The recent New Year speech by PM Lee Hsien Loong seems to signal a sea change for the Lee Dynastic ambitions. In his speech, PM said that there will be a SG200 celebration to acknowledge the rich history and prominence of other elements in Singapore in past, even before the advent of the British arrival.
Even before Raffles' arrival at St John's Island on Jan 28 that year, Singapore had a rich history, harking back to the 14th century when it was a maritime emporium. Migrants from China, India and other regions later formed families and communities, "turning an emporium into a home, and eventually a country".
The PM even gave credit to the British for creating a modern city "Because of Raffles, Singapore became a British colony, a free port, and a modern city," he said. This is something his father never did, and his father in many ways treated the Colonial Brits as an adversary, an enemy from which Independence had to be wrestled for. His father seldom if ever gave any credit to the Brits. He would rather the PAP and himself take that credit for creating a modern Singapore.
PM Lee went on to say that there other groups before the PAP that contributed to the success of modern Singapore. The Straits Times article even allowed govt officials to make comments such as:
It is important to debunk the notion that Singapore had existed merely as a sleepy fishing village before Raffles arrived, said Mr Yatiman Yusof, Singapore's non-resident High Commissioner to Kenya, who is also on the bicentennial advisory panel.
"Singapore was a well-known trading centre (in the centuries before that), and Raffles' arrival propelled it into a more energetic and attractive place for business," he added.
This narrative of a sleepy fishing village was perpetrated by the PAP themselves as a way to tell Singaporeans that they did all this, and so they have to be re-elected. This narrative has been going on for years and the PAP has never tried to stop it or rein it in. They would be perfectly happy if school children grew up only knowing this narrative, that Singapore was a sleepy fishing village until Old Man Lee took over and transformed it into the modern metropolis it is today. Yet, here we have a govt. official who wants to debunk this carefully crafted falsehood.
The whole direction of Familee and the PAP has been, since the death of the Old Man, to persuade the population that another Lee is needed to helm the country. That the country has been this success, was only due to the efforts of the Lees and no one else. The credit for singapore’s success was never to be shared with anyone else other then the PAP or the Familee. They needed this political credit to propel the next generation of Lees into govt. This was blatantly exposed by sister Wei Ling.
Yet, here we have the PM openly sharing credit with the Brits, and even giving credit all the way back 200 years. What gives? The Brits and Raffles and earlier Chinese and Indian migrants were barely mentioned in our history books, more emphasis being placed on the writings of LKY and dominance of the PAP. Even more worrying is the PM trying to soften up Singaporeans into accepting more immigrants from China and India with this statement:
Migrants from China, India and other regions later formed families and communities, "turning an emporium into a home, and eventually a country".
If the Familee had thought that there would be a decent chance of getting a 3rd generation Lee into the political system, we would reading and hearing ad nauseum about the accomplishments of Lee senior and Jr. No expense would be spared to make sure that they and the PAP are the ones solely responsible for singapore’s success. No expense would be spared to establish a 3rd generation link to the these 2. But instead, it seems like now, Familee is willing to concede that other figures and events contributed to Singapore. Perhaps Hongli could not be persuaded to stand for office? As usual, this is my 2 cents.
Even before Raffles' arrival at St John's Island on Jan 28 that year, Singapore had a rich history, harking back to the 14th century when it was a maritime emporium. Migrants from China, India and other regions later formed families and communities, "turning an emporium into a home, and eventually a country".
The PM even gave credit to the British for creating a modern city "Because of Raffles, Singapore became a British colony, a free port, and a modern city," he said. This is something his father never did, and his father in many ways treated the Colonial Brits as an adversary, an enemy from which Independence had to be wrestled for. His father seldom if ever gave any credit to the Brits. He would rather the PAP and himself take that credit for creating a modern Singapore.
PM Lee went on to say that there other groups before the PAP that contributed to the success of modern Singapore. The Straits Times article even allowed govt officials to make comments such as:
It is important to debunk the notion that Singapore had existed merely as a sleepy fishing village before Raffles arrived, said Mr Yatiman Yusof, Singapore's non-resident High Commissioner to Kenya, who is also on the bicentennial advisory panel.
"Singapore was a well-known trading centre (in the centuries before that), and Raffles' arrival propelled it into a more energetic and attractive place for business," he added.
This narrative of a sleepy fishing village was perpetrated by the PAP themselves as a way to tell Singaporeans that they did all this, and so they have to be re-elected. This narrative has been going on for years and the PAP has never tried to stop it or rein it in. They would be perfectly happy if school children grew up only knowing this narrative, that Singapore was a sleepy fishing village until Old Man Lee took over and transformed it into the modern metropolis it is today. Yet, here we have a govt. official who wants to debunk this carefully crafted falsehood.
The whole direction of Familee and the PAP has been, since the death of the Old Man, to persuade the population that another Lee is needed to helm the country. That the country has been this success, was only due to the efforts of the Lees and no one else. The credit for singapore’s success was never to be shared with anyone else other then the PAP or the Familee. They needed this political credit to propel the next generation of Lees into govt. This was blatantly exposed by sister Wei Ling.
Yet, here we have the PM openly sharing credit with the Brits, and even giving credit all the way back 200 years. What gives? The Brits and Raffles and earlier Chinese and Indian migrants were barely mentioned in our history books, more emphasis being placed on the writings of LKY and dominance of the PAP. Even more worrying is the PM trying to soften up Singaporeans into accepting more immigrants from China and India with this statement:
Migrants from China, India and other regions later formed families and communities, "turning an emporium into a home, and eventually a country".
If the Familee had thought that there would be a decent chance of getting a 3rd generation Lee into the political system, we would reading and hearing ad nauseum about the accomplishments of Lee senior and Jr. No expense would be spared to make sure that they and the PAP are the ones solely responsible for singapore’s success. No expense would be spared to establish a 3rd generation link to the these 2. But instead, it seems like now, Familee is willing to concede that other figures and events contributed to Singapore. Perhaps Hongli could not be persuaded to stand for office? As usual, this is my 2 cents.
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