Lee Hsien Loong

Trivia

• Lee Hsien Loong was sworn in as Singapore’s third Prime Minister on 12 August 2004.
• Mr Lee was first elected Member of Parliament (MP) in 1984 as a candidate of the People's Action Party (PAP) in Teck Ghee Constituency and has been re-elected in five consecutive elections, most recently in 2006 as an MP for the Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency.
• Lee Hsien Loong was elected to the Central Executive Committee of the PAP in 1986, and became its Secretary-General in 2004.
• Mr Lee was appointed Minister of State in the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Ministry of Defence in 1984.
• Lee Hsien Loong was confirmed as full Minister for Trade and Industry in 1987, and was concurrently Second Minister for Defence.
• In 1985, Mr Lee chaired the Economic Committee, which recommended changes to long established government policies to reduce business costs and revive the economy during a severe recession, as well as policies to foster longer term growth, including drastic reduction of corporate and personal taxes and the introduction of a consumption tax.
• In 1990, Mr Lee was appointed Deputy Prime Minister with responsibilities for economic and civil service matters.
• Lee Hsien Loong concurrently served as Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) from 1998 until 2004, and Minister for Finance from 2001 until 2007.
• At the MAS, Mr Lee initiated reforms to liberalise the financial sector and to shift the emphasis from one-size-fits-all regulation towards a lighter supervisory touch, relying more on disclosure and caveat emptor.
• As Minister for Finance, he chaired the Economic Review Committee which in 2003 proposed strategies to further restructure and upgrade the economy.

Quotes

• “In today's world, a national broadband network is basic infrastructure and a source of competitive advantage.”
• “Our combined efforts to deal with the water challenge have turned our vulnerability into a strength,”
• “We have to remake Singapore. Our economy, our education, our mind-set, our city. It must be a totally different Singapore. Because if its the same Singapore today, we're dead,”
• “to see what we can do to keep the numbers down permanently in Singapore.”
• “I hope to bring all Singaporeans together, so that even though we may not all agree on this issue, we understand and respect each other's reasons and concerns, and can close ranks and move ahead.”