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Independent Singapore
3 days ago
- Business
- Independent Singapore
Desmond Lee: The son also rises, a younger 4G leader emerging in a Gen X nation
The Independent Singapore may have spotted a rising star. When Prime Minister Lawrence Wong unveiled his new Cabinet on May 25, one remark stood out to seasoned observers: Wong singled out Desmond Lee for praise. Veteran journalist PN Balji quickly picked up on the cue, writing that Lee 'could go on to bigger things.' Wong's words were measured but significant: 'Desmond brings a quiet but effective style of leadership. He listens actively and persistently, engages widely with stakeholders, and takes decisive actions when needed.' For Singapore, a country known for pragmatism over pageantry, such praise carries weight. Unlike some of Singapore's past political giants — the fiery Lee Kuan Yew or the eloquent David Marshall — Lee speaks with understated clarity. His manner is conversational and grounded, in tune with the present generation, which favours simplicity over grand rhetoric. Steady rise Lee's rise has been steady. His appointment as Education Minister was already a signal of trust and importance — education, after all, holds a special place in Singapore's governance. It has historically been the portfolio of many political heavyweights, including Goh Keng Swee, Tony Tan, Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Lee stepped into this charmed circle with the added distinction of family legacy: his father, Lee Yock Suan, was also Education Minister from 1992 to 1997. Only one other father-son pair — Lee Kuan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong — have both served as ministers in Singapore, underscoring how rare such political continuity is in the city-state. Now, Desmond Lee has been appointed chairman of the People's Action Party (PAP), a position that boosts not only his own stature but also affirms the generational transition underway. The move strengthens the grip of the PAP's so-called '4G' — the fourth-generation leadership team — on the party machinery. With Prime Minister Wong as secretary-general and Lee as chairman, the party's helm is now firmly in 4G hands. That generational label, '4G', doesn't necessarily refer to age. It marks the fourth leadership cohort since Singapore's independence: the founding leaders led by Lee Kuan Yew (1G); the Goh Chok Tong generation (2G); the Lee Hsien Loong Cabinet (3G); and now, the current team under Wong. Many of today's 4G ministers, including Wong, Heng Swee Keat, and Lee himself, entered politics around the 2011 general election. Still, age is not irrelevant. The former PAP chairman, Heng Swee Keat, was widely expected to become the next Prime Minister. But in 2021, Heng, then 60, stepped aside, citing concerns about his ability to lead the country over a sufficiently long period. This opened the door for the younger Wong, now 52. Desmond Lee, at 48, is even younger — close to the national median age of 42.8 — and well positioned for a long and meaningful political future. Gen X nation In fact, Singapore today is very much a Generation X nation, led by Gen Xers like Wong and Lee. While a few 3G figures remain in Cabinet — most notably Lee Hsien Loong as Senior Minister, Vivian Balakrishnan at Foreign Affairs, and K. Shanmugam at Home Affairs and National Security — many others, including Teo Chee Hean, Ng Eng Hen and Maliki Osman, have stepped down. The character of the Cabinet has shifted. It is now younger and more technocratic. See also Minister Lim: Please join our created platform to find jobs Netizens have cottoned on to the growing importance of Desmond Lee. As hatboyslim says on the subreddit r/Singapore: 'Technically, in party protocol, the chairman has precedence over the secretary-general, although the secretary-general is the leader of the party. 'This is a big party promotion for the son of Lee Yock Suan. This adds to his promotion to Minister for Education, which is one of the big four portfolios (finance, defence, home affairs, and education).'' Recalling how he and his PAP team beat the Progress Singapore Party at Jurong West GRC in the recent general election, serendeepities notes in the same subreddit: 'The GE showed his pull in West Coast and from those who have worked with him, he is well regarded albeit someone that is more of a quiet technocrat. Though he tends to be understated, his trajectory remains constant and will likely continue to be a presence especially in the 4-5G and the PAP. All the more so given his age.' Like PM Lawrence Wong Desmond Lee's trajectory has notably mirrored Wong's. Wong has been education minister, too, and both have served as national development ministers. Lee, a lawyer by training, does not have Wong's background in economics. Yet both have managed portfolios that touch the core of Singapore's long-term strategy — housing, infrastructure, education, and urban planning. As National Development Minister, Lee took over from Wong in 2020 and remained in the role through the 2025 general election. During his tenure, he oversaw policies to increase housing supply, upgrade public estates, and steer long-term planning initiatives. These are issues that directly affect the lives of everyday Singaporeans. Lee's appointment as PAP chairman is the latest step in a carefully built political path. He isn't being thrust into unfamiliar territory; he has already served as the party's assistant secretary-general and has sat on the PAP's Central Executive Committee. While the chairman's role doesn't usually generate headlines like ministerial portfolios do, it remains an influential post — previously held by political heavyweights such as Toh Chin Chye, Ong Teng Cheong, Tony Tan, and Khaw Boon Wan. There's no doubt that Lee's political résumé is substantial — and growing. From a legacy family to high-profile ministries, from quiet leadership to party command, he has built a career marked by steadiness rather than spectacle. The question now is not whether he will go on to bigger things, but just how far he might go.
Hindustan Times
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Kishore Mahbubani: 'India will have to engage the rest of the world more'
Your childhood was marked by hardship, malnutrition, and poverty. You've spoken of the strength and skills this gave you – how did you develop them? As a diplomat, what solutions would you suggest for helping children in similar situations? Since Singapore is now one of the most affluent countries in the world, many Indians are unaware that, at independence, Singapore was one of the poorest countries in the world. In 1965, its per capita income was the same as Ghana in Africa: $500. I experienced this poverty personally. I was put on a special feeding programme when I went to school at the age of six as I was technically undernourished. Our home had no flush toilet. Debt collectors would come to our house regularly. My father went to jail. Yet, I was able to overcome many of these adversities because I had an unusually strong mother who never broke down under all these pressures. The resilience I developed in my life was a gift from her to me. One reason why I wrote my memoirs is that I wanted to give hope to young people who may be suffering the same kind of difficult childhood I had experienced. It's good for young people to understand that people like them have overcome difficult circumstances. Your book praises Lee Kuan Yew (who often gave you a tough time) extensively. What measures from his leadership could India adopt for better development? Singapore's exceptional success as a country was due in large part to three of its exceptional founding fathers: Lee Kuan Yew, Dr Goh Keng Swee, and S Rajaratnam. One of the great privileges of my life was getting to know all three of them well. From them, I learnt a lot about how countries could succeed in development. I distilled many of the lessons I learned from them into the acronym 'MPH'. In this case, it doesn't stand for 'miles per hour' but for 'Meritocracy, Pragmatism and Honesty', which is the secret formula for Singapore's success. Meritocracy is about choosing the best people to run your organisation, society or country. Lee Kuan Yew was insistent that only the best should be selected to serve in the government. Pragmatism is about being willing to learn best practices from any source anywhere in the world. Dr Goh Keng Swee once said to me that no matter what problems Singapore encounters, somebody somewhere must already have encountered it. Hence, Singapore should proactively learn lessons from other countries. Dr Goh also pointed out that since Japan was the first Asian country to succeed, Singapore should study Japan carefully if it wanted to succeed as well. India could also learn lessons from Japan's development. Honesty is about eliminating corruption. This is crucial as trust and stability are essential for an economy to thrive. Unfortunately, this is also the hardest principle to implement. I believe that any society in the world, including India, would succeed and do well if it implemented the secret Singapore MPH formula. Could you tell us something about the different diplomatic communities you encountered? Walking into the UN headquarters and experiencing a real global village of representatives from 159 countries was always a thrill for me. Though we all came from strikingly different cultures and traditions, we were able to forge many close friendships with each other based on our common humanity. When I joined the UN in 1984, some of my Arabian colleagues declared that I belonged to their tribe because my surname, Mahbubani, comes from an Arabic/Persian word, 'mahbub,' which means 'beloved.' Most Sindhis are Muslims. Due to my Sindhi roots, I felt some degree of cultural affinity with both the Arab countries and Iran. And since I sported a beard then, I was occasionally mistaken for an Iranian diplomat when I was seen without a tie. The ambassadors from the five founding member states of ASEAN — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand — came together like comrades in arms to defend our common interests. I also became very close to the African ambassadors, whom I found to be incredibly reliable and trustworthy. If you became friends with them, they would remain steadfast and stick with you through thick and thin. Please tell us about your visit to Sindh. When Shaukat Aziz, whom I had met in New York and Singapore when he was the Vice President of Citibank, became Prime Minister of Pakistan (2004 to 2007), he invited me to visit Pakistan. I went to Karachi, Hyderabad, Islamabad and Lahore. It was a fascinating visit. Then Pakistani High Commissioner to Singapore Ambassador Sajjad Ashraf also arranged a special visit to Hyderabad, where my mother had grown up. While my mother was sadly no longer with us, her brother, Mr Jhamatmal Kripalani, was able to draw me a map to their childhood home. Fortunately, we were able to find it. Since I had grown up listening to stories of how Muslims and Hindus had killed each other during Partition, I expected to encounter hostility in Hyderabad when I went to search for my mother's home. Instead, every Muslim person I met in Pakistan received me very warmly and was delighted to see me. The reception could not have been warmer. I was glad to learn that a lot of the hostility from the Partition days had dissipated. As someone who has made Sindhis proud with your exceptional success, please suggest measures by which members of your community could enhance the way they are perceived. Sindhis are a remarkable people. There are very few ethnic groups in the world who have managed to succeed in all corners of the world. The Sindhis are one of them. Having visited most of the major cities in the world, I'm always pleasantly surprised to see members of the Sindhi community thriving and succeeding in all corners of the world. Indeed, I have first cousins in all corners of the world: in Suriname and Guyana in South America, in Texas and Florida in North America, in Ghana and Nigeria in Africa, in Japan and Hong Kong in East Asia, and of course in Mumbai and Kolkata in India. I also have relatives in Europe. The entrepreneurship of the Sindhi community is truly admirable. In the next chapter of its development, India will have to engage the rest of the world more. Its trade and investment links with other countries will also increase. One of its major assets as it plunges ever more deeply into globalisation will be the strong and successful ethnic Indian communities overseas. Undoubtedly, the Sindhis will rank among some of the most successful Indians overseas. Their contributions should receive greater recognition within India. Your advice for young people who wish to follow a career in diplomacy? Diplomacy is one of the best professions in the world to join. Since we live in a small and shrinking world, all countries must now make a major effort to understand other countries and cultures all over the world. And the people who are best placed to do so are diplomats. As I explain in my memoirs, I had no intentions of staying on in diplomacy, as I wanted to return to academia after graduating. However, I discovered diplomacy to be a more fulfilling profession than academia. I realised that in trying to defend the interests of a small country like Singapore in the international community, I was defending an underdog. Ambassadors from smaller countries have to work harder than ambassadors from larger countries. Fortunately, with the help of reason, logic and charm (as I describe in my memoirs) I managed to succeed in furthering Singapore's interests in the United Nations and in the ASEAN community. Golf proved to be very useful. Indeed, one reason why Southeast Asia, the most diverse corner on planet Earth, has had no wars in 50 years is that many of the Southeast Asian diplomats and leaders play golf with each other. This is also a lesson that South Asian countries can learn from Southeast Asian countries: it's important to invest time in developing personal connections with each other. Trust building and cooperation at the national level is incredibly difficult when there is no warmth or trust on the interpersonal level. Saaz Aggarwal is the author of Sindh — Stories from a Vanished Homeland.
