SINGAPORE – Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong go a long way back, when both served in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). They also worked together in Cabinet for 30 years, from when Mr Goh Chok Tong was prime minister.
As PM Lee prepares to hand over the reins to the fourth-generation leaders on May 15, SM Teo spoke in an interview on what it has been like working with him for more than 40 years.
Always looking to improve things
PM Lee has always been earnest and “a little bit nerdy”, and was always looking to improve things, said SM Teo.
Both men were SAF scholars in the 1970s, with PM Lee two years SM Teo’s senior.
When PM Lee was an artillery officer, he used a Hewlett-Packard HP-41 programmable handheld calculator to sort out, in a more convenient form, the ballistic tables for guns, recalled SM Teo.
Trusts his team to do their job
As a leader, PM Lee is one who leaves his ministers to do their job, said SM Teo. He added that in the ministries he ran, he hardly had to go back to PM Lee for decisions.
Shortly after the Little India riot in 2013 that was sparked by a fatal accident in Race Course Road, PM Lee had to go on a trip and left SM Teo, who was then deputy prime minister, to handle the situation.
During that time, SM Teo would provide a summary of the situation and actions to be taken. “And, of course, he was in the loop, and he just left it to me. So from that point of view, he is very good at letting his team members get on with the job, but he keeps in touch with what is going on,” said SM Teo.
“That is the way he likes to work with other ministers as well. That means, you know what your responsibilities are, and you get on with the job, but you also know when to ask and when to raise issues. And when to ask for a consultation,” added SM Teo.
