Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam spoke at the township of St Gallen in Switzerland in early May. He represented Singapore at the 45th edition of the St Gallen Symposium, an annual conference aimed at ‘fostering intergenerational and intercultural dialogue between decision makers of today and tomorrow’. On stage, he sparred with Stephen Sackur, host of BBC talkshow programme HardTalk. Sackur was an experienced political pundit and a formidable interviewer; he is a tough opponent to be up against. Over 45 minutes, they chatted about this economic miracle called Singapore. They spoke about democracy and freedom of press. They discussed briefly the passing of our founding Prime Minister, and whether his family will continue his political dynasty. They also mentioned the government spending and how Singapore takes a radically different stance on this compared with many other countries. In coversation, DPM was firm but not pushy, concerned yet not flustered. I ......