From Singapore's Central Provident Fund (CPF) to its public transport fares to even what type of coffee he drinks, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong gamely spent an hour answering questions from internet users on Facebook on Saturday morning.



During that time, the Facebook post he opened up received more than 3,000 likes and more than 1,600 comments.



Lee responded to 27 questions altogether, providing various insights both into his personal life and his views on key top-of-mind issues.



On CPF, for instance, a user asked him if he would ever allow account holders to manage all their money independently. In response, he said the fund is but a "basic amount" to assist Singaporeans and permanent residents in their old age, and that the Minimum Sum is "not a lot".



"Every society has some arrangement like that, and ours is the CPF," he added.



In response to a question that compared Singapore to Hong Kong, where train fares were cut by half, the prime minister spoke about the need for the recent transport fare hike.



"This is a difficult problem everywhere," he said. "It is not true that SBS Transit earns huge profits. In fact in recent years their bus operations have not been making money. The (government) subsidises public transport heavily — we are spending billions every year building MRT lines, and also spending almost a billion on the bus services enhancement programme. But commuters have to pay a fair share."



He also took time to explain that fares went up this year despite fuel prices falling because the full hike from the previous year had not been implemented.



Immigration issues

































Lee also replied to a few questions on pro-business schemes and foreign labour, a hot topic in Singapore in recent years as some people blame the influx of immigrants for overcrowding on public transport and the higher cost of living.



To one who asked about the possibility of loosening foreign worker quotas, he said, "We have to continue to be tight, but we are watching carefully to make sure we don't overdo things. This is one issue DPM Tharman is studying."



On whether Singapore would continue to accept foreign talent, he replied, "We will continue to accept talent. We must continue to be welcoming and open. We have set our immigration policy for now, but will review it after a few years."



One user asked that the Productivity and Innovation Credit scheme be extended beyond fiscal year 2018, and Lee said he would ask Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam to consider it.



HDB issues



Lee also replied to a mother whose nine-year-old daughter wrote a letter appealing to him to allow large dogs like golden retrievers to live in HDB flats. He said the policy is in place because large dogs may prove a nuisance to neighbours, but in a subsequent comment on the same thread, he said he was informed by his staff that the HDB and Agri-food and Veterinary Authority is reviewing the rule.



Responding to whether government will build more HDB flats and whether singles below 35 will be allowed to buy them, Lee said more flats are built being built. "But I don't think we will reduce the age below 35. It is not so old!" he said.



Currently, Singaporean singles can only buy an HDB flat for themselves if they are 35 or above.



Personal life



Lee also revealed small details about himself in his selection of some of the questions. For instance, he shared that he is learning Pilates, while exercising in the mornings and taking weekend walks with his wife.



Asked about his Jawbone band, Lee said he tracks roughly six to seven hours of sleep each day, walks between 7,000 to 8,000 steps and occasionally breaks the 10,000 barrier.



He also reveals the secret to his picturesque photographs. He takes snaps with his iPhone, which we understand to be an iPhone 6, and a compact camera (especially at night). For editing tools, he uses Lightroom and Lightzone.



If he weren't the prime minister, Lee said he'd be a teacher or a lecturer, because he enjoys interacting with young people.



Also, he doesn't really drink coffee, although he does try the occasional brew offered to him, the latest of which was a cup of kopi-si at an event at one-north on Friday.



His favourite Malay dishes are assam pedas (spicy and sour fish stew) and Ondeh Ondeh (glutinous rice balls filled with palm sugar syrup), he said to a user who asked if he had eaten.



Oh, and why is he always wearing pink shirts? "My TV producer tells me to do that!" he replied.



The prime minister’s first foray into social media was his participation in a question-and-answer session on his political party's Facebook page in 2011, ahead of the May general election.



Roughly a year later, he joined Facebook and Twitter, and in May 2013, he posted his first picture to Instagram. 539 posts later, he is now followed by 49,200 users on Instagram, 127,000 on Twitter and more than 469,000 on Facebook.



































































