Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said that a western-style democratic system with various contending political parties would not work for Singapore.

Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents Association of Singapore, he said 'I do not see a western model which you described in an idealised form as being the target that we want to aim for. We do not see this as being a model which will work well in Singapore.'

Mr Lee said Singapore's brand of parliamentary democracy has worked well for the country.

'There are free elections and the electorate has given their confidence overwhelmingly to one party -- for a good reason because it is the party which has delivered,' he said.

The Prime Minister also said Singapore must evolve into a more 'inclusive' society where there's an environment in which there's maximum space for each person, each view, for each person to live his own life without impinging on other people.

He said that while the government needs to accommodate gay interests, it also has to ensure their activities do not cause a backlash from the larger society 'which will lead to polarisation and animosity'.

On the next General Election, Mr Lee is confident of strong support, including a strong mandate. -- AFP

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7 Oct 2005 
The Straits Times

The Singapore Government is not homophobic, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday, rejecting suggestions that it had an irrational fear of homosexuals.

But it must manage an environment in which there is maximum space for each person to live his own life without impinging on other people.

Thus it must remain sensitive to segments of the population which are uncomfortable with gays, he said during a question and answer session with members of the Foreign Correspondents Association.

He was replying to Time magazine journalist Jake Smith, who had asked how he felt about gays and said that the Singapore Government gives 'every impression of being somewhat homophobic'.

Rejecting this view, PM Lee said that he agreed with the view taken by his predecessor, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, that homosexuals 'are people like you and me'.

But the question, he said, was this 'How do we provide the maximum space without it becoming intrusive and oppressive on the rest of the population and without causing a backlash which will lead to polarisation and animosity?

'That's our responsibility and challenge. It's very hard to do.'

A balance, he said, needs to be struck between two opposing forces.

On the one side are the gay activists who want more space and feel entitled to it. On the other are those who condemn homosexuality.

'There will be those who say this is wrong, it's a sin, not just a crime but a sin, stop it,' he said. 'Therefore, it's a dynamic balance and one which we'll have to manage very carefully.'

It is a problem his predecessors also grappled with.

In 1998, during a call-in segment of a live CNN interview, a gay man had asked then-senior minister Lee Kuan Yew if gays had a place in Singapore as it moved towards a more tolerant society.

Mr Lee replied that it was a question of what a society considered acceptable, and Singaporeans were still largely very conservative.

Five years later, then-prime minister Goh Chok Tong said the Government was openly employing homosexual people, even in sensitive jobs.

While accepting of gays, PM Lee drew a line against gay marriages and parades. The annual Nation gay party, usually held in August, was banned this year.

He said 'You can do that in Sydney and London and San Francisco, but I'm not sure you're allowed to do that in Singapore, because I think it will be offensive to a large number of Singaporeans and it will be very divisive.'

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7 Oct 2005
'Today' newspaper

Will one of those changes include a gay Cabinet minister, or is the Government homophobic? "I don't think we are homophobic," he replied, asserting his agreement with the views of then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong that gays are "people like you and me", in Mr Lee's words.

"But there are some segments of Singaporeans who may even disagree with that, and we have to be aware of that," he said.

In a brief 10-minute speech before the Q&A, he highlighted the need to encourage diversity but not division, especially when it comes to nurturing the next generation, one of four main tasks he identified as needed in the next 20 years.