Singapore not ready for non-ethnic Chinese leader: PM

Lee made his remarks Saturday during talks with members of the local Malay community in response to a question of whether Barack Obama’s election as the first black US President could be mirrored in Singapore. “It’s possible. It depends on how people vote, on who has the confidence of the population,” Lee was quoted as saying in The Sunday Times. “Will it happen soon? I don’t think so, because you have to win votes,” he added.

“Who votes for whom, and what makes him identify with that person... these are sentiments which will not disappear completely for a long time, even if people do not talk about it, even if people wish they did not feel it.”

Lee’s party has been in power since 1959 and while the city state is praised for its open economy and corruption-free bureaucracy, critics highlight its lack of tolerance toward dissent and struggling pro-democracy groups.

Ethnic Chinese make up about 75 percent of Singapore’s resident population of 3.64 million while ethnic Malays account for almost 14 percent and ethnic Indians about nine percent.

The city-state has another one million foreigners who work here.

Singapore’s largely ceremonial post of president is held by an ethnic Indian while one of two deputy prime ministers is also ethnic Indian. There are also three ethnic Indian holding ministerial ranks in Lee’s Cabinet.

Lee’s father, Lee Kuan Yew, was Singapore’s first prime minister and widely credited for transforming the poor tropical island with no natural resources into one of Asia’s wealthiest economies.

The elder Lee stepped down in 1990 and was succeeded by his designated successor, Goh Chok Tong. The younger Lee became prime minister in August 2004, taking over from Goh.

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