SINGAPORE: Despite “tensions” between him and the late Lee Kuan Yew towards the end of his political career, former Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo was eventually able to find closure and reconcile with the man who first beckoned him to enter politics, said the 68-year-old in an interview on Monday (Aug 14).
Speaking to TODAY and CNA in a joint interview about the final book of the trilogy series George Yeo: Musings, which is set to release on Aug 31, Mr Yeo also recalled being persuaded by friends against quitting the ruling People’s Action Party in 2011.
“He was a complex man and it's such a privilege to have known a historical figure and watch him at close range in his later years,” added Mr Yeo, who is now a visiting scholar at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the founding patron of its Asia Competitiveness Institute. The book was published by World Scientific and put together by veteran media practitioner Woon Tai Ho and research assistant Keith Yap.
The book also charted Mr Yeo’s 23-year political career as the Minister for Information and the Arts, Minister for Health, Minister for Trade and Industry, and Minister for Foreign Affairs. To this, Mr Yeo made a proposal for “life cycle voting”, in which married Singaporeans get two votes until they reach their senior years when it reverts back to one. But the idea got no traction from others, including Mr Lee.
It led to the Esplanade’s design being presented to the Cabinet and the public as large blocks, which some referred to as tombstones or bras, instead of the actual design. After the presentation and the public outcry, the Cabinet decided to abort the project during a meeting in which Mr Yeo was absent.
During his stint as Health Minister from 1994 to 1997, Mr Yeo was able to legislate Traditional Chinese Medicine , which Mr Lee was known to be against. “I found that he had an open mind. He understood power, but for him, the argument had to be won both morally and intellectually,” he said.TENSIONS DURING THE 2011 GE
While many around Mr Yeo shed tears after his defeat at the ballot box, he did not, even though the loss was painful. Mr Yeo treated every political term as his last, he said. But this decision became unnecessary after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Mr Yeo that he was one of a few who could beat Dr Tan Cheng Bock who was the presidential hopeful in the 2011 Presidential Election. Mr Yeo offered to run should he be needed as a"spare tyre in an emergency", though this also did not materialise.
Two years after the elections, in September 2013, Mr Yeo bumped into Mr Lee’s press secretary by coincidence, who informed him about the latter’s declining health and urged Mr Yeo to go see Mr Lee at his office.
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