This really reminds me of Ah long pte ltd. Lao Da always chut alot of pattern to make the ppl in the gang support him even more or shows whether his gang members still supports him.
Whereas in this case, LKY surely didn't get we singaporeans' support.
So what he relented, he is not doing anything to retain local talents. Getting foreign talents to Singapore is beneficial to PAP as there is possibility these people will become citizens and in turn vote for PAP.