Singapore's elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀), 82, will seek a new five-year parliamentary term when his son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) seeks a popular mandate in upcoming polls, news reports said yesterday.
Amid speculation in local media that general elections could be held as early as March, the elder Lee declared himself mentally and physically fit to continue his 50-year stint as a member of parliament (MP).
"You are keen to see me back off, are you?" local newspaper Today quoted Lee as telling Singaporean journalists in Doha, Qatar at the start of a Middle East visit. "In that case I'm going to disappoint you."
General elections must be held by June next year but his 53-year-old son, who became prime minister when Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟) stepped down in August 2004, has issued strong signals that he wants his own mandate soon.
Healthy economic growth figures and a planned package of financial handouts for low-wage earners suggest the young Lee is getting ready to call an election within months, analysts and opposition figures say.
His father, who serves as a roving envoy for Singapore in addition to being a cabinet adviser, brushed aside talk that it's time to retire.
"I eat less than I should, or I stop eating when I want to eat more. I exercise every day. I work hard every day and I sleep well every day," he said.
Pointing to his head, the aging patriarch added: "I think it's still functioning, although I'm not as active as before, but enough to fight an election."
The Straits Times said Lee indicated he might give way to a younger leader in his dockside constituency Tanjong Pagar in a subsequent election -- "if by that time I am too decrepit and I cannot fight an election."
Lee was first elected as an MP in April 1955 when Singapore was still under British colonial rule.
He became prime minister in 1959, led Singapore to independence from the Malaysian federation in 1965 and stepped down in 1990 to give way to his deputy Goh.
After Goh, now 64, relinquished the prime minister's job in August 2004, the young Lee appointed him as Senior Minister and gave his own father the title Minister Mentor.
Lee's People's Action Party (PAP) has been returned to power in every election since 1959 and is credited with turning Singapore within one generation into Southeast Asia's richest society.
In the 2001 elections, it won all but two of the 84 seats and 75 percent of the popular vote.
But it has also been criticized internationally for cracking down on dissent, controlling the media and filing massive defamation suits against political opponents. PAP leaders say such lawsuits are needed to safeguard their reputations.
In the interview published yesterday, Lee underscored his belief about what really matters to Singaporean voters -- economic issues.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number