PM Lee Hsien Loong (fifth from left), chairing his last Cabinet meeting on May 9. - LEE HSIEN LOONG/FACEBOOK
SINGAPORE: After 20 years of weekly Cabinet meetings that soldiered on even during the Covid-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has led his last meeting.
Commemorating the moment in a Facebook post on Thursday (May 9), Lee thanked his colleagues for their steadfast support during the meetings, which had continued through the pandemic via teleconferencing.
Said Lee: “It has been my privilege to lead my Cabinet team for the past 20 years.
“In Cabinet, the prime minister is ‘primus inter pares’ – not the boss with his subordinates, but the first among equals, all deliberating together to find the best solutions for Singapore.”
In April, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will take over the mantle from Lee as Singapore’s prime minister on May 15.
Said Lee: “From next week, PM Lawrence Wong will take charge in Cabinet meetings, but I will continue to contribute as senior minister.
“Singapore will be in good hands under the 4G team and I am ready to support the new team in their work for Singapore’s success.”
Earlier, on May 8, he was gifted a personalised cake by the female People’s Action Party MPs to mark his final sitting in Parliament as Singapore’s third prime minister.
The cake, designed together with pastry chef Herve Potus from Shangri-La Singapore, honoured Mr Lee’s two decades helming Singapore by reflecting an assortment of his favourite items.
This included a variety of Nonya kueh, a bowl of mee siam, a Peranakan table runner, and books on mathematics, coding, technology and politics.
DPM Wong, who entered politics 13 years ago, will be sworn in at 8pm at the Istana as Singapore’s fourth prime minister. - The Straits Times/ANN
