2015: Society should evolve on "equality"

Q: Do you foresee more equality in terms of gender and orientation, or are we going to be more conservative?

A: "The answer is not for me to fill, but for you to fill. Society will determine its answer. Today the views are divided. In what we consider very liberal societies, the views are very strongly divided. If you look at the United States, there is a sharp polarisation. If you look at France, which considers itself very liberal, when they pass a law on gay marriage, (there are) protests, major differences in society, it's not easily resolved. What we need is to discuss them, let them evolve, rather than press for them. Either conservatives or gay rights activists, we should let it evolve."

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/we-need-consensus-moving-ahead-dpm-teo

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2009: Activists should not push too hard

Mr Teo said: “There will always be differences in our society. It's a question of whether we can deal with them in a sensible way, learn how to accept each other's differences, and still work together for the good of community.

"There are people in our society with different views and if… we push them too hard, there will be a push back from the other side. You are not going to resolve some of these differences because they are strongly held and you risk polarising society if you push too hard."

https://news.smu.edu.sg/sites/news.smu.edu.sg/files/wwwsmu/news_room/smu_in_the_news/2009/sources/CNA_20090503_1.pdf