TR EMERITUS

By The Patriot 1. I refer to the article ‘My house is shabby, but it is comfortable’ in the Straits Times dated 4 Jan 2009 which was written by Ms Lee Wei Ling. I believe Ms Lee is the daughter of Lee Kuan Yew. 2. In Ms Lee’s article, she had stated: a. Quote:”Decades of the good life have made us soft” unquote. I would think that it is rather the decades of suppressed and incarcerated life by the ruling party have made S’poreans soft. If every dissenting view, voice and non-violent action against the ruling party by the citizens is reciprocated by govt’s intimidation of imprisonment and bankruptcy, how do you expect S’poreans to be tough, courageous and independent-minded. This global economic meltdown has proven that the smartest and the brightest may not be that smart and bright after all. The worst thing is that the smartest and the brightest are not only unable to see the economic problems coming and solve them but in fact they are the ones who cause them, resulting in worldwide suffering. Therefore, listening and accepting different views may not be a bad thing. After all, even Lee Kuan Yew had been wrong many times. Just recently, he proclaimed that Singapore was having a golden period and immediately thereafter we have one of the worst recessions in all times. He said Barack Obama was just ‘a flash in the pan’ but he is now elected as the 44th President of the US and the whole world endorses him. b. Ms Lee said that “I am reminded of what my mother once told me: Suffering and deprivation is good for the soul” unquote. Her mother was borne with a silver spoon. She is the daughter of a banker. She was already living in a big house and chauffeured around in those early days when only the colonial masters can afford to. So, who is she kidding? What moral authority does your mother have to talk about suffering and deprivation. Her sense of suffering and deprivation, to others may just be utopia and materialism. c. She said her house is big and shabby. Her father, MM Lee Kuan Yew is a political animal. He knows that every Singaporean knows that he is the most powerful man in S’pore. I believe most people would also believe the Lee family is very wealthy. So, is it necessary for him to flaunt his power and wealth by having a big mountain-top palace and a collection of Ferrari, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, etc in the garage. As a calculative politician, this is a conscious and certainly NOT CONSCIENTIOUS effort by Lee Kuan Yew to have a simple house and a simple car. Of course he yearns for opulence. I remembered he once said that he would rather be a business tycoon or CEO of a big company than a politician if he had to live his life all over again after visiting the opulent office of a CEO of a oil major in Texas. Eg, President George Bush restrained himself from playing golf because he did not want the Americans to think that he was enjoying his life while his American soldiers were fighting and dying in Iraq. He did not stop playing golf out of genuine concern for his American soldiers but it was more of a conscious effort by him to make himself looks good and compassionate. These are just political acts. d. Ms Lee continued to state “if one is blinded by materialism, there would be no end to wanting and hankering. After the Ferrari, what next? An Aston Martin? After the Hermes Birkin handbag, what can one upgrade to?. Unquote. I think Ms Lee just have to ask his father, Lee Kuan Yew to understand why one’s wanting and hankering of whether wealth, materialism, power, etc is no end. After being a PM for decades, then SM, then MM, what next? After placing himself as the Chairman of GIC, his son Lee Hsien Loong as the Deputy Chairman and his daughter-in-law Ho Ching as the CEO of Temasek Holding, what next? e. Ms Lee concluded by saying “When the end approaches and we look back on our lives, will we regret the lastest mobile phone or luxury car that we did not acquire? Or would we prefer to die at peace with ourselves, knowing that we have lived lives filled with love, friendship and goodwill.” Unquote. With all due respects, a person like Ms Lee who does not particularly believe in spiritual things and does not think she has a soul that will survive her death; and who has seen first hand how his father treated his political opponents will certainly not care how her end approaches  Read More →

Translated by Tan Lee Chong (Original article by Eugene Yeo here) 海峡时报在2009年3月5日发表的文章题为“竞选的代价”，政治通讯员李雪莹(音译)评论反对在不久的将来举行竞选因它会分散政府对经济的注意力。   “为了竞选，甚至一个短期的竞选，国家将会在很多方面花费： 金钱，时间，努力”，她写道。   竞选的運作也许花费几百万元，但它与Temasek和GIC丢失的几亿万元相比仍然少得像皮毛。   当去年冰岛的经济崩溃時，巨型的街头抗议强迫总理辞职，并且将在今年5月舉行竞选。雖然冰岛陷入了大混乱，它的人民仍然感到需要有新的一双手来指引他们的国家走出麻烦。   我已对人民行动党政府处理我们的经济和国家储备的能力丧失了信心。在不到一年内就丢失了一千亿元 ($100 billion)公众的金钱是完全不能接受的，此事件提醒我们要迫切地重新考虑我们国家發展的方向。   国家管理高層必须有问责制和透明度。头胪必须落地以承担这些惨败差错的责任，这些差错对国家未来几代将有长远的坏影响。   竞选必须尽快举行用来清除死了的枯木，这些枯木应被一批新的领导人替换，甚至如果新人们还是未经考验证实的，也要如此替换。不要告诉我不可能找到有天才的新加坡人，他们具备足够资格来带领国家走出我们现在的困景。在他成为总理之前，李咨政是否有任何管理政府的经验呢？新加坡的识字率是世界最高之一，并且我们的学生经常在国际学术比赛中名列前茅。   美国数家最大银行的顶头人，一个逐一个，被解了雇或被迫辞了职来承担他们悲惨差错的责任。试问投资者会否继续存放金钱在己丢失了数亿万美元的银行之中呢？   新加坡人民应否再给于那些丢失我们国家储备那麽多的人，另外10，15或者 20年的第二次机会，再让他们去处理我们国家储备呢？   最直接简单地说，以借口来否认失败是不能接受的。您要求我们支付您顶级薪金，因此我们正是合理地期望您甚而在经济动乱期间也有国际级水平的表现。   您目前未如理想的表现己经显露得万人皆见。您是无法从您自己开掘的洞中逃之夭夭的。当您的“绝对可靠”的假象还未完全消失时，您最后能做的正经事就是有体面地从政坛引退。   海峡时报的文章提及竞选将分化一个国家由于竞选拥有分化的本质。在2001年竞选期间，新加坡民主党的徐顺全的活动很快垄断了全国演说和对话。 2006年，相应者是工人党候选人詹姆斯Gomez。   过去的竞选有分化离间的作用，正是因为人民行动党和官方媒体要让竞选如此分化，以便选民的注意力能从重要的国家问题中分散出来。   让我们不要再跌下他们的陷井。新加坡人必须团结起来把那些丢失我们珍贵储备的人选掉下来，以便索还我们的未来。您是否想您的生命要永远活在一个人阴影之下，还是想活在您自己国家做个自由公民有力量决定您自已的命运？   我们受够了吧。现在正是停止腐朽的时候。 如果我们等待至2012年才举行下次竞选，我们的国家储备那时将会剩下无多呢？  Read More →

The rumour machines cranked into top gear after news broke out that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had lunch with Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim yesterday. Speculation was rife that the duo could be stitching a political plot to shut the door on incoming premier, Najib Abdul Razak, who is slated to take over the leadership reins later this month.              At a press conference in Parliament this afternoon, Anwar prodded reporters into asking him about this controversial lunch date. "So what is the latest news today?" he casually asked reporters towards the end of the press conference when no questions were popped on the matter. "Isn't anybody going to ask me about my meeting yesterday?" he quipped. "Since nobody is asking, it is a closed matter then." However, when quizzed, Anwar brushed aside speculations that it was a 'secret meeting' between the two heavyweights. "It was a mere coincidence (that we met)," he said, adding that the two veteran politicians had only discussed "family and health" issues. Read full article on Malaysiakini EDITORS' NOTE: Well, what do we expect Anwar and Badawi to say? That both of them arrange to have a meeting to discuss how they can check on Najib after March 31st? Poor Najib must be sweating over what was discussed between his boss and arch enemy.  Read More →