In New Year message, Singapore PM Lee allays globalisation fears as election looms

• Lee invoked Hong Kong, Chile and France as societies that are ‘under stress’ due to a loss of faith in economic and political systems
• His designated successor Heng Swee Keat also released a message, saying the Lion City would work to avoid ‘political polarisation and social unrest’

In his New Year message, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has urged citizens of the island nation to keep faith in its open economy even as others retreat from globalisation, warning that insularity and anti-establishment sentiment elsewhere in the world have fuelled “nativism, chauvinism and sectarian strife”.
With a general election around the corner, Lee stressed that despite growing anxieties about the global economic slowdown, the Lion City remained better placed than other countries, and that the government would press on with developing “long-term ideals” such as building a more equal society even as it tends to bread-and-butter issues.
The 67-year-old leader invoked the examples of Hong Kong, France and Chile as societies that were “under stress”.
He said despite economic growth in these societies, people had become “anxious, discouraged and upset” as they worried about basic needs and were angered that the “fruits of growth have not been shared equitably and income gaps are widening”.
“Consequently, large parts of their populations have lost faith in their economic and political systems, and are pessimistic about the future,” Lee said. “This is fuelling nativism and chauvinism, and sectarian strife. Everywhere globalisation seems to be in retreat.”
While Singaporeans too have concerns, “we must resist the temptation to turn inward”, Lee said. “Instead, we must stay open and connected to the world. Globalisation has benefited Singapore enormously. A Singapore turned inward cannot survive.”
Flash full-year GDP results to be released on Thursday are expected to show that the economy grew between 0.5 to 1 per cent in 2019, its slowest pace in a decade.
Lee did not release the GDP flash estimates as he has done in some years, and instead noted that the economy “avoided a recession”.
“Our economy is still growing, but less vigorously than we would like,” he said.
He said measures the government was planning to take in its next budget, due in February, would help cushion the financial pressures on workers and businesses. Lee also outlined reforms the government had undertaken in public transport, housing and health care.
And while there are expectations that Lee will call a general election in the next few months, his New Year message did not reference the upcoming vote.
Co-founded by the late Lee Kuan Yew – the country’s independence leader and the current premier’s father – the ruling People’s Action Party has held uninterrupted power for six decades and will be seeking re-election for the 15th time.