Thanks, But No Thanks, We Can Handle The Truth

The definition for "I stand corrected":
1.(idiom) Said to acknowledge someone who corrects something that one says or writes that was not correct.

Implicit in the expression is that the speaker admits his error, and is contrite for the pain inflicted. A layman would define it thus: "I stand corrected' is a very formal way of saying: I accept that I am wrong and I apologise." Now read the press statement released by Lee Kuan Yew yesterday:

"Hard Truths was a book based on 32 hours of interviews over a period of two years.
I made this one comment on the Muslims integrating with other communities probably two or three years ago. Ministers and MPs, both Malay and non-Malay, have since told me that Singapore Malays have indeed made special efforts to integrate with the other communities, especially since 9/11, and that my call is out of date.
I stand corrected. I hope that this trend will continue in the future."

He should have left the last sentence out, and he might be forgiven for his racist aspersion. By including thus, he is saying that, two or three years ago, his thesis was correct, that "I would say, today, we can integrate all religions and races except Islam." That, prior to 2008, "Muslims socially do not cause any trouble, but they are distinct and separate." By twisted innuendo, he allays the blame on the integrating Muslims for messing up his immaculate record of being absolutely perfect and correct.

Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim advances the date further. He told parliament that the Malay-Muslim community had "redoubled outreach efforts" following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York on Sept 11, 2001, to "forge even stronger ties with fellow communities". In his eagerness to side with his non-Muslim pay master, Yaacob effectively said Lee was off by another 7 years.

When British journalist Sir David Frost planned the 1977 Nixon Interview, his researchers agreed to participate only if the exercise resulted in Nixon's admissions that support the widespread conclusion that President Nixon had obstructed justice. To a certain extent, the goal was achieved, but any sympathy for "Tricky Dick" was annihilated by his parthian shot, "Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal." If there was a moment to redeem his greatness in history, he muffed it. The same can be said of Lee Kuan Yew.


Richard M Nixon reflecting on his legacy