He Spoke The Truth After All

The funeral at Mandai Crematorium was supposed to be a private affair, and it should have been conducted as originally planned. Let's just say some of the revelations may not have the effect intended.

Minister Mentor said these in his eulogy:
"She warned me that I could not trust my new-found associates, the left wing trade unionists led by Lim Chin Siong" - who else did she disapprove of, who ended up incarcerated, without due legal process?
"She was furious that he never sent their high school student helpers to canvass for me at Tanjong Pagar" - who and how were the objects of her fury "fixed"?
"She would sometimes warn me to be careful of certain persons" - by corollary, who in present day high office benefitted from her seal of approval?
""She told me that we will not succeed because the Umno Malay leaders had such different lifestyles and because their politics were communally based, on race and religion" - so will Goh Keng Swee finally be spared being the scapegoat for the separation from Malaysia?

As one of the "troublemakers" runned out of the country, Francis Seow's determination that "Behind all this grand scheme of things is the ... the Dragon Lady" could be easily dismissed as the vendetta of an embittered adversary or the obfuscation of a geriatic mind. It turns out that the man who was nearly passed over as Solicitor General because, as LKY told him, "You have been seen walking across High Street, hand in hand, with a woman who is not your wife," is as sharp as ever. As good as his choice of female companionship. Thanks to the human foible of procastination, the well thumbed copies of "To Catch A Tartar" and "The Media Enthralled" were not despatched to the Salvation Army donation bin. That would have been a double tragedy.

One question remains. Francis Seow: "She has been the one advising Lee Kuan Yew what to do, how to do it, etc." Juxtaposed against Lee's "Without her, I would be a different man, with a different life," does that mean he may finally "lighten up and smell the flowers", to borrow the words Li Xiuqi used for her post-stroke grandmother? There must be many of us who would rather treasure a softer, kinder image of the man.