Archive for the ‘Commentary’ Category

Reuters via ABS-CBN: They crammed into an art cafe in Singapore and pulled no punches, deriding authoritarian officials who ruled with an “iron fist” and complaining that government ministers with million-dollar salaries were out of touch. One woman, a middle-aged professional, got nods of agreement when she said modern Singapore’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, […]


Lee Kuan Yew opines in Forbes: IN TERMS OF LAND area and population Myanmar and Thailand are close in size, and i n the 1960s both countries had similar rates of growth. But in 1962 Myanmar’s General Ne Win led a coup d’état, establishing a nominally socialist military government that followed an economic policy of autarky. […]


A Malaysian newspaper offers analysis that the local papers would not dare to touch.  The Star: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong says he intends to stay in office for 10 more years. If he does, it will result in a record father-and-son tenure as prime minister. FACED with a host of tough problems that challenges […]


Insight from The Star’s Seah Chiang Nee: The authoritative former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had little use for public opinion when he was in power, preferring to set his own agenda. Now a year after he quit active politics, his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, has indicated that he wants to move away […]


Surprisingly frank analysis from Today: A rumour that former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew had died started circulating on Twitter at least five days before the National Day Parade, with journalists asked by just about everyone – friends, parents, the neighbourhood barber – about its veracity. And despite a couple of journalists’ efforts to debunk the […]


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 […]


Wall Street Journal on the limited impact of Lee Kuan Yew’s illness: News that Singapore’s first and longest-serving Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, is suffering from a neurological problem affecting his ability to walk is the latest reminder of the generational shift under way in the Southeast Asian financial center. The ruling People’s Action Party […]


Lee Kuan Yew’s daughter reveals why he has trouble walking.  Reuters via WSJ: Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first and longest-serving prime minister, is fighting a neurological disease that makes it difficult for him to walk, his daughter wrote in a newspaper column on Sunday. Lee Wei Ling, who is also director of Singapore’s National Neuroscience […]


Tom Plate heaps more praise on his master.   Khaleej Times: Exceptional leaders are hard to find anywhere on the globe, including Asia. Until his recent retirement, this tough-as-nails guy—now 89 — had helped organise and run tiny Singapore almost like nobody has ever run anything. He certainly didn’t do things 100 per cent the American […]


Analysis of Singapore after Lee Kuan Yew, intended for an audience not already familiar with the topic.  Foreign Affairs: Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s storied first prime minister, gave his countrymen two things that elude most developing nations: stability and prosperity. Now, a new generation of Singaporeans with little recollection of Lee’s crusade against poverty and […]



Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,171 other followers