LEE HSIEN LOONG

The jihadists watch carefully what's happening in the Middle East and take heart, or lose heart, depending on what's happening.

There is no policy too sensitive to question, and no subject so taboo that you cannot even mention it

I don’t think everybody fully appreciates the consequences of slower growth, which are very serious. You need growth to have the resources to build the infrastructure, housing, to uphold the standard of living.

The population feels the physical pressure of the foreigners coming and working here, some [of whom] are prepared to work longer hours or accept less.

… the young generation, who have not experienced either the war or the Cultural Revolution, but have grown up at a time of stability and affluence, have the most nationalistic view of China’s role in the world. So how they play their cards when they come to positions of responsibility will make a difference.

For a long time, we fought in principle against casinos. Finally, we were persuaded it’s big business and if we were not in it, someone else would be. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to shield our people from gambling. We can’t be the nanny.

The natural result of people preferring one of their own race is that a minority race president will find it hard to get elected, and so it's something we should do something about and which we can do something about.

Singaporeans generally feel more secure these days. One of our tasks is to remind them that this, a result of a continuing act of will and an appropriate sense of insecurity, is very helpful.

I hope that soon after the next election, amongst them they will have decided, settled, and the leader will be ready to take over from me.

I think if you look at the Singapore projects, we wanted to do industrial parks. They have taken very long to clear the issues of land, and these become politicised, and you can't settle it, and eventually the project languishes and nothing happens.

Singapore admires America's dynamism, vibrancy, and capacity for self-renewal. These qualities attract the best and brightest from around the world.

You need people who have their own views, whose views you respect, whom you can have a productive disagreement with, and work out ideas which you might not have come up with, or who improve on ideas you had.

You have an administration which understands America's international responsibilities and interests, but you have a population which is anxious, tired, and doesn't want to bear any burden and pay any price. And that's very difficult for whoever becomes president.

You will always have politics being pushed towards multiracial politics because you have to field a team.

Every time you make a rule, somebody will think of a way to operate around the rule.

We want the U.S. to have constructive and stable relations with China. That makes it much easier for us. Then we don't have to choose sides.

China has been developing, growing in economic strength and its influence in the region. That will continue.

What we can do in Singapore may not be doable elsewhere. Some things you know you need: you want efficient government, you want clean government, you want to do away with corruption, you must educate your people. You want to get housing and so on. All these are not such secrets, not so special to Singapore.

To represent the nation, you must have multiracial representation.

We know India is very focussed on black money; it is a very high-focus subject and we have been very careful to make sure the investments into India are legitimate. There is no 'round-tripping' or hot money or bad money being funnelled through Singapore.

I do not owe hundreds of millions of potential foreign workers from around the world an obligation. I owe Singaporeans a responsibility.

If you asked a Singaporean, on the one hand they'll say, 'Let us do our own things.' On the other hand, when an issue comes out, they'll ask, 'What is the government doing about it?'

If you look at the young people today, they are passionate about all kinds of courses. We have dog-lovers, nature-lovers, those who are pursuing arts; we have quite many who are involved in religious activities through their church.

We are happy to see China prospering; we are happy to see China playing a constructive and positive role in the region.

There is always competition for influence, but there are also opportunities for cooperation.