GE2025: Good government needs good people, don't play dangerous game with tactical voting, says SM Lee

SINGAPORE: Good government is about electing a good team into office, said Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the People's Action Party (PAP) rally in Jalan Kayu on Sunday (Apr 27).

Warning against the risks of tactical voting, Mr Lee noted that in this General Election, the PAP has fielded potential political office holders in constituencies all over Singapore, including in the hotly contested ones.

If voters attempt to "count" and elect a few more opposition MPs, "you will not get it right and we can mess everything up", said Mr Lee.

He added that losing key ministers could place Singapore in "quite a lot of trouble".

"Just vote according to your heart. You think PAP is good, vote for it. You think we are bad, vote against us. Don't play games. It's very dangerous."

The final speaker at the rally on Sunday, Mr Lee spoke for around 40 minutes, highlighting the real threat of losing PAP ministers needed amid a challenging global outlook.

He gave the example of Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, who is leading the PAP’s Punggol GRC team in what Mr Lee called a "hot fight" for the ward.

Mr Gan is facing a WP line-up led by senior counsel Harpreet Singh.

Referring to Mr Gan's role on the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce, Mr Lee said: “He's been talking to the USTR (United States trade representative) even during this campaign, and he's in charge of our crisis response to survive whatever tariffs and upheavals and trade wards to come."

The new task force helmed by Mr Gan, who is also Minister for Trade and Industry, was set up to help businesses and workers tide through the recent tariffs imposed by the United States.

"You lose him, you can replace him?" asked Mr Lee.

"I hope everybody all over Singapore understands, and especially in Punggol," he said, urging Singaporeans to ensure that Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has "a good man in cabinet who can do a lot for Singapore".

"GOOD TEAM" FOR A CHANGED WORLD

Referencing the PAP's slogan in this election, Mr Lee said that the polls is about whether Singapore would have a good government to deal with a changed world.

There are upheavals that could lead to long-term consequences, such as the United States President Donald Trump's tariffs, as well as the resulting uncertainty in the global economy and shocks to the global trading system, he said.

"The world has changed, every day you see new headlines: Tariffs, trade wars ... Tomorrow the rules change, day after more changes come. Big trouble.

"What does it mean for us? It will be harder to make a living, harder to export, harder for companies to have stable jobs, harder for people to predict what they can do over the next five, 10, 15 years."

"This time, the problem is not transient. It's not going to go away because the world has changed and we have to be psychologically prepared," said Mr Lee.

A capable government would be especially crucial to see through such challenges and could "turn plans into reality", said Mr Lee. 

"We did it the last term, during COVID. We got through lightly, not so many deaths, vaccinated everybody. Anxiety, but no upheavals. Relatively speaking, all went well."

Mr Lee then pointed to various vouchers, rebates and retrenchment benefits being rolled out in this year's Budget as ways the government addresses these global shifts.

The Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce, chaired by Mr Gan, is also there to help Singaporean firms, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 

"These are all tangible, forward-looking ways to help Singaporeans cope. We know what we are doing, you know that from your own experience," said Mr Lee.

"So when the WP says, 'PAP's manifesto so short, no detail. Mine (is) 120 pages.' Wow, 200 pages would be even better," he added, referring to past criticism of PAP's manifesto by the opposition.

"We don't have to write it down, you look around you, you will know what PAP has done."

This was done because of the support PAP leaders had throughout the generations, he said. 

"Your parents and your grandparents supported us and supported our older generation PAP leaders, and Singaporeans understood what was at stake.

"They knew it's not masak-masak, it's not main-main, it's not playing guli; it is your lives, our lives, our children's futures," said Mr Lee.

"It is Singapore's fate in a very dangerous world," Mr Lee said.

"If we don't know that, then the dangers will eat us up. But we know that. We uphold what we have, what we know works. We support people who will serve you, and you will have Singapore prospering, thriving, and making us proud, standing tall in the world for many years to come."