Lee Kuan Yew on the Singaporean Army. CNA:
Former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has said that as a small country, Singapore needs a strong armed forces to ensure its continued survival.
Speaking at the Temasek Society 30th Anniversary dialogue session, Mr Lee said without a strong Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), “there is no economic future” and “there is no security”.
Mr Lee said the SAF has done better than he had hoped.
He highlighted the 3rd Generation SAF, which is now technologically advanced, respected and fully capable of meeting Singapore’s defence needs.
Mr Lee added national service is also now widely accepted by Singaporeans.
He said this was achieved because the government was prepared to spend on defence needs over many years.
Going forward, Mr Lee said Singapore will continue to invest in the SAF to attract top calibre people with capabilities to handle the complex and uncertain security challenges that the country will encounter in the future.
On one key challenge facing Singapore, Mr Lee said “the serious problem of a shrinking demography” will “impact not only Singapore’s economic future but also its security”.
The dialogue, with the theme “Security Challenges for Singapore”, was also attended by Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen and President Tony Tan Keng Yam.
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Tags: lee kuan yew, military, national service, singapore armed forces, temasek society
Lee Kuan Yew is back. Straits Times:
Former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew met his one-time West German counterpart Helmut Schmidt at the Shangri-La Hotel on Saturday.
Mr Schmidt is in Singapore to tap Mr Lee’s views on international affairs for a book that he is writing. The interview on Saturday lasted three hours, and two more interviews of similar length are scheduled over the next two days.
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Tags: helmut schmidt, lee kuan yew
Investment tips from Lee Kuan Yew. Wall Street Journal:
Singapore’s founding statesman, Lee Kuan Yew, has long been critical of the profligacy of Western governments, even before the recent debt crises in the U.S. and the Eurozone brought the world’s financial system to its knees.
But now he’s singing a slightly different tune and advising some investors – notably China – to load up on European debt. …
“China has US$3.18 trillion in foreign exchange reserves. If the EU becomes mired in Greece’s economic difficulties, China’s exports to Europe will decline,” Mr. Lee said in a column published in Singapore’s The Business Times Friday.
“Now is a good time to invest in distressed and undervalued European assets, euro debts and euro bonds,” he wrote in the column, which also appears in the March 26 edition of Forbes Asia. …
But his most recent musings contrast somewhat with a more cynical assessment of Europe’s fortunes he made last September.
Back then he said that Singapore, despite its large financial reserves, would not be able to rescue Europe by buying its bonds due to the island nation’s relatively small economic size.
Moreover, he indicated he believed that buying bonds in general would not necessarily solve the structural problems facing the 27-member state region.
“There’s a fundamental problem in the euro in that it makes (each member) country march to the same drummer. Whereas each country has its own tempo, and you cannot expect the Greeks to march like the Germans,” he said in September.
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Tags: euro, europe, investment, lee kuan yew, recession
Lee Kuan Yew’s bilingualism fund is rolling in cash. But why is it only for the Chinese? Today:
The Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism has swelled to S$113 million in pledges, as the Government yesterday appointed a 16-member board, chaired by Education Minister Heng Swee Keat, to administer it.
The board will spearhead initiatives to support the teaching and learning of English and Mother Tongue languages, especially at the pre-school level.
It comprises community representatives, academics, experienced practitioners, media representatives and public service officers – including Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Education) Sim Ann, who heads the Government’s bicultural taskforce, Director-General of Education Ho Peng, Nanyang Technological University Emeritus Professor Eddie Kuo and MediaCorp CEO Shaun Seow.
To date, the fund has received S$113 million in pledges – including S$50 million from the Government’s matching grant -since its announcement in November last year at the launch of Mr Lee’s book, My Lifelong Challenge: Singapore’s Bilingual Journey.
Among the individual donors are Mr Lee (S$12 million), businessmen Mr Robert Ng and Mr Li Ka Shing (S$5 million each), as well as Mr Robert Kuok ($3 million) and Mr Ong Beng Seng (S$2 million). Some of the corporations that have donated to the fund include DBS Bank and Singapore Airlines (S$500,000 each), as well as SingTel (S$250,000). …
Ms Sim said that the bicultural taskforce, which aims to engage the Chinese community in nurturing the next generation of bicultural talent and community leaders, plans to submit suggestions gathered from its outreach activities, particularly those related to bilingual learning among preschoolers, to the fund for evaluation and financial support.
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Tags: bilingualism, fund, lee kuan yew
More promises, but little actual progress on the long-pending 1965 movie project. Yahoo News:
Production for the widely-anticipated film about former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew is likely to start after the middle of this year, says its director Lee Thean-jeen.
Speaking to Yahoo! Singapore in an interview on Tuesday, Lee said that the script for the film 1965: The Beginning is still in its development stages and has not been finalised, so precise dates have yet to be set.
“The script is currently still being developed, so I think (once it’s done) we will chart the progress… they’re not expecting to go into production until the later half of this year,” said Lee. The film’s main production company, Homerun Asia, initially planned to start work on the movie at the end of last year and release it this August, according to media reports.
He revealed little when asked about possible cast and actors to fill the various key roles in the film, saying, “I don’t think all that will be settled until the script itself is,” declining to share his thoughts on the work-in-progress script, the latest draft of which he says he has not seen. …
Homerun Asia announced publicly last year its plans for 1965: The Beginning, which will be shot in Singapore, Malaysia and China, and will carry a price tag of $6 million.
The film is a political thriller set in the year of Singapore’s independence, and will centre around Lee Kuan Yew and his struggle for the country’s freedom. Overseen by Homerun CEO Daniel Yun and with involvement from acclaimed director Peter Chan, its production team includes local Singaporean music producers Lee Wei Song and Lee Si Song, as well as local fashion designer Lai Chan, who will take charge of costume and set design.
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Tags: 1965, lee kuan yew, Movie
CNA:
One of Kazakhstan’s highest state awards has been conferred on former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew for promoting ties between the two countries.
Mr Lee was conferred the Order of Friendship by the Ambassador of Kazakhstan, Yerlan Baudarbek-Kozhatayev, at the Istana on Tuesday.
The ambassador also gave Mr Lee a medal representing Kazakhstan’s 20th year of independence.
Mr Lee first visited Kazakhstan in 1991, and made subsequent trips in 1996 and 2003 to boost bilateral relations.
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Tags: kazakhstan, lee kuan yew, order of friendship, singapore
Playing the broken record again. CNA, with video:
Former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has called for the understanding of Singaporeans towards the government’s decision to continue taking in immigrants.
Speaking at a Lunar New Year gathering in his constituency of Tanjong Pagar on Friday, Mr Lee said Singapore’s per capita income is one of the highest in Asia.
But it faces an ageing and shrinking population. Last year, the birth rate was 1.15, with the Chinese leading the decline among other races.
Mr Lee said Japan also suffers from similar problems. But its decision not to take in migrants has contributed to economic stagnation.
He said: “Our choice must be the other one – taking in immigrants. I know Singaporeans do not feel very comfortable seeing so many strange new faces, but the alternative is economy stagnation and worse, nobody to look after our old people later on.”
Filed under: Event, Quotes, Video | 11 Comments
Tags: birth rate, chinese new year, immigration, lee kuan yew, tanjong pagar
No Lee 3G? AFP:
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the son of Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew, said Thursday that he does not think that his children will enter politics.
“They will have to decide but if you ask me now I think the odds are not on it,” he told the Davos meeting of business and political elite.
“It’s a different generation, it’s a new world, there are so many opportunities in Singapore,” said Lee.
Lee, who has four children, took office as the island state’s third prime minister in 2004.
His father led Singapore to political independence and economic prosperity during a 31-year run until 1990 as prime minister, and remained in cabinet under his son until last year.
Asked what it was like living under his father’s shadow, Lee said: “Well, I don’t know. I’ve never not had it. It’s tough enough, but you have to live with it.”
Lee said his illustrious father “had expectations, but he left me to do my own thing. He did not push me into this, and neither would it have worked had he done so.”
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Tags: davos, lee hsien loong, lee kuan yew, succession
Lee Kuan Yew speaks up by letter. No public appearances lately? Today:
I listened to several of the speeches in Parliament on ministerial salaries and read the rest in the newspapers. With a different generation, political attitudes change. But for Singapore, the basic challenge remains unchanged: That unless we have a steady stream of high quality men and women to serve as PM and ministers, Singapore as a little red dot will become a little black spot.
I was PM from 1959 to 1990 and Senior Minister in PM Goh Chok Tong’s cabinet from 1990 to 2004.
To find able and committed men and women of integrity, willing to spend the prime of their lives, and going through the risky process of elections, we cannot underpay our ministers and argue that their sole reward should be their contribution to the public good. Every family wants to provide the best for their children, to go to a good university. We were pragmatic and also paid competitive salaries in order to have a continuous stream of high calibre people to become MPs, and then ministers. They put their careers at risk and undergo an uncertain and unpredictable election process.
A PM and his ministers carry heavy responsibilities for the nation. If they make a serious mistake, the damage to Singapore will be incalculable and permanent. Their macroeconomic policies will decide the GDP of the country, which was more than S$300 billion in 2010, with per capita GDP of S$59,000.
We did not get Singapore from the Third to the First World by head-hunting ministers willing to sacrifice their children’s future when undertaking a public service duty. We took a pragmatic course that does not require people of calibre to give up too much for the public good. We must not reduce Singapore to another ordinary country in the Third World by dodging the issue of competitive ministerial remuneration.
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Tags: lee kuan yew, letter, ministerial salaries, salary, singapore government
The day that Singaporeans take to the streets
Lee Kuan Yew’s uncharacteristic absence from public view continues, now two months with no sightings. Meanwhile, Yawning Bread:
In Singapore’s case, the ruling party has been more successful at maintaining internal unity. Having a strong leader (Lee Kuan Yew) whose very person was a source of legitimacy for the party certainly contributed to it. And with the man prepared to resort to thuggish methods to maintain his power, any insider thinking of challenging Lee would know what peril such a course of action would expose him to.
The lack of internal challenge in turn preserves Lee’s and the PAP’s image of invincibility, and becomes a major discouragement to anyone outside the ruling party taking him on. However unhappy one may be with the PAP, so long as there aren’t dissenters within the PAP that one may build alliances with to leverage both your causes forward, the chance of success must look extremely slim. …
As much as it explains the past, the above analysis makes a prediction about the future too. It will not be long before Lee Kuan Yew fades from the scene, and given the fact that Lee Hsien Loong is more of a ditherer than a natural leader, Singapore is looking at a future without a colossus.
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Tags: alex au, lee kuan yew, legitimacy, people's action party, singapore, stability, succession