Singapore too authoritative? Charlie Rose asked Lee Kuan Yew

• 4sg

  24 Oct 09, 16:06

  Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew did not say Yes or No when Charlie Rose asked him in a televised interview: "You’ve never had a moment where you thought Singapore was too authoritative, did you?  Not one moment?"

  Instead, he said: "My job was to get the place going and get everybody a decent life and a decent education. And we’re now the best educated people in the whole of east Asia.Our universities -- we got three, four universities, fourth one coming up."

  Charlie Rose: So the end justifies the means whatever it might be?

  MM Lee: No. The ends were laudable. Everybody wants the same ends. Everybody wants good education and good health.

  Charlie Rose: A good life and their children to do better than they did.

  MM Lee: The means -- I had the consent and support of the population.  If they opposed me and they did not cooperate, it wouldn’t have worked. 

  Charlie Rose: You were in control of everything.

  MM Lee: No.

  Charlie Rose: Yes you were, you know that. 

  (Laughter)

  MM Lee: The numbers of people opposing me, including the communists in the very early years, was endless. 

  Charlie Rose did not press him further. Instead, he said: "That brings me to President Obama.  What are your observations about him?" 

  Obama very great and eloquent

  MM Lee responded: "He’s a very great and eloquent man who is very persuasive and is very able and has appointed very able people into his key positions.  And what impressed me most is his appointing people of different minds.  For instance, on his economic team, there is (Larry) Summers, Paul Volcker, and they’re both very strong-minded people." 

  Read the full transcript on Charlie Rose.com where, if you have the patience, you can also watch the interview. Here are some extracts.

  Changes that MM Lee never expected

  Charlie Rose: What’s the most important change and significant change in your way of thinking about the world over the last 20 years?

  MM Lee: That the impossible can happen. I never thought the Soviet Union would implode so easily, and I never thought the Chinese would abandon the communist system and move into the free market so readily. It was unthinkable 20 years ago. Both have happened. The world has changed.

  China will take 100 years to catch up with America

  Charlie Rose: What should the United States do as it looks at the inevitable growth of China as a dominant player.  What would be a wise foreign policy?  Because you have two or three decades before it reaches the full strength. 

  MM Lee: Even in three decades it won’t reach its full strength. In three decades its per capita is still about one-third of America.

  Charlie Rose: It’s gross domestic product.

  MM Lee: For it to reach America’s standard of living and standard of technology will take more than 100 years. 

  Charlie Rose: So what should the United States do while it has the position it has now? 

  MM Lee: I think make sure that they feel that they are accepted at the top table.

  Ukrainians in Singapore army

  MM Lee: But we are a small population, so we can make it up with numbers from young bright Indians and young bright Chinese, young bright Malaysians, and all the people around the world, and some Middle Easterners.We now have Ukrainians serving in the army.

  Charlie Rose: Ukrainians in Singapore?

  MM Lee: Yes, of course, Russians too, east Europeans, and British who married our local girls, and British women who married Singapore men.

  Charlie Rose:  Will India have an advantage, some argue, because it’s
  a democracy and China is not? 

  MM Lee: Let me put it this way.

  (Laughter)

  MM Lee (Inaudible): If India were as well-organized as China, it will go at a different speed, but it’s going at the speed it is because it is India.  It’s not one nation.  It’s many nations.It has 320 different languages and 32 official languages. 

  So no prime minister in Delhi can at any one time speak in a language and be understand throughout the country.  You can do that in Beijing. 

  Beijing will change with IT and urbanization

  Charlie Rose: So, in the end, do you think the system will change in Beijing? 

  MM Lee: I think it will have to change as the people get more organized. 

  Today it’s 40 percent urban or less than 40 percent urban, and more than 60 percent rural.  When you reach the tipping point and 60 and 70 percent are urban with mobile phones, PDAs, and you can download anything you want, send any messages you want -- it’s already had its effect. 

  The Szechuan earthquake -- in the old days nobody would know about except seismologists that who saw that an earthquake took place.  Here immediately all the Chinese knew the world knew, and they had to go public. And the prime minister took a plane full of pressmen and went there and tried to comfort them and assured them that there would be...

  Charlie Rose: So you are saying that communication and technology and the flow of information will have an impact. 

  MM Lee: And the urbanization. If you’re in the countryside that’s different, you can be isolated.  But when you’re together in the urban centre and they’re planning 10 urban centre at 40 million people each… you can call a meeting anytime you want.  You can have a riot any time you want.

  So it’s a different world.  Therefore you have to pay attention to what people think.  And today they’re watching the Internet very carefully, because they know what the average person in the cities are thinking. 

  Charlie Rose:  What are they afraid of?  What is there fear of? 

  Chinese leaders don't want to lose control

  MM Lee: They’re not afraid. They just don’t want to lose control. 

  Charlie Rose: So they’re afraid of control. 

  MM Lee: No. They’re afraid that they will lose control in the situation. 

  In the old days, way back in Mao’s days, everybody is dependent on the state.  The state is the only employer and everybody has what you call a Huku.  A Huku is a residence permit.  And if you lose your job because you’re anti-government or whatever, you’ve had it.  There’s no other employer.

  But today there are multiple employers, all...

  Charlie Rose: So people have options. 

  MM Lee: Yes, absolutely. And that means the government has lost control over the people. They can be entrepreneurs.  They run their own businesses, shops, whatever it is. 

  Charlie Rose: But are they moving toward some form, not a western form, some form of more participation in the political process? 

  MM Lee: They are co-opting all the successful people into the government system. 

  (Laughter)

  Charlie Rose: That’s a smart policy. 

  Singapore will keep changing to be relevant to the world

  Charlie Rose: You have said that Singapore has to maintain its relevance.

  MM Lee: Yes.

  Charlie Rose: It has to be a place that people want to invest in. 

  MM Lee: It has to be a place that is useful to the world. Otherwise it wouldn’t exist.

  Charlie Rose: And that’s what you had created since the founding of the modern city-state.

  MM Lee: We have made ourselves relevant to the world.

  Charlie Rose: And how will you maintain your relevancy? 

  MM Lee: But keeping on changing. You cannot maintain your relevance by just staying put.  The world changes. There are shifts in the geopolitics and the economics of the world.  We have to watch it and ride it.  You surf with them.  As the surf comes this way you ride the surf. 

  We are keeping our links with America, with Japan, with Europe. They brought us to where we are. 

  Charlie Rose: And you don’t have to choose sides. No other nation will have to choose sides.

  MM Lee: We absolutely refuse to choose sides. We will not choose sides between America and China or between China and India. 

  http://www.pressrun.net/weblog/2009/10/singapore-too-authoritative-charlie-rose-asked-lee-kuan-yew.html#more

• angel3070

  24 Oct 09, 16:13

  Fucking bastard and his filth again.

  Endless rubbish from that old fucker.

  Thinks he knows a lot.

  Fucker, you so clever GIC won't lose 40 billion already lah.

  Why this topic lose 40 billion you keep quiet?

  Other foreign stuff keep on talk.

  Local GIC lose 40 billion, not one fucking word.

  Fucking coward bastard.

• angel3070

  24 Oct 09, 16:15

  MM Lee: We absolutely refuse to choose sides. We will not choose sides between America and China or between China and India.

  Then why Singapore send troops to Iraq and Afghanistan?

  Don't choose fucking side?

  You come and lick my asshole first lah, fucking bastard.

• angel3070

  24 Oct 09, 16:17

  Lee Kuan Yew, you like to talk cock.

  I talk cock with you.

  I ask you, why the fucking GIC lose 40 billion?

  Why GIC lose 40 billion?

• HITMAN11111111111

  24 Oct 09, 16:20

  YEAH.....its all a stage act.its a public relations thing.

  in reality........people in spore  are paying it in terms of low salary....low bank interests ...trying to meet ends meet.

• 4sg

  24 Oct 09, 16:23

  MM Lee brags about his “achievements” on the Charlie Rose Show

  In a national talk show with U.S. commentator Charlie Rose on the Charlie Rose Show on 22 October 2009, Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew continues to brag about his numerous “contributions” to Singapore.

  This is the third time MM Lee has appeared on the show. His two previous appearances were in 2000 and 2004.

  MM Lee claimed that his government managed to resolve the housing crisis in the 1960s and built flats for almost every Singaporean. He took the opportunity to remind the audience that Singapore now has one of the highest home ownership in the world (thanks to the PAP).

  When the topic shifted to China, MM Lee was again quick to proclaim his “role” in China’s development. He related how impressed former Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping was with Singapore during a trip in 1978 which prompted him to “duplicate” Singapore’s success back home in China.

  Till today, China has already sent 40,000 officials to Singapore to study its system of governance.

  Rose pointed out that democracy was sacrificed for economic success to which MM Lee rebutted that the success of Singapore was due to the people giving him the “authority” to rule.

  The trip to the United States is MM Lee’s fourth overseas trip this year after earlier visits to Japan, China, Malaysia, United Kingdom and Russia.

  At 86 years of age, he is still not showing any signs of frailty and has been working hard to ensure that he is not faded out of public view.

  It is not known if MM Lee’s frequent trips are funded by himself or by taxpayers’ monies.

  Certainly few can deny MM Lee’s leadership in shaping the success of modern day Singapore, but he would not be able to achieve much without the help of capable colleagues and a hardworking, thrifty and honest people.

  Though Singapore’s dramatic transformation from third to first world in a single generation is a rare achievement, it is not the only country to achieve this feat.

  Japan took only 30 years to rebuild itself from the ruins of world war two to become an economic powerhouse.

  Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea have attained similar levels of prosperity too together with Singapore.

  Even Australia, once described by MM Lee as the “white thrash” of Asia has a standard of living higher than Singapore’s.

  Yet, we seldom see the leaders of these countries traveling around the world to promote themselves or to lecture others on their shortcomings.

  A little humility goes a long way especially since Singapore is only a small nation. We have still a lot to learn from others. Besides it is big question mark if Singapore’s system is able to survive MM Lee long after he is gone (for good).

  http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/10/24/mm-lee-brags-about-his-achievements-on-the-charlie-rose-show/comment-page-1/

• angel3070

  24 Oct 09, 16:28

  MM Lee brags about his “achievements” on the Charlie Rose Show

  Did he discuss why GIC lost 40 billion?

• 4sg

  24 Oct 09, 16:30

  MM Lee lectures Americans on the “Chinese mindset”

  Singapore’s “wise” old man and self-acclaimed “expert” on China, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has dished out his customary “understanding” of China to the Americans again, this time on the Charlie Rose show.

  On the National Talk show, MM Lee implored the United States to gain an understanding of the “Chinese mindset”.

  “Look, they don’t want to be an honorary member of the West, unlike Russia. They’re quite happy to be Chinese and to remain as such…So when you tell them you ought to do this, you ought to do that, they say yes, thank you. But at the back of their minds, (they ask) ‘We’ve lasted 5,000 years, have you?” said Lee.

  Since relinquishing his position as prime minister in 1990, Lee had tried to portray himself as an international statesman and bridge between the West and China.

  He recounted (brimming with pride) former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping’s visit to Singapore in 1978 which left an indelible impression on him and insinuated that it helped spurred him to liberalize the Chinese economy.

  Lee’s frequent boasts about China “learning” from Singapore has brought sharp rebuttals and criticisms from others in the Chinese-speaking world.

  One famous Hong Kong commentator remarked that the Chinese leaders are only exercising due courtesy to Lee and the only thing China ever wants to learn from Singapore is its unique one-party system of government.

  Though Lee was an ethnic Chinese, he was English-educated and was unable to speak Mandarin fluently till he became Singapore’s prime minister.

  Before the PAP won power, he had to rely heavily on his Chinese-educated colleague Lim Chin Siong to win over the Chinese masses.

  Lee was staunchly anti-communist and anti-China in the 1960s. Fearful of the lingering influence and strength of the Chinese elites, he abolished vernacular education and introduced English as the medium of education for all schools in Singapore.

  Singapore’s only Chinese university, Nan Tah, was merged with the University of Singapore to form the National University of Singapore in 1980.

  With the rise of China in 1980s, Lee made a stunning U-turn and embraced his former foes – the Chinese communists.

  Despite his frequent claims that he has “in-depth” knowledge and understanding of China, his first major foray in China ended in disaster.

  The Suzhou-Singapore industrial park was a brain-child of Lee to replicate a Singapore-style technological park in the city of Suzhou. However, it failed to take off due to lack of support from the local officials which clearly exposed Lee’s shallow understanding of the Chinese culture and mindset.

  Singapore eventually left the management of the park to the Chinese in 1999 with losses amounting to an estimated USD $90 million dollars. Till today, the losses are still unaccounted for. Ironically the park became profitable a year after the Singapore consortium left.

  Lee’s continued infatuation with China is reflected in many of Singapore’s policies including its liberal immigration policy which has come under fire in recent weeks.

  (continue at)

  http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/10/24/mm-lee-lectures-americans-on-the-chinese-mindset/

• angel3070

  24 Oct 09, 16:34

  Originally posted by 4sg:

  Though Lee was an ethnic Chinese, he was English-educated and was unable to speak Mandarin fluently till he became Singapore’s prime minister.

  Lee Kuan Yew is not fucking chinese lah.

  He is baba.

  idiot morons all go and believe that bastard's lies.

  Only political morons will go and believe Lee Kuan Yew.

   

• Miracles&Prophecies

  24 Oct 09, 17:10

  The most educated 4th university coming up with murders such as David Widjaja totally covered up though it was already an obvious mess. Haha. You are running a system of persecution. You think you're privilege to treat those who are in your island sub human. You are a crook who is paranoid about different opinion. You are afraid of what people think especially those who differ with you! You are a coward a cheater a liar and a murderer.
• Miracles&Prophecies

  24 Oct 09, 17:11

  Your moral compass is fucked up mister!
• Miracles&Prophecies

  25 Oct 09, 11:29

  You abuse the police, judiciary and even IMH to intimidate and defame those you label as your enemy.
  
  You're selfish and cruel. And I strongly believe that you have a strong psychopathic tendencies. You're unfit to rule anything but the zoo.
• Spartans

  25 Oct 09, 11:42

  Are our universities really world-class? Do our elite ministers really think so? Then why are most of them, if not all, send their children to foreign universities?

  Shouldnt they do what they preach? Or is it just a sham again. Their actions totally shown us that they have no faith in our tertiary system.

• Fantagf

  25 Oct 09, 22:40

  Originally posted by Spartans:

  Are our universities really world-class? Do our elite ministers really think so? Then why are most of them, if not all, send their children to foreign universities?

  Shouldnt they do what they preach? Or is it just a sham again. Their actions totally shown us that they have no faith in our tertiary system.

  
  lao wang mai kua , zi mai zi kua

  He loves to exaggerate.  

• Atobe

  26 Oct 09, 02:53

  Originally posted by 4sg:

  Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew did not say Yes or No when Charlie Rose asked him in a televised interview: "You’ve never had a moment where you thought Singapore was too authoritative, did you?  Not one moment?"

  Instead, he said: "My job was to get the place going and get everybody a decent life and a decent education. And we’re now the best educated people in the whole of east Asia.Our universities -- we got three, four universities, fourth one coming up."

  Charlie Rose: So the end justifies the means whatever it might be?

  MM Lee: No. The ends were laudable. Everybody wants the same ends. Everybody wants good education and good health.

  Charlie Rose: A good life and their children to do better than they did.

  MM Lee: The means -- I had the consent and support of the population.  If they opposed me and they did not cooperate, it wouldn’t have worked. 

  Charlie Rose: You were in control of everything.

  MM Lee: No.

  Charlie Rose: Yes you were, you know that. 

  (Laughter)

  MM Lee: The numbers of people opposing me, including the communists in the very early years, was endless. 

  Charlie Rose did not press him further. Instead, he said: "That brings me to President Obama.  What are your observations about him?" 

  Obama very great and eloquent

  MM Lee responded: "He’s a very great and eloquent man who is very persuasive and is very able and has appointed very able people into his key positions.  And what impressed me most is his appointing people of different minds.  For instance, on his economic team, there is (Larry) Summers, Paul Volcker, and they’re both very strong-minded people." 

  Read the full transcript on Charlie Rose.com where, if you have the patience, you can also watch the interview. Here are some extracts.

  Changes that MM Lee never expected

  Charlie Rose: What’s the most important change and significant change in your way of thinking about the world over the last 20 years?

  MM Lee: That the impossible can happen. I never thought the Soviet Union would implode so easily, and I never thought the Chinese would abandon the communist system and move into the free market so readily. It was unthinkable 20 years ago. Both have happened. The world has changed.

  China will take 100 years to catch up with America

  Charlie Rose: What should the United States do as it looks at the inevitable growth of China as a dominant player.  What would be a wise foreign policy?  Because you have two or three decades before it reaches the full strength. 

  MM Lee: Even in three decades it won’t reach its full strength. In three decades its per capita is still about one-third of America.

  Charlie Rose: It’s gross domestic product.

  MM Lee: For it to reach America’s standard of living and standard of technology will take more than 100 years. 

  Charlie Rose: So what should the United States do while it has the position it has now? 

  MM Lee: I think make sure that they feel that they are accepted at the top table.

  Ukrainians in Singapore army

  MM Lee: But we are a small population, so we can make it up with numbers from young bright Indians and young bright Chinese, young bright Malaysians, and all the people around the world, and some Middle Easterners.We now have Ukrainians serving in the army.

  Charlie Rose: Ukrainians in Singapore?

  MM Lee: Yes, of course, Russians too, east Europeans, and British who married our local girls, and British women who married Singapore men.

  Charlie Rose:  Will India have an advantage, some argue, because it’s
  a democracy and China is not? 

  MM Lee: Let me put it this way.

  (Laughter)

  MM Lee (Inaudible): If India were as well-organized as China, it will go at a different speed, but it’s going at the speed it is because it is India.  It’s not one nation.  It’s many nations.It has 320 different languages and 32 official languages. 

  So no prime minister in Delhi can at any one time speak in a language and be understand throughout the country.  You can do that in Beijing. 

  Beijing will change with IT and urbanization

  Charlie Rose: So, in the end, do you think the system will change in Beijing? 

  MM Lee: I think it will have to change as the people get more organized. 

  Today it’s 40 percent urban or less than 40 percent urban, and more than 60 percent rural.  When you reach the tipping point and 60 and 70 percent are urban with mobile phones, PDAs, and you can download anything you want, send any messages you want -- it’s already had its effect. 

  The Szechuan earthquake -- in the old days nobody would know about except seismologists that who saw that an earthquake took place.  Here immediately all the Chinese knew the world knew, and they had to go public. And the prime minister took a plane full of pressmen and went there and tried to comfort them and assured them that there would be...

  Charlie Rose: So you are saying that communication and technology and the flow of information will have an impact. 

  MM Lee: And the urbanization. If you’re in the countryside that’s different, you can be isolated.  But when you’re together in the urban centre and they’re planning 10 urban centre at 40 million people each… you can call a meeting anytime you want.  You can have a riot any time you want.

  So it’s a different world.  Therefore you have to pay attention to what people think.  And today they’re watching the Internet very carefully, because they know what the average person in the cities are thinking. 

  Charlie Rose:  What are they afraid of?  What is there fear of? 

  Chinese leaders don't want to lose control

  MM Lee: They’re not afraid. They just don’t want to lose control. 

  Charlie Rose: So they’re afraid of control. 

  MM Lee: No. They’re afraid that they will lose control in the situation. 

  In the old days, way back in Mao’s days, everybody is dependent on the state.  The state is the only employer and everybody has what you call a Huku.  A Huku is a residence permit.  And if you lose your job because you’re anti-government or whatever, you’ve had it.  There’s no other employer.

  But today there are multiple employers, all...

  Charlie Rose: So people have options. 

  MM Lee: Yes, absolutely. And that means the government has lost control over the people. They can be entrepreneurs.  They run their own businesses, shops, whatever it is. 

  Charlie Rose: But are they moving toward some form, not a western form, some form of more participation in the political process? 

  MM Lee: They are co-opting all the successful people into the government system. 

  (Laughter)

  Charlie Rose: That’s a smart policy. 

  Singapore will keep changing to be relevant to the world

  Charlie Rose: You have said that Singapore has to maintain its relevance.

  MM Lee: Yes.

  Charlie Rose: It has to be a place that people want to invest in. 

  MM Lee: It has to be a place that is useful to the world. Otherwise it wouldn’t exist.

  Charlie Rose: And that’s what you had created since the founding of the modern city-state.

  MM Lee: We have made ourselves relevant to the world.

  Charlie Rose: And how will you maintain your relevancy? 

  MM Lee: But keeping on changing. You cannot maintain your relevance by just staying put.  The world changes. There are shifts in the geopolitics and the economics of the world.  We have to watch it and ride it.  You surf with them.  As the surf comes this way you ride the surf. 

  We are keeping our links with America, with Japan, with Europe. They brought us to where we are. 

  Charlie Rose: And you don’t have to choose sides. No other nation will have to choose sides.

  MM Lee: We absolutely refuse to choose sides. We will not choose sides between America and China or between China and India. 

  http://www.pressrun.net/weblog/2009/10/singapore-too-authoritative-charlie-rose-asked-lee-kuan-yew.html#more

   

  You can fool some people most of the time, can you fool everyone all the time ?

  Was MM LKY speaking the truth about Singapore to a foreign audience, when the locals know better ?

   

  MM Lee: The means -- I had the consent and support of the population.  If they opposed me and they did not cooperate, it wouldn’t have worked. 

  From the beginning, Operation Cold Store ensured everything worked for LKY.

  "We have to lock up people, without trial, whether they are communists, whether they are language chauvinists, whether they are religious extremists. If you don't do that, the country would be in ruins." - Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, 1986

  "I am often accused of interfering in the private lives of citizens. Yes, if I did not, had I not done that, we wouldn't be here today. And I say without the slightest remorse, that we wouldn't be here, we would not have made economic progress, if we had not intervened on very personal matters - who your neighbour is, how you live, the noise you make, how you spit, or what language you use. We decide what is right. Never mind what the people think." - Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Straits Times, 20 April 1987

  "Between being loved and being feared, I have always believed Machiavelli was right. If nobody is afraid of me, I’m meaningless." - Lee Kuan Yew, 6.10.1997

   

  MM Lee: The numbers of people opposing me, including the communists in the very early years, was endless. 

  The "Superman" never fails with his imaginery battles with the Communist boogie man, even as the British ISD had reported to the Colonial Government that Lim Chin Siong was not a Communist, and after incarcerating Chia Thye Poh for 32 years - he was released without any written admissions of his supposed guilt, nor undertakings not to pursue what he was accused and incarcerated for.

  ‘Between 1959 and 1963 Singapore remained a British colonial territory enjoying internal self-government, and the most important British military base in South-East Asia. During these years Britain was the People's Action Party's guarantor against subversion. Newly released British documents deal with the assessment of the communist threat. They reveal that Britain did not have a single view of that threat. The British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur and Britons remaining in the employ of the Federation of Malaya after it gained independence in August 1957 argued that Britain should act as if the threat was serious, in order to encourage the Malayan government to create a Malaysian federation. The United Kingdom Commission in Singapore believed that Singapore's communists were indigenous leftists with valid claims to political legitimacy. They argued that these leftists could be overcome by political means rather than by mass detention.’ (*1) 

  Are 'leftists' polliticians Socialist, Communist, or even Nationalist ? 

  MM Lee responded: "He’s - (Obama) - a very great and eloquent man who is very persuasive and is very able and has appointed very able people into his key positions.  And what impressed me most is his appointing people of different minds.  For instance, on his economic team, there is (Larry) Summers, Paul Volcker, and they’re both very strong-minded people." 

  ‘Obama is a flash in the pan, and lighweight compared to the Republican candidate’ (*2) 

   "The Bell curve is a fact of life. The blacks on average score 85 per cent on IQ and it is accurate, nothing to do with culture. The whites score on average 100. Asians score more ... the Bell curve authors put it at least 10 points higher. These are realities that, if you do not accept, will lead to frustration because you will be spending money on wrong assumptions and the results cannot follow." - Lee Kuan Yew, The Man & His Ideas, 1997

   MM Lee: But keeping on changing. You cannot maintain your relevance by just staying put.  The world changes. There are shifts in the geopolitics and the economics of the world.  We have to watch it and ride it.  You surf with them.  As the surf comes this way you ride the surf. 

  We are keeping our links with America, with Japan, with Europe. They brought us to where we are. 

  Since the beginning of Singapore Industrialization program in the early 1970s, the Singapore economy continue to depend on the MNCs to open factories and make available the low wage jobs for the trained and upgraded Singaporean workers.

  Keep on changing to stay relevant ?

  After 40 years, LKY certainly can be proud of his PAP policies that never help Singaporeans to move away form the MNCs, but instead had made Singapore continuously dependent on the goodwill nature of the MNC.

  This is the way that LKY made Singapore relevant to the MNCs from America, Japan. and Europe, even if foreign cheaper labor is brought into Singapore.

   

• lovegoddes

  26 Oct 09, 05:43

  Originally posted by Spartans:

  Are our universities really world-class? Do our elite ministers really think so? Then why are most of them, if not all, send their children to foreign universities?

  Shouldnt they do what they preach? Or is it just a sham again. Their actions totally shown us that they have no faith in our tertiary system.

   

  they are all here in the states studying in ivy league schools.. :P

• Miracles&Prophecies

  26 Oct 09, 14:14

  lky is most probably mentally unstable...he is paranoid about control and dissent and dissident he kills innocent non activist people or try to kill them. He is irrational at the very best and cruel and psychopathic.
  
  Tell me why David Widjaja needed to be killed and covered up? If there wasn't power play there it would not have been covered up. It's so obvious that Singapore court unwillingness to give justice put it in a very limelight. You can be sure the regime will refrain from killing foreign student especially Chinese Indonesian for some time or do it much more covertly such as running him or her down the street.
  
  Singapore passed a law that enables it to detain people in IMH under pretense that he is mentally ill. And it is widely known tactic to scare potential dissident and it must have cost honest man such as Robert Ho sone traumatizing moment.
  
  The regime is a police state regime a watch dog constantly monitoring its resident it doesn't respect your privacy, it may tap your phone read your email but the worst of all it uses so called remote viewer [like] ability which some suggest as paranormal phenomenon to tap into the mind and heart of its people.
  
  Singapore is a fraud. ONE BIG FRAUD.
• pearlie27

  26 Oct 09, 17:46

  Yes, i think the HK commentator hit the nail on the head when he said that Chinese leaders were just being curteous to LKY. i think the commentator was also being tactful by saying that the only thing China ever wanted to learn from Sg was its unique one-party system of govt. What he probably wanted to say could be that the only thing China ever wanted to learn from Sg was how to pretend to be democratic while practising all the communist ways of ruling. LKY has also apparently forgotten about what he told Charlie that China has 5000 years of history.
• Arapahoe

  27 Oct 09, 09:55

  I watch charlie Rose for sometime...and of course LKY is one of his common speaker. Sometime I find Charlie Rose get a bit tangent off as the conversation progress. He has quite a good relationship with LKY over the years so he is not going to piss him off...

  The notion that Economics Progress will result in more freedom is a fallacy that the world have not wake up to it.

  So far Economics progress from either Communist regime or authoritarian regime only increase and consolidate their power thru the new found Wealth. Example...Communist china, Myanmar, Sudan, Zimbawi, Iran.  

  Although the trade off is between material gain vs political freedom. However, just like Singapore the amount of trade off is Prymaid in shaped, but by than the authority has already extend itself to every branch of the society.