybody has taken a hit, whether you are Harvard, Yale, Stanford or the Norwegians. If you’re in the markets, you have to ride the ups and downs.
BBC:
Your wife until recently ranTemasek Holdings. Your father is deeply involved in the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.
Is there a risk when the news is bad … that people will tend to blame your family rather than look at the institutions?
PM Lee:
The way you put it is not the way things work in Singapore.
The Minister Mentor is chairman of GIC not because he’s my father; it’s because he’s the best man for the job, and he’s been chairman since he’s been PM.
And Ho Ching was CEO ofTemasek not because she’s my wife but because the chairman of Temasek … and the board decided they wanted to appoint her as CEO.
They’re there as long as they’re effective, performing, and if they don’t perform, they have to take the consequences.
BBC:
Perception is so important in politics. In difficult times like this, do you think in retrospect, it might have been better for your family to have a lower profile?
PM Lee:
(Laughs) Life would be much easier for me if MM were not my father and Ho Ching were not my wife. But they’re there.
This is the way Singapore has worked. Singaporeans have understood this is how the system works.
And they’ll render judgment when elections come.
BBC:
Finally, Prime Minister, I read that you are apparently the highest paid head of government in the world. Your salary is about four or five times what President Obama gets. Are you worth all that money?
PM Lee:
(Laughs) I am not comparing myself and I don’t look at these rankings.We go on a system which is open, honest, transparent – what is the job worth, what is the quality of the person whom you want.
We need the best people for the job and these are jobs where you make decisions which are worth billions of dollars. And you cannot do that if you are pretending and you just say, ‘Well, we are all in it for the love of King and Country’.
We want it to be honest, we want people not to come in for the money. But at the same time the sacrifice cannot be too great. And at times like these, you want the best possible government you can have.”
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Omg what a lod of bullcrap, he keeps laughing off the questions as if he was uneasy and to buy time. Disgusting! That is NOT how Singapore works, he has lost touch of the ground and doesn’t even know what Singaporeans are thinking or the common sentiments among the public.
Certainly, PM Lee Hsien Loong does not deserve to be paid higher than Obama, what the hell does he mean the sacrifices cannot be too great?? And then go around and say people enter politics not for the money?
He may be able to twist and turn his words around for the common folks, but for BBC where the whole world will listen to his pathetic attempt at justifying his crime? We have a stupid puppet for our PM.
lol ..so US does not need the best people for their goverment, and their goverment does not make decision worth billions. Lucky for us, PM’s father went into politics for the love of King & Country.
I think a lot of Singaporean would also like to know what is the quality of our PM. Afterall, the PM is not elected by the people. The people only elects the party and the party decides whom amongst them is most suitable to be PM. I hope to see the PM standing in single seat constituency for the next election like his father before him.
Shame on you, PM Lee. Your laughter and bullcrap can only mean that you are living in your own twisted world.
Yes! LKY was great then,(taking a monthly salary of $3500 in 1970). big sacrifices and really fight off colonial rule, but what now,absolute power corrupts. Fill their pockets with tonnes of money. Legalised robbery of taxpayers money for themselves and all the Ministers. And most of the younger Ministers are not worth their salt to be paid like that.
Call an early election and let the voters decide. Abolish GRC.
or put up more single wards. That is the citizens challenge to
the ruling PAP. The results will be greatly different.
Sign…. is this the most well paid PM in the world interview? Dun even know what the exact figure that he have make Singapore lost… “about 20 to 25%”… hello, do u know that 20% worth how much? 100 billion!!!
Sign…. we should regret of paying him millions, in fact, we should pay him billions, so he will not perform so badly infornt of the world.
Shame on you… put shame on Singapore!!!
What to do, S’poreans are so busy trying to make a living and live a programmed life like a zombie, cannot think independently. Serve them right for their choice of leaders.
Yes, ALL the incumbent Ministers (at least) should be made to stand in single-seat wards and we shall see how they get their ass kicked! Put your money where your mouth is PM – they are the “best people for the job”.
Just like the saying “justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done”. But going by the salaries that they are drawing but yet saying “we want people not to come in for the money”, I don’t know how this principle is seen to be done.
And “sacrifice cannot be too great”, what is the PM referingto? I remember this was being said when Mr Tony Tan was called to serve in politics when he was helming OCBC years ago – that cannot be denied. But today, what big-time corporations have these bunch of leaders helmed to justify the “sacrifices”, including the President? Other than some practising lawyers and doctors, they are lucky if someone wants to employ them for a million S$ a year. What we are seeing now are just the transparent salaries of millions of dollars that have not included the “discretionary” performance and year-end bonuses, plus other perks.
So, justify your being the “best”.
“The way you put it is not the way things work in Singapore.
.
.
.
And Ho Ching was CEO of Temasek not because she’s my wife but because the chairman of Temasek … and the board decided they wanted to appoint her as CEO.
They’re there as long as they’re effective, performing, and if they don’t perform, they have to take the consequences.”
PM Lee, thank you for confirming that your wife Ho Ching was being taken down from Temasek due to poor performance rather than stepping down “on her own”.
It is our misfortune to have the
only PM in the world who has yet to grow up.
And it is an even greater misfortune to have the highest paid PM in the world who does not understand that the country and its people are far more important than his famiLEE and father !
However the ultimate shame is not being able to sense he is not
wanted by the people.
Life would be much easier, if PM Lee wasn’t my PM and MM Lee had left the political scene. We would have a cost saving government. Paying these jokers so much when we have no natural resources is a heartache.
Everything they have now belongs to the people’s hard earn money, and every time they choose to take our money and our lives for granted, the Singaporean spirit dies alittle more everyday.
To have them as your leaders, would mean an easy decision of giving up your pink IC and be another country’s citizen. That’s how much Singaporean spirit is left in this country. I speak on behalf of a few million: THIS IS A SHAME
Bullshit! Highest paid in the world but still affected by the crisis.
Lost billions of taxpayer money and still got the cheek to say long term investment.
Shame on you PAP!!!!!
“these are jobs where you make decisions which are worth billions of dollars”
Oh I see, Obama makes decision which are worth pennies. What a joke.