GE: MM Lee defends PAP's record on helping S'poreans cope with cost of living
Meeting the media after a visit to Radin Mas on Saturday, he said it is because of a capable government that the benefits of growth can be shared with citizens.
Turning to the election battle, he told reporters "it's not the end of the world if the PAP loses a GRC".
The cost of living is an issue for all Singaporeans, and Mr Lee said the government has introduced a slew of measures
to help citizens.
These include the Grow and Share Bonus, Workfare and utilities rebates.
But he stressed this was possible only because Singapore had good growth last year.
He said opposition's economic proposals may be detrimental to Singapore in the long run.
Mr Lee commented on a plan by Singapore Democratic Party's (SDP) candidate Tan Jee Say to move Singapore's economy away from manufacturing and focus on mainly services.
Mr Lee said: "He has no qualifications to say that and it's wrong. If you don't have manufacturing, you're going to have trouble with jobs. An economy that just depends on services is volatile and you always have high unemployment when services go down. Manufacturing is more steady."
When asked about the battle for Aljunied GRC, Mr Lee questioned the Workers' Party's real intentions.
"It's not just to win one GRC. Let's have no hypocrisy about this, every political party sets out to win and win a majority and they are setting out from a single constituency to a GRC and then expand to more GRCs and then take over. It's up to you to decide whether they are capable of running Singapore," said Mr Lee.
"The only hot seat is Aljunied and if Aljunied decides to go that way then Aljunied has five years to live and repent," he said.
"Losing one GRC does not mean the end of the world and we will try to regain it after five years, but they would have made an inroad into a GRC and they would try to make more inroads."
Amid criticisms that the GRC system allows untested candidates to ride on the coat-tails of Ministers, Mr Lee said the primary role of GRCs is to ensure minority representation.
He said that Mr Michael Palmer, the first PAP minority candidate to stand in a single-member constituency, is a "trial run" for the party.
He wants to see if Mr Palmer can carry the ground after serving residents for five years.
As for Dr Chia Shi Lu, who became an instant MP after the walkover in Tanjong Pagar GRC on Nomination Day, Mr Lee said the party didn't just pull someone like a rabbit out of a hat.
"He's not an untested person, we have interviewed him, we have gone through, he's a President's scholar, he scored straight A's. We had him on the top of our reserve list. Because he lacked people-to-people experience, so immediately (after Nomination Day) he went around shaking hands to get that experience, he knows his shortcomings, he's not a fool," said Mr Lee.
When asked about whether his recent remarks on the integration of Malays in Singapore will cost the PAP votes, Mr Lee said he meant no harm; he simply wants Malays to totally integrate.
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