Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong delivers final speech at International Workers' Day celebrations

On May 1, speaking at the International Workers' Day celebration, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong shared his heartfelt words before retiring. He will step down as Prime Minister on May 15 and hand over power to Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

According to CNA, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong became emotional when recalling the contributions of his late father Lee Kuan Yew to the workers' movement in Singapore. His father's efforts to improve the lives of workers were highlighted by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his speech. The outgoing leader of the Lion City thanked union members for their contributions to the strong tripartite cooperation between unions, the Singapore Government and employers.

Lý-Hiển-Long.jpg — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong with union members of the Singapore National Trades Union Confederation (NTUC) Photo: CNA

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong highlighted Singapore’s various development plans and the decarbonization of the Singapore economy. However, according to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, a “very challenging” period lies ahead, with many aspects such as competition between major powers, de-globalization, technological advancement, climate change and the threat of war.

In that context, Mr. Lee Hsien Loong said that the development path for Singapore remains unchanged. According to Mr. Lee, Singapore's system is built on a solid foundation of trust and the People's Action Party (PAP) government is working hard to maintain that foundation. Therefore, the PAP has won 15 consecutive elections, continuing to bring results to the people of Singapore. Mr. Lee Hsien Loong said that trust between the people and the government is necessary to maintain long-term planning, which is the command that the PAP government has always maintained.

With Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s final major speech before the handover, the election campaign is also seen to have begun. Singapore could hold a general election as early as September, giving the next prime minister enough time to implement development plans.