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Questions on governance, forging a new social compact and the future of Singapore were posed to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a live TV programme, Ask the PM, on Channel NewsAsia on Tuesday evening.
PM Lee Hsien Loong (R) at "Ask the PM" programme on Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE: Questions on governance, forging a new social compact and the future of Singapore were posed to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a live TV programme, Ask the PM, on Channel NewsAsia on Tuesday evening.
One topic which drew many questions was the issue of governance.
"We have had a lot of questions about governance, many of them take us back two years to GE 2011, when there were deep-seated grievances. Foreigners, housing, transport, these were hot button issues. How would you assess how you and your team have done thus far to address these?" asked MediaCorp News Editor-in-Chief Walter Fernandez.
PM Lee, in reply, said: "I think we have made significant progress. It took a while both to manage the issues and also manage the sentiments and get people to look at it in a more positive and constructive way as we made progress.
"On housing, we have built a lot of units, the queues have come down, the prices have stabled, are stable. There is more assurance now that you can afford an HDB flat.
"I tried very hard in the (National Day) Rally to explain the numbers and take people through some examples and these were realistic, typical examples.
"You can afford a flat, there is no need to worry. Get one, get married, start a family.
"(On) transport, we have made progress with the bus services enhancement. We've got more than 200 buses running. We look at the statistics every month and we can see that the crowded services got fewer.
"We still need to get some more buses on the roads, we still need to get more drivers hired, we are working at it.
"The trains will take a bit longer, because the train upgrading, to get the new signalling laid, to get the new lines running, to get more trains, rolling stock to arrive, that will take a few more years - 2015, 2016 - but we are making as much haste as we possibly can."
SINGAPORE: Questions on governance, forging a new social compact and the future of Singapore were posed to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a live TV programme, Ask the PM, on Channel NewsAsia on Tuesday evening.
One topic which drew many questions was the issue of governance.
"We have had a lot of questions about governance, many of them take us back two years to GE 2011, when there were deep-seated grievances. Foreigners, housing, transport, these were hot button issues. How would you assess how you and your team have done thus far to address these?" asked MediaCorp News Editor-in-Chief Walter Fernandez.
PM Lee, in reply, said: "I think we have made significant progress. It took a while both to manage the issues and also manage the sentiments and get people to look at it in a more positive and constructive way as we made progress.
"On housing, we have built a lot of units, the queues have come down, the prices have stabled, are stable. There is more assurance now that you can afford an HDB flat.
"I tried very hard in the (National Day) Rally to explain the numbers and take people through some examples and these were realistic, typical examples.
"You can afford a flat, there is no need to worry. Get one, get married, start a family.
"(On) transport, we have made progress with the bus services enhancement. We've got more than 200 buses running. We look at the statistics every month and we can see that the crowded services got fewer.
"We still need to get some more buses on the roads, we still need to get more drivers hired, we are working at it.
"The trains will take a bit longer, because the train upgrading, to get the new signalling laid, to get the new lines running, to get more trains, rolling stock to arrive, that will take a few more years - 2015, 2016 - but we are making as much haste as we possibly can."
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