Every generation of Singaporeans will have its share of challenges to deal with. How it defines these challenges and overcomes them, will characterise the generation.

SM's generation brought the country through the trying years of independence. They laid the foundations of modern-day Singapore. I call them the Independence Generation.

Their challenge was to build a country out of a colony. They had only 580 square kilometres of land, less than two million people, and very little else to work with. A few days after separation from Malaysia, the Bangkok Post commented:

"Singapore is an island. She has no more hinterland. In the past, she grew rich as a free port. But today, she has one of the world's highest birth rates. Thousands of youngsters are going into the labour market every year and jobs must be created for them."

Even the Independence Generation had their doubts. In 1961, SM had said that without a merger with Malaysia, Singapore will "suffer more because we have less resources to fall back on ... We have no rubber and tin, no large land mass". In 1964, then Deputy Prime Minister Toh Chin Chye had expressed his concern that "Singapore in isolation is not viable politically and economically".

Singapore was also vulnerable. The Washington Post reported:

"Singapore adrift from the Malayan peninsula, means that there will be a heavily isolated, probably frustrated, Chinese community floating around in the heart of Southeast Asia ripe for exploitation by the old homeland (communist China)."

The Sydney Morning Herald believed also that "Indonesia would seek to exploit the situation". President Sukarno was then waging the konfrontasi campaign against Malaysia and Singapore.

The odds against Singapore’s survival as a sovereign state were, in my view, 10:1.

But Singapore not only survived; we prospered. In 1965, our per capita GNP was only $1,600. We were poorer than a whole host of countries, including Spain, Greece, Ireland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Argentina and Venezuela.

By 1990, however, when SM stepped down as Prime Minister, our per capita GNP had risen to $22,000. We had overtaken those countries I mentioned. In 1965, only two out of ten families owned their homes. By 1990, this figure had risen to nine out of ten. In 1965, this piece of land in Marine Parade did not exist. We began reclaiming it in 1966, one year after independence. By 1974, the first flats were ready, and Marine Parade Estate was born. Today, our estate is thriving, like Singapore.

The challenges for the second generation of Singaporeans - my generation - were less daunting, but equally critical. When my team and I took over the reins of leadership in 1990, some people wondered whether we could keep Singapore going. They argued that Singapore was Lee Kuan Yew and Lee Kuan Yew was Singapore.

Samuel Huntington, a Harvard University professor, said in a speech in 1995 that, "the honesty and efficiency that Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew has brought to Singapore will follow him into his grave". Honesty and efficiency are the cornerstones of Singapore's success. The implication of Huntington's assertion was clear: Singapore’s prosperity would not survive SM.

My generation was determined to prove the sceptics wrong. In my speech in November 1990 when I was sworn in as Prime Minister, I said that my mission was "to ensure that Singapore thrives and grows after Mr Lee Kuan Yew, to find a new group of men and women to help me carry on where he and his colleagues left off, and to build a nation of character and grace where people live lives of dignity and fulfilment, and care for one another".

After 12 years of second-generation leadership, there is no more talk about Singapore not surviving the Independence Generation. But Huntington may well argue that SM is still around and in my Cabinet! That is so, but SM is not in the cockpit. Whether the plane flies safely through storms and lightning now depends on the skills of the second-generation aircrew. My generation has carried Singapore beyond the Independence Generation.

The leaders of my generation were described as technocratic, meaning we were less political than the Independence Generation. We consolidated Singapore's resources and capabilities, organised the people, and expanded Singapore. As a result, from 1990 to 1997 before the Asian financial crisis, we grew by an average of 9% per year, among the highest growth rates in the world. Our foreign reserves and domestic assets grew. Our per capita GNP last year was $37,000.

Perhaps my generation could be called the Upgrade Generation. We built on the achievements of the Independence Generation, and upgraded Singaporeans' standard of living. We upgraded our housing estates, public amenities, public transportation system, our economy, and the skills of Singaporeans. We revamped our education system, healthcare system, and made them world-class. Singaporeans, on the other hand, upgraded their cars, their houses, their PCs, and many other things!

What about the third generation Singaporeans - those who were born after 1965? Many of them were born not only with a silver spoon in their mouth, but, nowadays, also a mobile phone in their hands! What will be their challenge? What have they set their sights on achieving? What will their generation be known by?

One young Singaporean called his generation the "Strawberry Generation", i.e. good to look at on the outside, but soft inside. I do not think he should be so hard on his own generation. From the way our youths do their National Service, I do not think they are soft.

It is too early to come up with a punchy name to characterise accurately the third generation. We can do so only after we have seen how they tackle their challenges, the goals they set for themselves, and their achievements. For the time being, I prefer to use a neutral name: 3G Singaporeans, or Third Generation Singaporeans.

3G Singaporeans are up against tougher challenges than those my generation met. The regional environment is less benign, and more unpredictable. The global environment is more competitive. ASEAN's economy is at risk of being eclipsed by a rising China. There is also a new security threat from Islamic extremism.

The Government has already introduced measures to address these challenges, and is coming up with more measures soon. The Economic Review Committee will release its overall report early next year. These measures will prevent our manufacturing sector from being hollowed out, attract new investments, and create jobs for the people.

But these policies will take time to produce results. There is no quick fix.

A key challenge for 3G Singaporeans is to ensure that there will be a core of Singaporeans committed to look after Singapore. This is a challenge because 3G Singaporeans are internationally mobile. They can make their money and live a comfortable life outside Singapore. The Ministry of Manpower estimates that there are between 100,000 and 150,000 Singaporeans overseas at any one point in time. There are about 31,000 Singaporeans in Australia; 20,000 in the UK; 7,000 in Canada; 3,000 in the East Coast of the US; 5,000 in San Francisco; and 2,000 in Chicago. In 1991, Singaporeans made about 5 million overseas trips. Last year, this figure rose to 17 million.

Singaporeans should go out to look for opportunities, knowledge and experience. We cannot afford to be parochial.

But as they venture outside Singapore, we must ensure that their interests continue to converge with those of the country. If they look at opportunities only from their personal perspective and forget the larger interests of Singapore, they may do well individually, but Singapore will not do well.

So you see, this challenge of ensuring a core of Singaporeans who puts country before self, is an important one. That was why I spoke on "stayers" and "quitters" at this year's National Day Rally.

My speech on "stayers" and "quitters" has aroused a strong response from Singaporeans, as it was meant to be. I did not expect all Singaporeans to agree with my characterisation of "stayers" and "quitters". Some Singaporeans, however, misunderstood me. I had made it clear that I did not regard everyone who has left Singapore as "quitters". All I wanted was for you to ask yourself, "When Singapore needs me, will I stand up and be counted?" If you stand up for Singapore, no matter where you are, you are not a "quitter". You belong to Singapore and Singapore belongs to you.

Take for instance this Singapore lady who has been working and living in the US for many years now. She sent me an email last month, to tell me about some US career counselling initiatives that she was involved in. In her introduction, she explained that she left Singapore in her youth, because she felt that she could not fit into the Singapore education system. She does not agree with our education system, which she says discriminates against those who are not good in maths, science, and IT. But despite this, she feels for Singapore. She said that she "hates to see my beloved Singapore being hated". She would be coming back soon to Singapore to visit for the first time after almost a decade, and hoped that maybe, she can "contribute some changes to my country". She ended her letter to me with "Merdeka Singapura!"

This lady might have left Singapore many years ago, but she is not a "quitter". She sought a different life. But she counts herself a Singaporean, and wants to "contribute some changes to my country".

Look honestly into your heart, and ask whether you feel for Singapore, and are prepared to stand up for Singapore, especially if it meets stormy weather. If your answer is "yes", you are a stayer. It does not matter whether you are in Singapore or overseas. It does not matter if you have spent many years of your life working or living overseas, or are leaving to seek other opportunities and experiences. Your emotional commitment counts as much as physical presence.

If 3G Singaporeans are "stayers", you will prove wrong the saying I gave at the beginning of my Chinese speech, that the first generation builds the fortune, the second generation holds it, and the third spends it away.

Singapore will soon be in the hands of 3G Singaporeans. Their attitude and commitment towards Singapore will determine Singapore’s future.

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