Q. With all this pessimism surrounding Singapore’s prospects today, what’s your personal prognosis? Will Singapore survive Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew?

A. Unequivocally yes, Singapore will survive SM Lee but provided he leaves the right legacy. What sort of legacy he wants to leave is for him to say, but I, a blooming upstart, dare to suggest to him that we should open up politically and allow talent to be spread throughout our society so that an alternative leadership can emerge.So far, the People’s Action Party’s tactic is to put all the scholars into the civil service because it believes the way to retain political power forever is to have a monopoly on talent. But in my view, that’s a very short term view. It is the law of nature that all things must atrophy. Unless SM allows serious political challenges to emerge from the alternative elite out there, the incumbent elite will just coast along. At the first sign of a grassroots revolt, they will probably collapse just like the incumbent Progressive Party to the left-wing PAP onslaught in the late 1950s. I think our leaders have to accept that Singapore is larger than the PAP. …

I suspect we have started to believe our own propaganda. There is also a particular brand of Singapore elite arrogance creeping in. Some civil servants behave like they have a mandate from the emperor. We think we are little Lee Kuan Yews. SM Lee has earned his spurs, with his fine intellect and international standing. But even Lee Kuan Yew sometimes doesn’t behave like Lee Kuan Yew. There is also a trend of intellectualisation for its own sake, which loses a sense of the pragmatic concerns of the larger world. The Chinese, for example, keep good archives of the Imperial examinations which used to be held at the Temple of Heaven. At the beginning, the scholars were tested on very practical subjects, such as how to control floods in their province. But over time, they were examined on the Confucian Analects and Chinese poetry composition. Hence, they became emasculated by the system, a worrying fate which could befall Singapore.

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has said Singapore’s policies are not set in stone.

He said the ability to improve on what has been done and basic values like meritocracy have led to Singapore’s success.

Addressing his constituents at the Tanjong Pagar National Day dinner on Sunday evening, Mr Lee also spoke of the crucial need for succession. …

“We defied the odds and got to where we are. However, we must never forget our hard and harsh beginnings. If our national solidarity is splintered by communal hostility, and our social cohesion is weakened, we will regress. Then we will have a weak economy that cannot afford a strong SAF. That will again make us vulnerable.”

Mr Lee said the resources the SAF needs to mount such a superb performance require a strong and vibrant economy.

And to build such a Singapore, the nation needs an exceptionally strong government with the ablest, the toughest and the most dedicated leaders.

Mr Lee said: “We headhunt for them, test them out in heavy responsibilities. Only such leaders can keep the economy growing and create good jobs and generate the revenue to pay for the equipment and training of our 3-G SAF.

“This 3-G SAF provides the security and confidence of our people and of foreign investors, assured that we can more than defend ourselves. If there is insecurity, there will be fewer investments. That means a poorer people and instability.”

Mr Lee added that Singapore’s basic values – of ensuring leaders of high integrity; meritocracy; a level playing field for all citizens; and English as the working language – have laid the foundation of Singapore’s success.

He said: “People get to where they are on merit – not nepotism, not corruption. Hence, all are capable and competent. No policy is skewed as a result of personal benefit or profits. We have been rated as the cleanest government in Asia, and amongst the first three cleanest in the world.

“Third, we have a level playing field for all citizens. No one is disadvantaged by our national policies whatever their race, language or religion.

“Fourth, English is our working language. We did not choose Chinese, the language of the majority. English gives everyone an equal chance to master the language. It is a language of the world of trade and individuals, the Internet and new knowledge. It has made us the hub we now are for businesses, industries, banking and financial services, and communications.”

AGAINST the dusky evening skyline at Marina Bay Promenade, cheers erupted as Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew lit the cauldron at Marina Bay Promenade on Friday evening with the Youth Olympic Flame.

What happens when Uncle Harry dies? That’s the question curator Valentine Willie asks of veteran Singapore artists Tang Da Wu, Jimmy Ong, Zai Kuning, Jason Lim and Vincent Leow, as well as the newer-generation Genevieve Chua, Alecia Neo and Jason Wee, in this latest exhibition.

For most Singaporeans, Lee Kuan Yew has always been around and appears likely to be there even after our own deaths, an omnipresent entity that closely watches over us. However, though sharp and attentive, LKY is nearing 90. And we all know that no one lives forever. Willie says: ‘No other living politician dominates his people and his country like LKY does, except of course Kim Jong-il and Robert Mugabe. But whereas North Korea and Zimbabwe rank as two of the world’s poorest countries, Singapore ranks as one of the richest. LKY must be doing something right!’

So what will the future look like after LKY? The idea was to look into the crystal ball instead of waiting for that dark day. Can we emerge stronger after his rule? Are we and our government prepared for this inevitable occurrence? How will our lives change? What does this group of about 20 artists have to say – even those whose lifestyle would appear to clash with LKY’s worldview, or those less influenced by him? The answers will be revealed over the course of 20 artworks that will be exhibited or performed, with the majority of them specially created for the show.

Valentine Willie Fine Art, HT Contemporary Space, #02-04 Tanjong Pagar Distripark, 39 Keppel Road

Admission price FREE

Date 05-29 Aug

Open Tue-Sat 11am-7pm, Sun 11am-3pm.

There are some who think things will get worse if MM goes, and eventually when he is no longer there. Then, there will be no one to crack the whip.

One can be sure, despite all his Act of God claims, he’s kicking ass over the floods. and the rising prices of public housing. According to reports, Yaacob sat behind him looking like a whipped puppy when he made the cryptic statement that ” not enough had been done” on the flood issue.

One certainly wonders if there will be anyone to come up with the ambitious ideas that LKY had/has. And if they do, is there anyone serious enough and tough enough to realise them.

Things like the cleaning up of kallang river, and the building of marina barrage, whether or not it works, could never be carried out by a “namby pamby” lot now.

He has caused the problems now and is also part of the problem. He has stamped out potential leaders, in all areas; insisted on total
obedience and promoted materialism.

If he had retired, he could have been there to really advice those who took charge, instead of having to go in to bat for them. It’s ridiculous that these guys are hiding behind him and being so dependent on an 86-yr-old man. But their poor calibre is the result of his policies.

There is also no one (brave enough) to rein him in, like his old colleagues would have done in the early days. They would have shot down this latest mad plan to have an intellectual class, and talked him out of allowing so many foreigners into the country in such a short time.

THE Government’s best efforts are no match for Mother Nature.

That was Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s take yesterday, as he said that little could have been done to avoid flooding after the recent bouts of ‘extraordinary rainfall’.

Asked if he thought the Government’s response to the flooding had been sufficient, he replied: ‘How can you say the response is sufficient?

MySinchew:

The Singapore government’s measures to reduce the impact of recent floods on homes and businesses were insufficient, the island’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew said in remarks published Thursday.

Lee, commenting on Wednesday after Singapore suffered three bouts of severe flooding since mid-June, added that constant rain and limited land area made it difficult to totally prevent floods in the tropical city-state.

“How can you say that the response is sufficient?” Lee was quoted as saying by the Straits Times when asked if the government’s measures to alleviate the flooding had been up to standard.

But Mr Lee noted that corruption will be China’s greatest problem.

Doing business in China requires connections, but Chinese officials understand that Singaporean businessmen are reliable and not corrupt.

He said: “The Taiwanese are ruthless, Hong Kongers are shameless and Singaporeans are ignorant. People who are ignorant are not corrupt and reliable.”

And Temasek Review catches one more:

Speaking during a dialogue on the future of China, he claimed that standards of Chinese who tried to hone their English in China remained “woefully” low without substantiating them.

“If you learn (English) in China, just like the Koreans, you speak to each other in incorrect English, and you won’t make much progress,” he added.

It’s not clear what North Korea hoped to gain by this wanton act of state terrorism. But cross-border tensions tend to rally North Koreans around their leader, and Kim Jong-il is well aware that similar destructive acts of terror have not escalated into war. …

What began as a fight between former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the Bangkok establishment, which detests his populist, opportunistic policies, morphed into a movement. The farmers seek redress, wanting their share of the economic growth that has been concentrated in Bangkok. The establishment will have to address this push for equity. …

There are no easy solutions. Dropping the euro to go back to the drachma would be disastrous for Greece. Besides, the Europeans won’t allow the euro zone to disintegrate. British financial analysts have suggested a two-tiered EU: Germany, France and Benelux as the inner core countries, with the remainder making up the second tier. EU countries must find the political will to enact the structural reforms needed to save the euro.

He emphasized the seriousness of the occasion and threatened “punitive” measures against any newspaper which printed pictures of him smiling.

Of course, in the end Lee famously cried on live TV while announcing the expulsion of Singapore from Malaysia.