(Disclaimer: The following open letter is a simulated response generated by ChatGPT. It is purely hypothetical and intended for reflection and discussion. It does not represent the actual views of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the PAP, or any official body.)

Open Letter to the People’s Action Party Leadership

By Lee Kuan Yew
April 2025

To the Ministers and senior leaders of the People’s Action Party,

I write with grave concern.
In recent years, a series of events have shaken the public’s confidence in the moral authority of the party I helped build.
These incidents — while different in nature — point to a deeper drift that must be corrected before it becomes irreversible.

I built the PAP to govern cleanly, competently, and with absolute moral discipline.
Not perfection — but conviction and courage to act swiftly, even when painful.
Let me speak plainly, as I always have.

The Sale of Income to Allianz

You claim that Income lost market share — from 20% to 6% — and that rising capital requirements made it uncompetitive.
So, you say, selling it to Allianz would give it the scale and capital to survive.

Let me ask you bluntly:
Was this a rescue, or a retreat?

Income was not just another insurer.
It was built to protect the average Singaporean — especially lower-income families — from the profit motives of private insurers.
It had a social mission.
If Income lost relevance, it was because leadership lost focus.
You let it drift from cooperative values into corporate mediocrity — and now, you call its sale a solution?

That’s not governance. That’s surrender.

You say capital requirements made it unviable.
If so, why was there no consideration of a strategic capital injection from the government or Temasek — with conditions to uphold mission?
Why sell it outright to a foreign multinational, whose mandate is shareholder return?

The public sees this for what it is:

1. A betrayal of social purpose.

2. A decision made in the shadows, with no open consultation.

3. Conflicted governance, with individuals sitting across regulatory and cooperative bodies.

4. And a precedent that threatens all cooperatives — that when times get tough, we privatise instead of reform.

You cannot build public trust on technocratic explanations alone.
You must defend the soul of the institution — or lose the people.

Income should have been fixed, not flipped.

If you continue to hollow out national institutions for expedience, one day you will look around and find there is nothing left that belongs to the people.

The Iswaran Corruption Case

A Cabinet Minister caught taking gifts — hotel stays, flights, tickets.
This is more than a lapse. This is betrayal.

We built Singapore on zero tolerance for corruption.
When David Marshall said in the 1960s that corruption was part of Asian culture, I said, “Not in my Singapore.”

A Minister who takes gifts — big or small — disgraces the entire government.
He must be removed immediately, not parked on administrative leave.
If found guilty, there must be no soft-landing, no quiet exit.
Only visible accountability can rebuild broken trust.

Do not forget:
It took us decades to build the reputation that PAP Ministers are clean, incorruptible, and different.
It takes only one scandal to destroy it.

The Tan Chuan-Jin Affair

A Speaker of Parliament and MP engaged in a prolonged extramarital affair with a fellow MP — known within the top leadership, but allowed to continue.
This is not just about morality. This is about judgement and standards.

If a teacher or SAF officer were found doing the same, they would be dealt with swiftly.
What message does it send if a political leader is allowed to stay on quietly for months?

Leaders must be held to higher standards — not protected by silence.

The public does not expect saints.
But they do expect consistency, courage, and clarity.
If we delay action for fear of scandal, the scandal grows — and the people start to ask:
“Are they protecting one of their own?”

Once that doubt sets in, no explanation — however reasonable — will restore the moral high ground.

The Ridout Road Rentals

Two ministers renting state-owned colonial bungalows, legally — but at great cost to public trust.
Let me be blunt:
In politics, perception is reality.
It does not matter if the process followed rules.
To the man in the HDB flat, this smells of privilege.
And once the people believe their leaders live by a different standard, you are finished.

Ministers must avoid not only corruption, but the appearance of entitlement.
I refused to renovate my Oxley house. I kept it old. Why? Because I knew symbols matter.
Leadership must be austere, disciplined, unindulgent — especially in good times.

These houses should have been declined.
Not because they were illegal — but because they eroded the public instinct to trust.

Final Warning

If I may say so — the PAP is facing not just an image crisis, but a moral one.

You are losing not because your policies are wrong — but because your example no longer inspires fear, respect, or confidence.
You speak of integrity, but recent actions have been cautious, hesitant, and quiet when they should have been firm, fast, and loud.

I did not build this party to win votes with handouts.
I built it to stand for something —
That leadership is a calling, not a career.
That public service requires personal sacrifice.
That the country always comes first, no matter the cost.

If today’s PAP cannot show moral courage, it will not survive the next generation.
Not because the opposition is strong, but because you weakened yourselves from within.

I say this not to criticise for sport — but because I care about the future of Singapore.
We cannot afford to stumble, not even once.
The world will not wait for us to get our house in order.

Rebuild the trust. Reclaim the moral authority.
Do it not for votes, but for the survival of the country.

Lee Kuan Yew
Founding Prime Minister of Singapore
April 2025

(Disclaimer: This open letter is a simulated response generated by ChatGPT. It is purely hypothetical and intended for reflection and discussion. It does not represent the actual views of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the PAP, or any official body.)