It is so full of tale telling signs and preludes and overtures, still surprised, surprised my ass@!
https://www.ft.com/content/5b4b9018-55a4-11e7-9fed-c19e2700005f
Lee family infighting came as a complete surprise
From Frankie Leung, Los Angeles, CA, US
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Thursday, 22 June, 2017
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June 21, 2017
Sir, When the Old Man (as Singapore’s late premier Lee Kuan Yew was fondly called) talked so eloquently about Asian values and propounded his interpretation of a brand of Confucianism that no westerners and few Asians could possibly comprehend, I had to bite my lip to stop laughing. Lee’s version of pseudo-Confucianism had one cardinal tenet: a nation is an extension of one’s family (“Family feud puts focus on politics of dynasties”, June 17). Hence a ruler has to discipline his children well so that they will set an example for the whole nation. Bringing up children properly is a micro- demonstration of governing a nation well. Hence children of a ruler have to avoid all scandals or appearances of improper behaviour.
By and large, the Lee family live up to standards or expectations. Their sons were first-class honours graduates of Cambridge university and Stanford. Their only daughter is a medical specialist. When the story broke that the prime minister’s younger brother and his wife had to flee the country to avoid political persecution, we thought it could only happen in a banana republic and not the Republic of Singapore.
Again the Old Man used to lecture the whole world about governance. Margaret Thatcher and Dan Quayle among others openly praised the late Mr Lee. Two peoples who are laughing the most at this recent family feud are the Hongkongers and the Malaysians. Hong Kong and Singapore have always been compared as a tale of two cities, while Singaporeans like to think their way of governance ought to put its neighbour Malaysia to shame. “Learn from us, little brothers and sisters.” The Lee family saga came to us as a big surprise. We thought there was more to Mr Lee’s Asian values than not allowing citizens to chew gum or making it illegal not to flush the toilet properly. Now the third generation of the Lee family may prove the truth of what the westerners said: shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.
Frankie Leung
Los Angeles, CA, US
https://www.ft.com/content/5b4b9018-55a4-11e7-9fed-c19e2700005f
Lee family infighting came as a complete surprise
From Frankie Leung, Los Angeles, CA, US
Read next
Supply-demand imbalance drove house prices
Thursday, 22 June, 2017
Share on Twitter (opens new window)
Share on Facebook (opens new window)
Share on LinkedIn (opens new window)
June 21, 2017
Sir, When the Old Man (as Singapore’s late premier Lee Kuan Yew was fondly called) talked so eloquently about Asian values and propounded his interpretation of a brand of Confucianism that no westerners and few Asians could possibly comprehend, I had to bite my lip to stop laughing. Lee’s version of pseudo-Confucianism had one cardinal tenet: a nation is an extension of one’s family (“Family feud puts focus on politics of dynasties”, June 17). Hence a ruler has to discipline his children well so that they will set an example for the whole nation. Bringing up children properly is a micro- demonstration of governing a nation well. Hence children of a ruler have to avoid all scandals or appearances of improper behaviour.
By and large, the Lee family live up to standards or expectations. Their sons were first-class honours graduates of Cambridge university and Stanford. Their only daughter is a medical specialist. When the story broke that the prime minister’s younger brother and his wife had to flee the country to avoid political persecution, we thought it could only happen in a banana republic and not the Republic of Singapore.
Again the Old Man used to lecture the whole world about governance. Margaret Thatcher and Dan Quayle among others openly praised the late Mr Lee. Two peoples who are laughing the most at this recent family feud are the Hongkongers and the Malaysians. Hong Kong and Singapore have always been compared as a tale of two cities, while Singaporeans like to think their way of governance ought to put its neighbour Malaysia to shame. “Learn from us, little brothers and sisters.” The Lee family saga came to us as a big surprise. We thought there was more to Mr Lee’s Asian values than not allowing citizens to chew gum or making it illegal not to flush the toilet properly. Now the third generation of the Lee family may prove the truth of what the westerners said: shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.
Frankie Leung
Los Angeles, CA, US
