PM Lee Hsien Loong said this week that both Singapore and Malaysia may need new leaders who can fulfil the aspirations of younger voters.
He was responding to questions at the Istana on Tuesday about the results of Singapore's GE 2011 and Malaysia's GE2013 and the loss of support the ruling parties experienced.
"You are talking about a generational change, you are talking about new social norms, new technology, new experiences of a generation which is growing up, which sees a different world and would like to have aspirations of their own and not just the aspirations of the older generation...
It is necessary for every country to be able to produce the leadership which will work for that generation. And you cannot have a country where the population is 40 years old, but the leaders are very, very old as a team because there would be a gap." he said.
The event he was speaking at was an interview session with 15 journalists from ASEAN nations.
He also shared that he felt Singapore should not "speak loudly" when it came to wider aspects of ASEAN integration as small countries work together with other countries and need to progress together with other countries.
During the session, he was also asked about his leadership style and how it compared to Lee Kuan Yew's.
In response, PM Lee maintained that he has his own style which is different to Lee Kuan Yew. He acknowledged that LKY achieved a lot with his style but that he was a different person and he had so do things in his own way.
PM Lee said that he doesn't try to compare to his father, but is comfortable with what he is doing and it is up to others to decide whether they are happy with his leadership style or not.