Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew pisses off Chinese netizens
Shanghailist.com, 5 November 2009
While his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has been busy meeting up with former US President George Bush, Singapore’s ever so feisty and sprightly 86 year old Minister Mentor. Lee Kuan Yew has gone halfway around the globe to meet US President Barack Obama in Washington ahead of his debut Asian tour that will include China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. Lee’s tour also saw him meeting two key Cabinet members of the Obama administration – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
In his various meetings rubbing shoulders with very important minds, the sage-like Lee who has often been counted on to interpret Asia to the west did not hesitate to tell the Americans what he saw in his crystal ball.
“The 21st century will be a contest for supremacy in the Pacific because that’s where the growth will be,” said Lee. “If you do not hold your ground in the Pacific you cannot be a world leader.”
Prior to his meetings with Obama and Clinton, Lee received a lifetime achievement award from the US-ASEAN Business Council in a high profile event witnessed by the likes of Henry Kissinger. In his keynote address delivered at the gala dinner last Thursday in Washington, Lee urged the US to remain engaged in Asia:
The size of China makes it impossible for the rest of Asia, including Japan and India, to match it in weight and capacity in about 20 to 30 years. So we need America to strike a balance.
Those comments had the effect of rubbing up Chinese netizens the wrong way. Within a few hours of the Global Times 《环球时报》report hitting the interwebs, Lee’s comments attracted the fury of hundreds of Chinese netizens, but wait a minute, there’s more.
In building any new East Asian architecture, Lee said the United States must be “an important part” of it, adding that “it would be a serious mistake for the region to define East Asia in closed or, worse, in racial terms.”
Here is a snippet from a Global Times blogpost summarising the reactions of Chinese netizens (with translation from the Malaysian Insider):
Many of those who responded were upset and said that Lee had treated the Chinese as outsiders although they had treated Singaporeans as “among their own”. “Lee Kuan Yew spoke for the feeling of those in the West who fear China’s rise would harm their vested interests,” said one netizen.
Another described Lee as “a political animal”, saying that while he “relies on China to develop his country’s economy, he is ushering wolves here to deal with China”.
A third posting said: “Just because he has achieved some success in Singapore, he dares to play the guiding light that shows US the way. If he has the stuff, he should go to Africa and offer tips on how to shake off poverty and achieve wealth.”
Another posting brushed off his comments as insignificant as Singapore was a small country.
“Lee Kuan Yew had made such comments likely because Singapore is a small country that needs an interplay of balances in the international arena,” said the netizen.
“However, what significance do his words carry when the reality is that for a voice to be heard and the views realised, one needs to be truly powerful,” the netizen asked.
A few highly vitriolic essays written by netizens have been given prominent positions in the blog sections of mainstream media portals. Here are just two of them:
李光耀的言论暴露新加坡是美国围堵中国的桥头堡
“Lee Kuan Yew’s comments reveal that Singapore is but a pawn of the US in countering China”
无耻梦想：李光耀想让新加坡统治整个东盟当以色列！
“Shameless dreams: Lee Kuan Yew wants Singapore to rule ASEAN like an Israel!”
The response by the Chinese mainstream media has been somewhat more measured. Most reports underscored the online fury among netizens, and then weighed in on political scientists to reflect sentiment on the ground. Here are a few headlines:
李光耀谈话显示东盟信任美国胜过中国 [China News Agency]
“Lee Kuan Yew’s comments show that ASEAN trusts the US more than it trusts China”
石齐平：李光耀为何建言美国制衡中国 [Phoenix TV]
“Shi Qiping (political commentator): Why Lee Kuan Yew wants the US to counterbalance China”
李明波：李光耀说啥不必太在意 [Guangzhou Daily]
“Li Mingbo (Guangzhou Daily columnist): No need to pay any heed to what Lee Kuan Yew says”
李光耀亲美言论激怒中国网民 新加坡多家媒体辩解 [Guangzhou Daily]
“Lee Kuan Yew’s latest comments anger Chinese netizens, Singapore media offer an explanation”
Source: Shanghailist.com
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Political SalesMaN on Thu, 5th Nov 2009 6:50 pm
If I will be a governor person in the US. I surely welcome any body who is willing to pump Multi Billion money into our economy.I will go to Sungei Road Junk Stall to get an award to present him, made him “Happy”!
ronin on Thu, 5th Nov 2009 10:48 pm
Maybe LKY got the “award” in the US in recognition of our 2 sovereign wealth funds losing billions in the US???
Richard Tan on Fri, 6th Nov 2009 12:06 am
Please shut that million dollars minister up before he created a war for Singapore with China. And sent Singapore to the grave with him. Send him the JB Old Folk Home to stay and we will happily pay for his expenses.
Muhammad on Fri, 6th Nov 2009 1:12 am
Many fucks to China who destroyed my job. Despite I don’t like our government but it’s the truth that China is trying to control the global economy with their so-called cheaper labors around the world just like hungry termites out to swallow the whole tree. We don’t owe China a living (okay?) and if you try to get a job in any company right here in Singapore owned by China, what fucking pay they’d offer you. Our housing facilities are limited in our small nation and it’s time that LKY should stop them from continuously coming here to exploit us. From government sector to private sector, we found cheap labors of China overtaking our jobs and from lawyer posts to toilet cleaner posts including worst posts as prostitutes in Geylang area, we found the same cheap labors of China doing the same. Malaysia was right Singapore began to become little China. We don’t need China to enrich Singapore. There is no such thing at all. China is a sucking fucking bastard who caused me to be jobless for so long. These days, we would find all bosses in coffee shops, factories, prostitution rooms and workshops prefer to employ China men and women because they are cheaper than us. Curse be upon them all for being hungry termites, nay, parasites to the world world!
Andrew Low on Fri, 6th Nov 2009 2:04 am
Singapore, been neutral all along as we know that we are a small country. All human beings are the same, people will go to any place if they think they can make a living there. Just like our government has calling us to go global. For whatever reasons, we are seeking for survival. Yes employing Chinese to work here for cheaper labour are welcome by the employers, Chinese satisfied with the pay. On the other hand Singaporeans demanded too much.
Comments are usually welcome when it is in your favour, but whether how Logic or true it is will need time to prove.
Peter Su on Fri, 6th Nov 2009 6:07 am
To friendly Thai and Australia to balance Malaysia and Indonesia. Nothing new – still puting up his balancing act at 86. Later on, he will tell the Chinese to balance the US.
bornloser on Fri, 6th Nov 2009 10:16 am
Retire and shut up. The truth is without China rising, there is a great inbalance in the power structure of the Pacific. China must rise and counter-balance the US.
Look at at the way they handle Afghanistan and the Palestinians, nobody can stop them. Their supremacy since the end of the Cold War needs to be offset. China alone is not enough but China and Russia will certainly provide the counterbalance.
Do we pay millions for someone to go round spouting nonsensical pronouncements? Do they need your advice or are they just being polite?
btan on Fri, 6th Nov 2009 11:18 am
Well, we need opposition to balance the hegemony of PAP too, does LKY dares to say that? Hmmm?
Old Guy on Fri, 6th Nov 2009 11:50 am
talked too much and so the chinamen scold him..
see if he still dare to go to china again ??!
csl on Fri, 6th Nov 2009 12:23 pm
I knew given who is the subject of the article that the fire will all be aimed at MM Lee and not the issues at hand. Often people are so fixated about him that anything and everything is viewed with negativity and bias. Its fine to have an opinion about the person but not the point that no rational discussion can take place.
@btan
politically MM Lee has no need to state that kind of thing. As I have said so many times before, if the people want to vote in the opposition its not because the PAP asks them to but because people actually want to. You can blame GRCs but WP contested in one and was fairly successful there are no legal barriers to contesting elections however unfair they are deemed to be.
I am for doing things, lets say the opposition shows up at my area. I would view the candidate(s) on their merits and then decide on who I want in the seat(s). Sadly, I have only seen Dr Chee create a scene and not a ground swell in the area I live in. Or things can be so bad, the people are willing to take anyone but a PAP candidate. The day that happens, the system will balance itself out.
As for the world power issues, I do believe that we do not need a split globe where China would extend its influences in one sphere and the US doing so in another. Well fat hope India will seat by and watch it happen. In case anyone forgets, the two have been squabbling since the time of Mao. Just hope they do not start another fire fight over border issues.
Australia is also beginning to pick up steam in pushing itself as a regional leader. They also adopt a more middle stance with regards to their relationship with the US and how they handle their links with China. Even with Kevin Rudd who has a chinese name and speaks rather fluent mandarin having spent 10 years as a diplomat in China, the current administration is not viewed as pro-China.
Political SalesMaN on Fri, 6th Nov 2009 1:31 pm
Mr Muhammad, U must know China has been controlling the economy since the early silk Route.Singapore is lucky in the 70’s & 80’s, China, Vietnam,Rusisa comumunist state has shut the door for 35year. Singpaore befited on this. Now they open their door to compete. Singapore fate is base on luck. Is not LKY is brilliant.Another few years he is going to get migrated to “Hell” now he take his chance to talk big.Empty Vessel Made The Most Noise
reader on Fri, 6th Nov 2009 4:31 pm
Dear Muhammad,
There is nothing wrong with what China is doing. China is only looking out for her own interests, something that anyone and everyone will do.
Instead, you should be directing your anger to the people who open the floodgates and usher PRCs in like there’s no tomorrow. The people who are depressing the wages of local workers and cheapening the status of Singaporean citizenship.
Do not blame termites, for termites eat trees to ensure the survival of their species. Blame the pest exterminators, who are getting paid millions, yet not doing their job at all!
PLEASE LAH on Fri, 6th Nov 2009 5:14 pm
too many china loud mouths in singapore shouting into the phone on public transport. lee kuan yew is even noisier than them.
jason on Fri, 6th Nov 2009 9:25 pm
lee kuan yew should learn how to shut his mouth and open his ears and brain. is he a sort of fortune teller nowadays who keeps on giving prediction on the future? give us a break, LKY!
Joe Tan on Fri, 6th Nov 2009 11:43 pm
“Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew pisses off Chinese netizens” my friends if LKY was 10 yrs younger he would not come close to saying those things. “HE IS GETTING OLD” and I am sure when you reach a your Twilight years something is going to Fuse up there. Perhaps some Chinese Herbs double boil from mainland China can do him good.
beware of china ultras on Fri, 6th Nov 2009 11:56 pm
communist cowdungs. one generation removed from mao, & they orredy think they understand geopolitics.
Gabriel on Sat, 7th Nov 2009 3:15 am
Muhammad is a loser. So it’s China’s fault you lost your job? Yeah go blame China. Next time you get hit by a car or encounter unfortunate events, I got a solution for you: BLAME CHINA. Thats the way to go.
Anonymous on Sat, 7th Nov 2009 11:10 pm
btan on Fri, 6th Nov 2009 11:18 am
Aiyah, you got no “enough” sense of humour. On the global stage it is balancing of hegemony but in own backyard is mafia rules the Animal Farm
sick of lies on Sun, 8th Nov 2009 4:32 am
Ha, even the “Tiongs” do not respect him. He’d better wake up his idea and appreciate his own people. Does he really think he can influence the US? Maybe he thought that he was God for a moment.
Venomous snakes are dangerous on Sun, 8th Nov 2009 11:14 am
csl on Fri, 6th Nov 2009 12:23 pm
….Australia is also beginning to pick up steam in pushing itself as a regional leader. They also adopt a more middle stance with regards to their relationship with the US …
On this point, you failed my test of correctness. Ask any Australians.
Kevin Rudd (B4 election of Obama) visited DEPARTING incumbent George Bush and even saluted him like a private saluting his military superior. Aussie journalists published this in the media. Many upset Aussies called KR a grovelling “dog” kow towing a political tombstone. KR is pro-US by any score in his (Australia’s) relationship to China.
Anonymous on Tue, 10th Nov 2009 12:00 pm
Someone out there welcome batch and batch of ‘Ah Tiong’ here. Making here more and more of CHINA. Want buy something to eat, can’t even understand what the hell they saying. Who’s fault? Blame on the Leader you have voted when come to G.E.
They are the 1 rule Singapore for century and want to continue their way of ruling even when they step into the grave. They set stupid rules that Singaporean benefit a little, govt/big businessman benefit alot. E.G. SBS.
Charity time, ask you to donate and donate. Yearly collect taxes from you and when CHINA needs it they send the money there.
China people would never think Singaporean/Singapore are great~! “Helped us when the earthquake shake us” They are just ungrateful – dog bite the hand that feed them. They still think their Mao, Jiang are the best.
Jim on Tue, 10th Nov 2009 12:34 pm
LKY thinks he is a world playmaker. But I must admit he plays his cards well (when you’ve got a full house you can dispense with a little more risk and daring).
The younger generation may not know the historical perspective on him. But in his early political career he rode on the back of the communist tigers to gain entry into government. Before 1959 the PAP was a communist controlled party and held the ground. After winning the elections in that year the communist faction within were purged by LKY with the tacit help of the colonial masters whereby communist sympathisers and agents were all rounded up and put into prison under the ISA (Chia Thye Poh and Lim Chin Siong among them).
Because of this treacherous move he was always afraid of vengeance from unknown communists still existing out there. Initially, his personal bodyguards had not a single Chinese among them. And he would sleep in different bedrooms in his Oxley Rise home, alternating between rooms with no fixed schedule to prevent any likely misfortune of sleeping under a ticking bomb. It goes without saying that his security detail would sweep the bed each night before he retires for the day. Even the food were not spared the stringent control.
But all these changed after 1985. That was the year Deng Xiao Peng of China came to visit Singapore. No it was a pleasure or sight seeing trip. On the secret agenda was the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) Solution. As long as the MCP exists and had the tacit approval and support of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in China, the threat of a communist revolution in Singapore (and Malaysia) always exists. Upon Deng’s return to China the CCP formally announced its expansionary idealogy and that it was, forthwith, escinding its support of the MCP. The MCP capitulated without this sponsorship and the region became finally free from the threat of communism.
But there was a price to be paid. The “Speak Mandarin Campaign” in Singapore was launched as a consequence and a prelude to more Singapore involvement in China as a vassal state would in the olden days when they paid yearly tributes to the Chinese emperors. Now you know why our government involved themselves in the SIP and other big projects in China. In fact, as a direct consequence, our then deputy prime minister, Goh Keng Swee, stepped down from his political office and became an economic advisor to the Chinese government in that same year 1985. It would be no overstatement to say that Singapore had a hand of involvement in the economic development of China, which, in 2 decades (since 1985) has grown tremendously. The sleeping dragon has awoken and it was a tiny mouse which woke it… a little red dot actually.