Quotes from Lee Hsien Loong

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.

The key thing in Northeast Asia is North Korea. They are unpredictable; they are developing their nuclear capabilities and their missiles.

No country can be an island unto itself or world unto itself. Not even the biggest country.

It is never helpful to point at sticking points, but it is always helpful to encourage one's partners to take a more active and forward-looking approach.

For trade to grow, India must make a strategic decision that you want to encourage interdependence and more openness and more trade-based economy.

In our society, which is multiracial and multi-religious, giving offence to another religious or ethnic group, race, language, or religion is always a very serious matter.

America is a great nation, not just because of your power and your wealth, but because of your high ideals, openness, and generosity of spirit.

Maybe Americans feel they don't need the rest of the world anymore, and they wish it would go away. We don't have that option.

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.

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.

The world is a diverse place. Nobody has a monopoly on virtue or wisdom.

If you asked a Singaporean, on the one hand they'll say, 'Let us do our own things.' On the other hand, when an issue comes out, they'll ask, 'What is the government doing about it?'

If we did not have a sense of who we were, how we got here, why we want to achieve something - which, on the face of it, on the logic of it, is probably not worth trying - and prove that logic wrong, then you wouldn't succeed; then you would just evaporate.

The emerging economies, many of them are concerned. They didn't want the money to slosh in. They are afraid when the money sloshes out, but the tapering has to take place, and we have to be able to manage it.

You put out a funny podcast, you talk about bak chor mee. I will say mee siam mai hum.