Yes, that’s right. Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew had openly admitted this. Our 84 year old patriarch said in a speech that if the Singapore opposition ever gained power, they would ruin the country in five years.
If that is the case, the PAP must do better. I mean America survived 8 year of Bush and they are still the sole super-power in the world. Russia survived a decade under Boris Yeltsin, and is now back. But 5 years under the opposition...we would be ruined!
As much as I respect Mr. Lee, if Singapore is ruined by the opposition in just 5 years, I’m afraid the PAP will have to take some of the blame as well. Think about it, the PAP had been in power since independence. Over 40 years in power but we will be ruined after just 5 years of opposition rule. Any voters (or anyone for that matter) will come to the same conclusion when faced with these numbers.
Now some Singaporeans might think that Mr. Lee is "playing the same old record" when he delivers his warning, but I think he truly believe in what he was saying. If I am right and that is the case, I think Mr. Lee should concentrate on helping his son’s government to make Singapore stronger.
After all, no one want to see Singapore “ruined”.
16 comments:
He is up to his FUD tricks again. Like whatever. Yawn.....
Good night everybody.
The Old Man has no new tricks to scare the people.
He can scare some people most of the time, but he can not scare everyone all the time.
I believe he is truly afraid that he will live long enough to become citizen Lee in the year 2011.
The opposition will not stoop so low as to extract their pound of flesh from the PAP members should they be given the mandate by the people.
The general public only want to see the skeletons in the Old Man's cupboard. Must be hell of a lot.
Russia 8, USA 4... Singapore more like 40 leh. Still can compare like that anot? That's like, almost a generation. Of scaremongering and narrow field vision, thanks in no small part to the official media.
Nope we will survived just fine with or without their "Helpful advice".
With so many "weak" Singaporean who are sought after to work in US, Europe and even Middle East.
Once the situation come to pass, People will step up and some will even come back (at least those that I know of).
Doesn't matter when, as no one can live forever even if the science is there.
He should not be sad, he did help lay the foundation (and weep) but then nothing is allowed to be build on that foundation without credit being credited to him which is sad as that deprived him the title and respect that he so sought after when the fat lady sing.
And he knew it.
To be fair, I don’t think the MM is that interested in personal glory. Afterall, I don’t see any statues of him…yet. I think he is just worried someone will ruin the work he had done so far for Singapore. But if that is the case, I think he should concentrate more on helping his son’s government than the opposition. God knows with the amount of mistakes so far this year, they need all the help they can get.
What he is espousing are clearly efforts to help his son's Government to stay in power. Ghost is right that his son needs all the help he can get, but rest assured that nothing of the sort that he painted will happen. The GRC system is good enough to deter anybody foolhardy enough to challenge their domination. It just needs a little more tweaking eg expanding the size and increasing the deposits, if there are loopholes that opposition may try to exploit.
As long as the government do well (and let's admit it, they have been mostly good), the PAP should have no worries about staying in power. If they don't do well, all the tweaking in the world won't help them.
LOL. The MM may not be interested in personal glory But definitely showing his lust for power. All his contemporaries have left aeons ago but he is still pulling the strings and doing the talking after >40 years. The PAP have been mostly good. Well it is so true. They have been good at remunerating themselves, good at staying in power for eternity, good at avoiding responsibilities and accountabilities, good at suppressing the opposition, good at controlling the media and propaganda, and of course really, really good at selling themselves as GOD's gift to Singapore. Otherwise how can we explain their incredible salaries. By the way did I leave anything out that they are good at ? My apology to the PAP in advance.
And GOD please help LKY and LHL find more god-given talents to help them run the country.
All the MM's contemporaries may have left aeons ago but they did not leave willing. Just north of us, one of his contemporaries is still trying to make thing difficult for his successor. At least there's no chance of that in Singapore.
Sorry Ghost, I overreacted.
And your point is valid he could be making a smoother path for the son.
But such action also show that the son ability is not trusted by him.
Maybe it is good to have handicap liabilities and a threat (FT who can leave anytime when thing goes bad) hanging over head. But that is for us commoner only.
And yes, the track record in a certain department really need some improvements.
And I'm angry because they want us to take those policy decisions in goodwill, Goodwill that is rapidly depleting.
And yes there used to be good elements in PAP too.
FYI I like President Ong and his wife. He is the other honorary GCMG Knight that we had.The queen recognize him.
President Devan Nair.The Real Labor union.
S Rajaratnam is cool in a sense.
His straits times column, "I write as I please"
And the line in the pledge:
"One united people, regardless of race, language or religion."
Show me anyone who have the Common sense, Acuity and Grace of these three PAP member and I'll gladly vote for them provided they contend in my neighbourhood constituency.
Voter can have expectations too.
Out of point : Wasn't a certain scientific prize named after someone?
MM's remarks revealed a worrying concern in the PAP that's fast becoming apparent to many here. Go to talkingcock.com and read all the grievances voiced by Singaporeans over the lame reasons cited by the various government organisations for raising prices at such a difficult time as this.
Take the LTA for instance. Fancy increasing ERPs all over the island (including one of the heartlands) like nobody's business. And what reasons did LTA give? It's for the good of the businesses in those affected areas as well as (can you believe it) for better family life?
One of my colleagues commented that in the next GE, many will vote for the opposition parties just to bring a really strong point across to the authorities who either turned a deaf ear to the public's outcry, or treat the public like some kind of idiots who can be easily conned into believing their overused, so-called proven reasonings.
Remember that PAP obtained only 66.6% in the last GE? If they still refuse to wake up to the growing dissent over the high-handed way they handle problems and treat their fellow countrymen who've supported them in good faith, then they'll only have themselves to blame when the votes swing against their favour in 3-4 years time. And believe me, it WILL happen.
LOL. LKY's contemporary up north at least did not impose a father and son tag team on the country. If we expand the team a little, it is actually a trio.
All the countries rule by despots, such as Myanmar, Cuba, several African countries, Lybia, etc,etc, do not have such a tag team. Communist China's leadership must be amazed at our tag team.
In fact I can not think of any country with this unique combination.
The world should really learn the politics from us.
I doubt he is really concerned about Singapore. What he is most concerned about is he and his clan's welfare. An opposition in power will likely uncover the skeletons in the closet. That is what he is more afraid of.
Of course he is concerned about his clan's welfare, but saying the MM is not concerned about Singapore is stretching it. After all, Singapore is his life's work.
Singapore is truly vulnerable. Our natural resources are clearly devoid and people the only resources we can fall back on.
So when LKY says that the opposition will take just 5 years to ruin Singapore, he is largely speaking the truth. The opposition has less than a handful of credible leaders, who has almost next to none experience in the area of policy-making. Sure, we may all think that policies can be whipped up in a flash, but the amount of planning involved in it is certainly no joke. What more if in the near future, an opposition-dominated parliament passes a widely popular bill, but which does not benefit Singapore as a whole, example the introduction of subsidies. It would be a disaster for the Singapore economy.
We vote, not for a government which bows to the people, but rather, a government which is sensible and does the best to advance the lives of the people. We should not just support a listening politician who would mollify a section of voters by stopping the right thing, or starting doing the wrong one. Right now, our government listens, evaluates, and acts for the best interests for our nation. Now, we can’t be sure if the opposition would follow this method, or rather, implement populist policies which they surely would champion. And if, the opposition sticks to such policies, it would mean a downward spiral from then on.
The author is right; America survived 8 years of shambolic Bush rule. But look where it is now-its economy is in the doldrums, its people dissatisfied. America has a bedrock of resources to fall back on. Singapore does not. 5 years is more than enough time for inexperienced and listening politicians to ruin Singapore.
i think that without a firm government to direct us after independence, we would not be where we are today. after all, we have no natural resources. the opposition parties are not exactly appealing.
i have faith in MM Lee. just not so sure where Singapore will be headed without him. Just because we are now educated, I don't think we should just forget about who brought the country to where it is today.
Though i would say that i thought as the economy was going well in 2008, we could try out the opposition. But, who knows, economic crisis in 2009 and we are back in a vulnerable economic position =(
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