Foreseeing Red

"Lee's steely micromanagement of the Lion
City brought out some of the worst in him."

TIME (4 Feb 2013 issue) has a feature article about the latest book on Lee, "Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World", a compilation of interviews by Harvard University professor Graham Allison et al. The writer encapsulates neatly the truth that his cronies will never admit:
"The stain on Lee's standing is that, in the controlled experiment of molding a society in his own severe image, he marginalized social liberties both sacred and mundane: from expressing dissent to chewing gum."

Westerners think he's the "The Man Who Saw Tomorrow", but we have seen how short sighted he can be. He may call North Korean leader Kim Jong-il a “flabby old chap” who craved public worship during a conversation with US Deputy Secretary of State James B. Steinberg in May 2009, but he should look at himself in the mirror once in a while. The chapter on China won't win him any new friends:

Q: Are Chinese leaders serious about displacing the U.S. as the No.1 power in Asia and, eventually, world?
A: Of course.
[Oh sugar! The Ah Tiongs have already demonstrated they can break a 26 year strike-free record, drive up resale prices of HDB flats, and zoom through red lights in excess of 200 kmph - do we need to encourage them further?]

Q: How will China's behavior toward other countries change if China becomes the dominant Asian power?
A: Will an industrialized and strong China be as benign to Southeast Asia as the U.S. since 1945? Singapore is not sure.  Neither is Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand or Vietnam.
[Since when was he appointed spokesman for Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand or Vietnam? Talk about foreigners interfering with local politics.]

Q: What is China's strategy for becoming No.1?
A: The Chinese have concluded that their best strategy is to build a strong and prosperous future, and use their huge and increasingly highly skilled and educated  workers to outsell and outbuild all others.
[Er, is that why the Ah Tiongs are dominating the businesses in Geylang and Chinatown?]

Q: What are the major hurdles in executing that strategy?
A: There will be enormous stresses because of the size of the country and the intractable nature of the problems: the poor infrastructure, the weak institutions, the wrong systems that they have installed.
[Our little red dot is much smaller, so how come we also have the poor infrastructure, the weak institutions, the wrong systems that have been installed? Think housing shortage, train breakdowns, $2 companies and Town Councils that invest public money in toxic financial, and now software, instruments?]

Q: How should one assess new Communist Party chief Xi Jinping?
A: He has had a tougher life than Hu Jintao. His father was rusticated, and so was he. He took it in stride, and worked his way up. It has not been smooth sailing for him.
[Enough of this humble origins crap already. The ikan kuning for 8 was already difficult to swallow; next he will tell us the colorectal surgeon had to partake mee siam without cockles.]