Every day there is a picture, a nebula, a supernova, the sun, rings of Saturn, something like that. What other websites do I go to? I look at a page called Astronomy Picture of the Day. It is also fun, if you do not become addicted to it. It is quite useful because without those, I would not reach out to significant segments of the population, here and overseas. I track what is happening to my posts, what people are saying, and whether we have to respond to it or not. I have Facebook open and Instagram, because I have accounts. If you want to see the snippet, it is there all the time. Because of that, I do not watch the television news anymore. PM: I have on my desktop the news websites open: BBC, New York Times, Straits Times, Channel News Asia. Q: I think people would be interested in hearing you describe your favourite websites and the favourite applications that you use, and what you yourself do on the Internet. Tax credits, tax incentives, cash bonuses, pre-school facilities, infant care facilities, paternity leave, more paternity leave, houses. We are doing all the things which seem sensible to do. That is something which we are still working with. Otherwise the essence of the country somehow disappears. But you must have a core which is transmitted from generation to generation, and transmitted by birth. We can top up to a certain extent with new citizens, with permanent residents from overseas. It has to be 2.1 to just replace ourselves. We can do certain things but you cannot drastically change it. That worries us a great deal and again it is something with no easy solution. We also have to watch our own domestic population trends, our demographic trends. But what they mean by it and what they do when they say they are pro-free trade, you have to watch and see. If you interview world leaders, everybody will say they are for free trade. And if you strike a different balance, you cannot calculate all the consequences. When you are a big country, two, three hundred million people, you feel that you can strike a different balance. Because when you are a small country like Singapore, you know that you have no choice. Whether they are focused on regional cooperation and integration, or whether their focus is on economic nationalism - like the mood in the US and the developed countries - and are therefore turning more inwards. Within the region, we also watch very carefully the trends and our neighbouring countries. And we just have to get out of the way and enable you to do that. Really what is needed is the talent, the drive. The problem is not lack of resources from the Government. I think that more will do it not everybody will succeed.Īs of now, I suspect that the technical content of the start-ups vary and some meet new market needs, some really are putting up traditional businesses. In fact, that is one of the recommendations from the Committee on the Future Economy report, to set up a Global Innovation Network where our young people can go anywhere - whether in the region, Southeast Asia, India, China, or America, Israel, Europe - be immersed in the environment, find out what the exciting things are and be inspired to start their own things. That is a very good sign, we would like more to do that. There are also a fair number of young people who have gone into the Valley in California, who have been caught by the bug and the enthusiasm and are not only working in tech companies but come out and are doing their own start-ups in Silicon Valley. There are young people in Singapore who are trying things. PM: Firstly, I think the start-up scene has livened up. Q: What is your view of the current state of start-ups in Singapore and where do you see this headed in the next three to five years? What is your favourite interview question when you are hiring Ministers?
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