PM Lee’s national broadcast feels “like election speech”, says one viewer

On Sunday (June 7), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made a national broadcast on the theme: Overcoming The Crisis Of A Generation.

It was the first in a series of six ministerial broadcasts from June 7 to 20 on securing Singapore’s future in a post-Covid-19 world. 

Mr Lee spelt out the trials and tribulations that Singapore will go through, such as an economic recession, loss of jobs, rising unemployment and surviving in a vulnerable global economic environment (US-China trade war). However, he urged Singaporeans to remain confident and not lose heart because the country was in a good state to emerge better and stronger from the crisis. He said that “our biggest priority is jobs” and that this would be tackled through current job schemes and a new National Jobs Council led by Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. 

Among the people who listened to the speech were those who questioned the intent of the national broadcast and who thought it was more of a “campaign speech” for the upcoming General Election. 

Screengrab from Facebook comments

There were also those who felt that the job scheme plans were “vague” and those who wondered whether the jobs would be for Singaporeans. 

On the other hand, some of them urged Singaporeans to realise the effort that the Government is putting into handling the Covid-19 situation. 

The next national broadcast, on the theme “Living with Covid-19”, by Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong will be at 7.30 pm on June 9. 

/TISG