Lee Hsien Loong

“China's influence is growing; it is natural that they want to integrate more, do more business with countries around them, and the Belt and Road is a constructive way in which they can do so.”

“I don't have farmers I can convert into factory workers.”

“Chinese companies - telecommunications and technology companies - are some of the best internationally. Taobao, WeChat, Huawei - not only are they large companies, but they're also very technologically advanced.”

“You will always have politics being pushed towards multiracial politics because you have to field a team.”

“Singaporeans generally feel more secure these days. One of our tasks is to remind them that this, a result of a continuing act of will and an appropriate sense of insecurity, is very helpful.”

“Overall, we think religion is a good thing. I mean, if we were godless society, we would have many other problems; the communists found that out.”

“Over half a century working together on multiple issues, Singaporeans and Americans have made many enduring and close personal friendships.”

“What we can do in Singapore may not be doable elsewhere. Some things you know you need: you want efficient government, you want clean government, you want to do away with corruption, you must educate your people. You want to get housing and so on. All these are not such secrets, not so special to Singapore.”

“It takes time, but I have a promising team of younger Ministers, and I am quite sure from amongst them, one leader will emerge.”

“I think if you look at the Singapore projects, we wanted to do industrial parks. They have taken very long to clear the issues of land, and these become politicised, and you can't settle it, and eventually the project languishes and nothing happens.”

“You look at the Americans. They don't lack fervour in moral causes. They promote democracy, freedom of speech, women's rights, gay rights, sometimes even transgender rights. But you don't see them applying that universally across the world with all their allies.”

“The Chinese go around with lollipops in their pockets. They have aid. They have friendship deals. They build you a Prime Minister's office or President's office or Parliament House or Foreign Ministry. For them, trade is an extension of their foreign policy.”

“Nowadays, however strong an economy is, not all roads will lead only there. There will be other links between countries in Asia, with America, with Europe, and China will fit into this global network.”

“It's never easy to be a small country next to a big neighbor.”

“To represent the nation, you must have multiracial representation.”

“I hope to develop our relationship with the Trump administration and with the United States. It's a very sound relationship that's based on the basic strategic congruence of views about the world, about the region.”

“It has to be good to live in Singapore because otherwise, nobody will stand for it.”

“Whichever country we are talking to, we are concerned with economic cooperation, how to deepen our mutual dependence, how to find new areas of win-win.”

“The natural result of people preferring one of their own race is that a minority race president will find it hard to get elected, and so it's something we should do something about and which we can do something about.”

“If we have no foreign workers, our economy suffers; our own lives suffer.”