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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - LCB the Puppet Master when will he CONK</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>Fkapore <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>2:59 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 1) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>33836.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Lee continues to cast long shadow over Singapore
May 28th, 2010 |
Author: Your Correspondent
OPINION
PAP strongman Lee Kuan Yew may not be the “Dear Leader” of Singapore like North Korea’s Kim Jong-IL or its “eternal” President like Kazakhstan’s Nursultan Nazarbayev, but he continues to make his presence felt in Singapore even though by his own admission, he is not doing much work lately except doing “forecasting”.
One of the founding fathers of Singapore, Lee was its first Prime Minister from 1965 to 1990 before he “stepped down” to become Senior Minister. He is now holding the unique position of “Minister Mentor” in his son’s cabinet.
Though he is technically no longer the Prime Minister of Singapore, the elder Lee has appeared in the news on an almost daily basis for the last two weeks, more frequently than the younger Lee.
It is hard for anybody to ignore his overwhelming presence. No wonder some elderly Singaporeans continue to think that he is still the Prime Minister of Singapore.
His latest overseas trips to China and Japan were given extensive coverage by the Singapore media. Even a private dinner hosted for him by China’s former President Jiang Zemin made the headlnies which was not even reported by China’s Xinhua Daily.
He then jetted over to Japan where he gave his beleaguered hosts a lecture on following Singapore’s example in opening its doors to immigrants before returning to Singapore to attend his former comrade Goh Keng Swee’s funeral.
In his eulogy to Goh, Lee took extra pains to remind young Singaporeans who is the real boss of Singapore:
“He (Goh) was my trouble-shooter. I settled the political conditions so that his tough policies we together formulated could be executed. I gave him the toughest jobs in government – the Ministry of Finance from 1959 to 1965 when economic survival was crucial; Ministry of Defence in 1965 when all we had were two battalions of the Singapore Infantry Regiment, which then had more Malaysians than Singaporean soldiers,” he was quoted as saying in Channel News Asia.
The message is unmistakable: Lee was the one who called the shots in Singapore – the rest, including his henchmen were simply following his orders.
The latest news: A book on Lee titled “Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew” was launched by American columnists Tom Plate a few days ago.
Though decried by his detractors as an authoritarian with the late New York Times columnist William Safire calling him a “dictator”, Lee’s stature as an international statesman continues to grow.
While Kim Jong-IL is vilified by the international community and Nursultan Nazarbayev criticized by the West for his authoritarian ways, Lee is welcomed as respected leader of Singapore by countries all over the world.
Not many people are aware that he is no less merciless than Kim or Nazarbayev in dealing with his political opponents, critics and detractors.
A massive security operation was launched in 1962 which saw the arrest of several key leaders of the opposition Barisan Sosialist and their subsequent detention without trial under the repressive Internal Security Act which remains to this very day.
One of them, Chia Thye Poh, was detained for 32 years without trial, making him the longest prisoner of conscience in the world after Nelson Mandela, yet his name is now almost unheard of in the world.
Despite his obvious shortcomings, Lee is still a widely revered leader in Singapore, no thanks to the endless propaganda being churned out by the sycophantic media day after day.
If the generous tributes given to Goh is any yardstick to go by, one should expect a national day of mourning to be declared when the day finally arrives for Lee who continues to cast a long shadow over Singapore.
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OPINION
PAP strongman Lee Kuan Yew may not be the “Dear Leader” of Singapore like North Korea’s Kim Jong-IL or its “eternal” President like Kazakhstan’s Nursultan Nazarbayev, but he continues to make his presence felt in Singapore even though by his own admission, he is not doing much work lately except doing “forecasting”.
One of the founding fathers of Singapore, Lee was its first Prime Minister from 1965 to 1990 before he “stepped down” to become Senior Minister. He is now holding the unique position of “Minister Mentor” in his son’s cabinet.
Though he is technically no longer the Prime Minister of Singapore, the elder Lee has appeared in the news on an almost daily basis for the last two weeks, more frequently than the younger Lee.
It is hard for anybody to ignore his overwhelming presence. No wonder some elderly Singaporeans continue to think that he is still the Prime Minister of Singapore.
His latest overseas trips to China and Japan were given extensive coverage by the Singapore media. Even a private dinner hosted for him by China’s former President Jiang Zemin made the headlnies which was not even reported by China’s Xinhua Daily.
He then jetted over to Japan where he gave his beleaguered hosts a lecture on following Singapore’s example in opening its doors to immigrants before returning to Singapore to attend his former comrade Goh Keng Swee’s funeral.
In his eulogy to Goh, Lee took extra pains to remind young Singaporeans who is the real boss of Singapore:
“He (Goh) was my trouble-shooter. I settled the political conditions so that his tough policies we together formulated could be executed. I gave him the toughest jobs in government – the Ministry of Finance from 1959 to 1965 when economic survival was crucial; Ministry of Defence in 1965 when all we had were two battalions of the Singapore Infantry Regiment, which then had more Malaysians than Singaporean soldiers,” he was quoted as saying in Channel News Asia.
The message is unmistakable: Lee was the one who called the shots in Singapore – the rest, including his henchmen were simply following his orders.
The latest news: A book on Lee titled “Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew” was launched by American columnists Tom Plate a few days ago.
Though decried by his detractors as an authoritarian with the late New York Times columnist William Safire calling him a “dictator”, Lee’s stature as an international statesman continues to grow.
While Kim Jong-IL is vilified by the international community and Nursultan Nazarbayev criticized by the West for his authoritarian ways, Lee is welcomed as respected leader of Singapore by countries all over the world.
Not many people are aware that he is no less merciless than Kim or Nazarbayev in dealing with his political opponents, critics and detractors.
A massive security operation was launched in 1962 which saw the arrest of several key leaders of the opposition Barisan Sosialist and their subsequent detention without trial under the repressive Internal Security Act which remains to this very day.
One of them, Chia Thye Poh, was detained for 32 years without trial, making him the longest prisoner of conscience in the world after Nelson Mandela, yet his name is now almost unheard of in the world.
Despite his obvious shortcomings, Lee is still a widely revered leader in Singapore, no thanks to the endless propaganda being churned out by the sycophantic media day after day.
If the generous tributes given to Goh is any yardstick to go by, one should expect a national day of mourning to be declared when the day finally arrives for Lee who continues to cast a long shadow over Singapore.
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