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SINGAPORE: The questions and answers which followed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's ministerial statement on Tuesday still focused on accountability and responsibility for the escape of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) detainee Mas Selamat Kastari.
Some MPs even broached the idea - whether ministers should resign, as CEOs do in the private sector, when there are serious lapses.
But the prime minister said calls for public officers to resign should be rejected.
"If you take this to the logical conclusion, it should go all the way up to the prime minister. And every time something happens in the government, you change (the) prime minister. This is not how this government works," said Mr Lee.
MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC, Inderjit Singh, expressed confidence in the deputy prime minister and the Internal Security Department (ISD), but also raised the issue of punishment.
"We have adopted a reward system that matches that of the private sector that we pay everyone as high as possible. And therefore people expect that when you make a mistake, you (should) be appropriately punished," he said.
The prime minister reiterated that punishments must depend on the results of investigations.
"If you generate the culture that nobody wants to make mistakes and (is) afraid to do something for fear of making mistakes, that - as Dr Goh Keng Swee used to say - would be the biggest mistake of all," said Mr Lee. - CNA/ac
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