In Parliament, I advocated strongly on the need for Singapore to develop a credible civil society as part of our maturation process and asked that the government allow space for this. After I spoke, then-Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew rose to reply, although he was unscheduled. He told the House that he had listened to my arguments but disagreed with me to an extent; one difference was that he believed civil society had severe limits in offering leadership. After listening to SM Lee, I then asked the floor to make a rejoinder, which the Speaker allowed, and with respect, reiterated the need to
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