Saturday, April 16, 2011

Do As He Says, Not As He Does

Singapore's resident population grew from 2 million in 1979 to 3.7 million in 2009. Add 1.25 million non-residents and 0.53 million PRs, and there's 4.99 million on 720 sq km of space in 2009. The planners think the population can go up to 6.5 million by reclaiming about 15 percent more land. For economic and demographic reasons, we are told, it's breed or die. The problem started when the present government, without consultation with the people, did their own thing and shipped in foreigners on the quiet. The impact of this policy took centre stage in the Chinese edition of the Question Time With The Prime Minister.

Lee Kuan Yew says we must accept that whoever joins us is part of us, his definition of a Singaporean, an American concept. An acceptance of multiracialism, a tolerance of people of different races, languages, cultures, religions. That's what will stand out against our neighbours. That's our job. Personally, he has his own set of rules, as recounted to the writers.
"Supposing an African black were to marry your daughter, what is your reaction? You will cheer or you will tell your daughter, look, think again, right? I have no qualms in telling you that I'll tell her "you're mad".

In fact a Jewish doctor wanted to marry my daughter, when she was working in MGH (Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was working as a neurology resident). So my wife said, are you sure that will last, an American Jew? She thought it over and she said, "Yes, that's true." It will last for a few years, then move on.

Supposing it had been a Chinese doctor from China or from Taiwan. Well, my grandson, the PM's son, brought home this young lady. She was on her way to Japan on a scholarship, so it's more or less committed, you know, coming to Singapore to meet the family. He brought her to meet me. We say, "OK, that's not bad." There's no unhappiness.

Supposing he'd brought home a white girl. Are you sure you want to do that? But what woudl be my reaction be? I'd say, think it over carefully. It's so much of a struggle. Right? I mean, it is an instinctive reaction."

At his 80th birthday in 2003, Kwa Geok Choo said of her husband, "I read somewhere that 'few elder statesmen can command as much respect and condemnation simultaneously as Lee'. I will leave it to these writers to argue which one has most misunderstood Kuan Yew." Judging by recent utterances, in print or on American television, the fog of misunderstanding, if it existed at all, has been dissipated. The issue now is whether the electorate can stomach any more of his Hard Truths.

8 comments:

  1. Muthusami Chong4/16/2011 11:21 AM

    Actually Kuan Yew is a firm believer in a multi racial society as long as the chinese are the majority. And so his racist comments over the years are not a surprise.

    The flow of immigration is calibrated to mantain a 75% to 80% chinese majority in the country. The low fertility rate, which worries Kuan Yew to no end, is actually a chinese demographic "problem". Consequently the decline in numbers amongst the chinese is a threat to the chinese majority in Spore.

    In tiny, fear ridden, Singapore, Kuan Yew's racist slurs as not portrayed by the MSM as an offense against our values, as stated in the national pledge, but the comments of a realist.

    Truth however will have its day and the full extent of the folly of his "Hard Truths" will be unearthed for all to see. Till then the rising rate of cross cultural marriages in Spore continues to remind us of the preciousness of our national identity as expressed in the pledge. And people from various races are learning to respect one another inspite of Kuan Yew's cynicism.

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  2. It might do our SM Lee some good for him to understand that while actions speak louder than words, the problem is that some actions don't speak Singlish at all.

    In bible too - Matthew describes a similar conversation, he inverts by claiming “Whoever is not with me is against me.” .Implies that if we are not contributing to his mission, then we are working against it.

    Hmmm. Much like his son is saying about the Opposition parties &especially so with the upgrading carrots. How do we hold these two statements together?

    Here is the best I can do. If Singaporeans are casting out evil in society, but are not part of PAP (church), they are not against SG government. But if they are not for PAP, then it is because they are working against salvation. To pull it together, people can be for salvation but not religious. And yet, if they are not for salvation, it doesn’t matter how religious they are, you still consider them against you.

    So it is not about religion. It’s about you PAP. Change your paradigm.
    Sometimes it's just that to understand our words, one need to be a skilled interpreter and translate them into favorable actions. In other words, whoever is not against the citizens, is for the citizens. Unless of course the party has lost its ability to distill the real noices from the cacophony of conflicting voices.

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  3. Muthusam Chong,
    I disagree with you on your first paragraph.
    Atually if you look at the statistics, it's the
    Indians who took the 1st spot in immigration percentage terms. Prior to the large scale let in of immigrants, Indians comprise just 6% of the population but now its 9%. Take a look at the financial institutions, shipping lines and agencies, you find practically a whole villages there.
    The Old man has a soft spot for Indians if you read his all his previous remarks.
    Ever wonder why Indians are heavily represented in govt and Ministerial posts?

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  4. seriously,
    LKY should be saying this to any guy who wanted to marry her daughter then, "are you mad or stupid ?"
    the old fart was way too presumptuous.

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  5. Muthusami Chong4/17/2011 5:57 AM

    Dear Anon 9:57

    The upsurge of foreign indian talent is highly visible (this is the disastrous consequence of the "stop at two" policy in the 60`s which murdered a massive chunk of our population). Point taken. It will be interesting to find out if the majority of these Indians are tamils from the south or from the north.

    The long term impact of this influx of Indians is however yet to be measured. These Indians will probably leave Spore for better pastures. And LKY knows this! Perhaps he tolerates them for a season and is using them as a wedge against the english educated chinese and malays. These foreign indian votes for the ruling party in a close electoral contest is vital. LKY is a master at this game.

    Hmmm...Does LKY have soft spot for Indians? Unlikely. He has however loyal Indians who know how to talk and defend his policies to the hilt, especially in international forums.

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  6. It was only the Jewish doctor who wanted to marry her. But did she ever mentioned anything about herself wanting to marry the Jewish doctor ?

    Sometimes things can be so much different if everyone tells the truth.

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  7. haha..agree with AW. Is like the constant siege message..our neighbours want to attack us..the opp parties want to raid the subsidies, not help us check/balance our imbalanced funds in a transparent and accountable way...

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  8. seige mentality
    aka
    sick mentality

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