BOAO (China) - SINGAPORE'S top leaders never talk about their legacies. Instead, they just focus on getting the job done - to keep Singapore going.
Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said this during an interview on Thursday with Chinese state media, which asked if he had inherited his legacy from his predecessor Lee Kuan Yew, just as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong inherited his.
SM Goh said in response: 'In fact we never talk about legacies, LKY never talked about his legacy and I never talk about my legacy. There was a job to be done and someone had to do it,' he said.
Mr Goh's own goal, when he took over as PM in 1990, was 'to keep Singapore going and going'.
'In other words, to make sure that values remain sound, economy is competitive and people live harmoniously,' he told CCTV on the sidelines of the three-day Boao Forum for Asia, a summit of top political and business leaders in the tropical Chinese island of Hainan.
Asked if he had told his successor to keep Singapore going, Mr Goh replied: 'No I didn't have to tell him. I don't tell my successor what to do. My successor should know what to do.'
SM Goh said he had built on what the elder Mr Lee had done, which was to build Singapore's foundation and shape its values.
In the same way, PM Lee is now building on Mr Goh's work, 'to make Singapore more competitive and give people a better life'.
Read the full report in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.
do wat job?
what legacies?
most of the people who done their legacies are long gone
the ones who remain are douche bags
Suckers talk legacy. If in his position, I'll talk $.
And I thought I see their legacies everyday on their newspapers?