Singapore must not fear unusual, innovative approaches to future challenges, says Jayakumar at book launch
Professor S Jayakumar said his new book seeks to lift the veil of secrecy on deliberations in founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s Cabinet and show that Mr Lee listened to contrary views.
Professor S Jayakumar giving a speech at the launch of his book Creating Three Unique Singapore Laws, held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Aug 12, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Ili Mansor)
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SINGAPORE: Singapore must not be afraid to take unusual and innovative approaches to future challenges where necessary, veteran statesman Professor S Jayakumar said on Wednesday (Aug 12) at the launch of his latest book.
Creating Three Unique Singapore Laws: An Inside Story chronicles how the elected presidency, Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) and Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) were established through constitutional amendment.
Prof Jayakumar, 87, said this trio of laws was the most interesting and challenging of all the legislation he was involved with in 30 years in government.
He served in the Cabinets of three prime ministers from 1981 to 2011, helming ministerial portfolios in foreign affairs, law and home affairs, and serving as deputy prime minister from 2004 to 2009.
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Now an emeritus professor at the National University of Singapore’s Faculty of Law, Prof Jayakumar is also senior legal adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Even as Singapore adapts the best practices of other countries, it should be “very clear-eyed” that other countries’ approaches may not always work here, he said.
The book hence illustrates how Singapore must figure out solutions for unusual situations and think out of the box.
“As we face the future, we may need that ingenuity and courage to take that approach,” he told an audience at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The book covers the deliberations that led to the establishment of the NCMP scheme in 1984, GRCs in 1988 and the elected presidency in 1991.
Prof Jayakumar said the People’s Action Party and its government have always kept a tight lid on internal deliberations, and this is sound practice for the principle of collective responsibility in Cabinet to work well and to avoid leaks by disgruntled office holders.
But it is a pity that the public does not have insight into how Cabinet discusses important matters, he added.
The book therefore “lifts the veil of secrecy to an extent” on Cabinet deliberations, the dynamics among its personalities, and the process of compromise and consensus.
Prof Jayakumar said he also wanted to dispel the myth that Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew brooked no dissent. In fact, Mr Lee was willing to listen to contrary views, including from younger ministers.
Mr Lee believed what was important was not that his own proposed solution be accepted, but to formulate a solution that was workable for the new guard, he said.
Prof Jayakumar said the book also opened a window into Mr Lee’s far-sighted approach to governing Singapore, which went beyond his own premiership and his own lifetime.
Pointing to the GRC scheme to ensure minority representation, Prof Jayakumar said it was criticised by opposition politicians at the time as a scheme to “fix” them.
He said Mr Lee had actually been thinking about minority representation as far back as the 1970s, when he wrote to all PAP parliamentarians expressing concern for how Malay parliamentarians could be effective in predominantly Chinese constituencies.
While the book’s narrative centres on Mr Lee’s Cabinet, Prof Jayakumar said “the same approach of the leader encouraging his ministers to speak and in fact give alternative options” continued when he served in the governments of Mr Goh Chok Tong and Mr Lee Hsien Loong.
While many unknowns remain in the future, one certainty is that Singapore’s small size and unusual and unique circumstances were present at the country’s independence, and are still present today, said Prof Jayakumar.
“How we got here is partly because the leadership in the past took important, innovative, unusual and unique decisions and pivotal decisions,” he said.
Source: CNA/dv(cy)
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