Being able to change is one of the reasons for PAP’s success, says Shanmugam

SINGAPORE – Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam is no stranger to change. In his 37 years in politics, he has served under four prime ministers, first as a PAP backbencher and then later in Cabinet. He entered politics in 1988, just before the global environment was about to change rapidly with the collapse of communism in Europe, and that of the Soviet Union a few years later. In all that time, the PAP has remained successful as a party because it has “forced itself to change continuously” to stay relevant to evolving challenges.Mr Shanmugam said this on The Straits Times’ current affairs podcast The Usual Place on April 16, when he was asked about how the PAP has evolved over the last four decades.“This party has been successful because it accepts change. Many parties don’t have longevity because certain things worked and they stuck to whatever worked, and after a while, when things changed, they couldn’t give up on what they liked doing, or what they were comfortable doing,”...