3% growth in 2010: MM
Lee Kuan Yew’s next economic prognostication. ST:
SINGAPORE’S economy may grow by 3 per cent next year and Singaporeans must be prepared for slower growth for several years, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on Sunday.
In a speech at the Tanjong Pagar GRC Tree Planting Day at Henderson Heights, he said Singapore will not resume high growth until the major economies in the world have recovered, which could take years.
But slower growth in Singapore and other countries in Asia ‘will still be higher than other regions of the world’, MM said. Singapore is placed at the junction of three big economies – China, India and Indonesia – which are not export dependent and have been able to grow on the strength of their domestic consumption and investments.
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Tags: economy, gdp, lee kuan yew
Lee Kuan Yew at another business forum. CNA:
“I don’t think the world’s future will be decided by either Islamic fundamentalism or Christian reaction to it,” he said.
“The big countries do not fight each other because they all have got nuclear bombs. Your contest in the future will be an economic one – who has the best technology, the best products, who commands the largest market share.
“Today, (it) is the US, despite its difficulties. Japan is not doing badly, although its domestic economy is still sluggish. But as I see it, the next 20 years, the rise of China and India is inexorable.”
India, Mr Lee said, will not be able to move as fast as China because of its poor infrastructure and different languages. …
Mr Lee said: “In business leadership, all you’ve got to do is to get a good organisation and get market share, in other words, get customers to buy your products or buy your services.
“In politics, you’ve got to get the people to vote for you and support you. That’s a completely different kind or set of qualities you require.”
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Tags: china, economy, india, leadership, lee kuan yew, The Future of Global Business, visa payments forum
Lee’s remarks last week about “balance” between US and China are raising some ripples in China, where they’ve been interpreted as anti-China. China.org.cn:
Singapore’s Minister Mentor Mr. Lee Kuan Yew has warned the United States that it risks losing global leadership if it does not remain engaged in Asia to “balance” China’s military and economic might. Lee made the remarks at the US-ASEAN Business Council’s 25th anniversary gala dinner on October 27, stirring up some Chinese netizens.
According to a survey by the Global Times, about 86 percent of interviewees thought that Lee’s speech will affect Chinese people’s impression of Singapore, answering, “Formerly Singapore gave me a good impression, but because of Lee’s speech this time, I no longer have any good feelings about Singapore at all.”
Some survey participants held a different view. In their opinion, Mr. Lee’s position is a Singaporean statesman, not merely a foreign citizen of Chinese origin. It is understandable for Lee to put his country’s interests at the top of his list.
See also China Daily, Temasek Review.
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Tags: balance, china, lee kuan yew, singapore, united states, us-asean business council
Bilingual policy difficult
Lee Kuan Yew admits he was wrong. Straits Times:
‘Initially, I believed that intelligence was equated to language ability. Later, I found that they are two different attributes – IQ and a facility for languages. My daughter, a neurologist, confirmed this,’ he said in an interview carried in Petir, the People’s Action Party magazine.
Asked to pick policies he would have implemented differently, he cited the teaching of bilingualism, especially in English and Mandarin, as the most difficult policy.
‘I did not know how difficult it was for a child from an English-speaking home to learn Mandarin,’ he said.
‘If you are speaking English at home and you are taught Mandarin in Primary 1 by Chinese teachers who teach Mandarin as it was taught in the former Chinese schools, by the direct method, using only Mandarin, you will soon lose interest because you do not understand what the teacher is saying.
The Petir issue in question is not available online yet.
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Tags: bilingualism, english, lee kuan yew, mandarin, petir
US President Barack Obama on Wednesday lauded Singapore’s “legendary” founding father Lee Kuan Yew, as he sought advice ahead of his first trip to Asia since taking office.
Obama told reporters before a meeting with Lee that he was looking forward to hearing his views on the evolving situation in the region, before leaving on November 11 for a trip to Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea.
“This is one of the legendary figures of Asia in the 20th and 21st centuries,” Obama said as he sat side-by-side with Lee in the Oval Office.
“He is somebody who helped to trigger the Asian economic miracle,” Obama said, adding that Singapore had been an outstanding friend and ally of the United States for many years.
Lee, 86, said that he was privileged to visit Obama at a “time of renewal and change in America, and during a period of transition where the world order is changing.”
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Tags: barack obama, lee kuan yew
MM: US key in East Asia
Quotes from Lee’s speech yesterday. Straits Times:
THE United States must be an important part of any new East Asian framework, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said on Wednesday, cautioning against defining the region in closed or racial terms.
‘Whatever the challenges, US core interests require that it remains the superior power on the Pacific. To give up this position would diminish America’s role throughout the world.’
‘It would be a serious mistake for the region to define East Asia in closed, or worse, in racial terms,’ he told about 450 political and business elites at the Mandarin Oriental hotel.
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Tags: china, east asia, lee kuan yew, pacific, united states
MM Lee honoured in US
Lee Kuan Yew is feted in the US. Straits Times:
A STAR-STUDDED cast of the US capital’s political and business elites turned up to honour Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning Singapore time) as he was awarded a lifetime achievement award for his contributions towards United States-Asean ties. …
Among those who paid tribute to Mr Lee were Dr Kissinger, Dr Shultz, Senator Jim Webb, and Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.
In a statement to The Straits Times, Dr Shultz said: ‘Ideas, information, clarity of mind, integrity of purpose. Mr Lee Kuan Yew has all of these characteristics and many more.
‘He is a truly great man who has been a wonderful friend over many years.’
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Tags: asean, jim webb, kissinger, kurt campbell, lee kuan yew, shultz
Lee Kuan Yew meets Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today. US State Dept:
4:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton holds a Bilateral Meeting with Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, in the Treaty Room at the Department of State.
UPDATE: Official remarks (just a few meaningless pleasantries) and video now available on State Dept site.
Filed under: Advance notice, Event, Transcript, Video | 1 Comment
Tags: hillary clinton, lee kuan yew
Gay magazine Fridae reviews local movie The Blue Mansion, suggesting it’s poking fun at the Lee dynasty. Fridae:
Finally, a Singapore film with enough guts and good taste to parody founding father Lee Kuan Yew and his family. Or did we get it wrong? …
Written by former political journalist Ken Kwek and directed by Glen Goei, The Blue Mansion is a classy and clever murder-mystery with some extraordinarily good performances. But what is quickly turning into the talk of town is speculation that the film is about the Lee family.
The movie was released last week and is showing islandwide. Thanks to contributor C.M. for the tip.
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Tags: blue mansion, glen goei, lee kuan yew, Movie, parody
Recent Entries
- 3% growth in 2010: MM
- Greater acclaim lies abroad for Minister Mentor
- MM Lee says future challenges will focus on economic issues
- Chinese netizens dissatisfied over speech by Lee Kuan Yew
- Bilingual policy difficult
- Obama welcomes ‘legendary’ Lee Kuan Yew
- MM: US key in East Asia
- MM Lee honoured in US
- UPDATE: Lee Kuan Yew meets Hillary Clinton
- The Blue Mansion: Movie parody of Lee Kuan Yew?
- Charlie Rose interview transcript available
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Greater acclaim lies abroad for Minister Mentor
Interesting commentary from The Star:
However, Singapore’s founding father has shown he still retains the world’s admiration for his role in the contemporary history of Singapore and the region.
In Washington last week, he was accorded the first lifetime achievement award by the US-Asean Business Council – with tributes from the current US and two former presidents at the ceremony.
President Barack Obama, who met him at the Oval Office and who will be in Singapore, said Lee was “one of the legendary figures of Asia in the 20th and 21st centuries… somebody who helped to trigger the Asian economic miracle.”
Among a list of high-powered figures who were present were Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, who said: “All of us who have worked with him have benefited from his wisdom, his insight and his dedication.”
Henry Kissinger said: “I’ve known him for 40 years. I would say I’ve not learned as much from anybody as I have from Lee Kuan Yew.” …
His “lifetime award” has also raised questions about whether this was his last hurrah, and if the 86-year-old leader intends to seek another five more years in office.
“It is always risky to predict an imminent Lee retirement. He has a habit of proving it wrong,” said a local reporter. “However at 86, he is visibly slower. How long can he go on?”
The international buzz is adding to the national debate about what possible impacts his eventual exit will have on Singapore.
Although he has distanced himself from the day-to-day running of the country, Lee is widely believed to hold significant influence over the Republic. …
Much of the blame is levelled, fairly or unfairly, at Lee’s influence. Some foreigners have found the level of vehemence hard to understand given Singapore’s advanced state of progress.
During a dinner among regional journalists, one editor from a developing country asked me to explain why so many Singaporeans were so angry with the architect of their prosperity.
“We’d be happy to swap our leader for Lee anytime,” he said. It reflects how much society is changing.
Lee recently said the evolving mindsets of the young and their response to the world’s changes will alter Singapore’s political landscape in future “and not because I won’t be around.”
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Tags: barack obama, henry kissinger, lee kuan yew, the star