Doc expressed admiration of MM Lee for “admitting” his mistake
November 23, 2009 by Our Correspondent
Filed under Headlines
Written by Our Correspondent
A doctor by the name of Dr John Ng had written a letter to the Straits Times Forum today expressing his gratitude and admiration for MM Lee Kuan Yew after his recent speech to encourage the study of Chinese language differently.
Lee had earlier admitted his insistence on bilingualism in the early days of education policy was “wrong” which caused many students to give up learning the Chinese language.
During a speech made at the official opening of the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language, Lee said:
“We started the wrong way. We insisted on ting xie (listening), mo xie (dictation) – madness! We had teachers who were teaching in completely-Chinese schools. And they did not want to use any English to teach English-speaking children Chinese and that turned them off completely.”
Dr John wrote that he was “impressed” with Lee’s admission that he was wrong:
“For a man of his stature, and one who has accomplished so much, he is willing to admit he was wrong. For that, I have the utmost respect.”
Singapore’s bilingual education policy was not the only mistake made by Lee during his 25-year tenure as Prime Minister.
His “stop at two” policy in the 1970s is the main culprit of Singapore’s declining birth rates todays and we are still paying the price for it.
As a result, the government has to resort to importing foreigners en masse from countries like China and India to boost Singapore’s flagging population at the expense of the locals.
At 86 years of age, Lee is still actively involved in the running of Singapore. He appears on the headlines once every other day, more frequently than his son the Prime Minister.
Dr John Ng’s impression of Lee is probably formed from reading the state-controlled papers, history textbooks and Lee’s memoirs.
Had he read other “censored” sources like the recently launched “The Fajar Generation” by a group of student leaders from the University Socialist Club in the 1950s and 1960s, his views of Lee will change radically.
Contrary to popular belief, the communist threat in Singapore was grossly exaggerated by Lee to remove his political opponents from the scene.
One of those arrested under “Operation Coldstore” in 1963 was a senior of Dr John – Dr Lim Hock Siew who was detained for 19 years without trial.
In a press statement released in 1972, Dr Lim wrote that as a condition for his release, he must show “repentance” in order to save the “face” of Lee Kuan Yew.
During a rare public speech made at the Alumni Medical Centre a week ago, Dr Lim said:
“After 9 years of incarceration, they want me to release a statement and secondly to renounce politics. I told them that these two demands are self-contradictory because if there is parliamentary democracy, then I don’t have to give up politics, so they said “You must say something to show repentance or otherwise Lee Kuan Yew will lose face”….In the first place, if a person has to save his face by depriving somebody else of his fundamental rights, then that’s not a face which is worth saving.”
Dr Lim also took a dig at the PAP leaders for rewarding themselves with exorbitant salaries to keep their “integrity”:
“In Singapore we have a situation where the government leaders said they have integrity that has to be sustained by the highest pay in the world but yet they demand from political opponents and detainees an integrity that has to be sustained by the longest imprisonment in the world. These two types of integrity – to compare them is to compare heaven and earth. Why should anybody has to sacrifice so much just to sustain his integrity and his beliefs? And the government have to reward themselves with so much high pay. This is the immorality of the political situation in Singapore today.”
Singapore’s leaders are the highest paid in the world. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was paid more than 5 times the annual salary of U.S. President Barack Obama.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew claimed lately that he would have earned “much more” had he not been a minister.
Till today, Lee had not yet apologized to the political detainees, some of whom were his former comrades in the PAP such as Dr Lim who was a founding member of the PAP.
Dr John Ng is probably too young to recall the events during the tumultuous period of Singapore’s history and can be forgiven for his ignorance.
For those of us who know the truth, it is our collective responsibility to educate fellow Singaporeans like Dr John Ng who are still being misled and deceived by the propaganda and myths promulgated by the state.
“The Fajar Generation” is published by a Malaysian publisher and is not available in Singapore.
The Temasek Review will be publishing excerpts of the book especially the important chapters written by Dr Poh Soo Kai in the next few days after it obtains permission from the editors to do so.
Related articles:
>> MM Lee admits mistake made in education policy
>> Photo Gallery: Book launch of “The Fajar Generation”
>> Interview with Dr Lim Hock Siew and Dr Poh Soo Kai
>> Dr Lim Hock Siew on “immorality” of the political situation in Singapore today
>> VIDEO: Dr Lim Hock Siew speaks of his detention
>> Book launch: The Fajar Generation
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puke on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 2:38 pm
The same regular doc that is always politically correct?
The Patriot on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 3:05 pm
No, Dr John Ng is not too young to understand. He is a medical doctor. He is supposed to think for himself. But by him saying that “For a man (LKY) of his stature, and one who has accomplished so much, he is willing to admit he was wrong. For that, I have the utmost respect” – it goes to show how Singaporeans have been indoctrinated by the PAP with its controlled media so much so that a so-called intellect likes Dr John Ng can be so naive and simplistic to think like a simple human likes LKY cannot admit that he is wrong. Even God should admit if he is wrong.
What have the old man achieved? Suppressed a peesai country with a population of helpless peasant stocks. No wonder we have medical doctor to think that a mediocre man likes LKY cannot admit mistake.
If Singapore has a population likes Taiwan, LKY would probably like A Bian with his whole family being persecuted for corruption. If Singapore has a population of majority Malays like Indonesia or Malaysia, at best he probably would be a chinese business tycoon who has to lick the arses of the indigenous dignitaries to enrich himself. And worst, for a man likes him who would sit with whoever that could provide shade, would probably be diminished long before he can be anything if he lives in a country of democracy with freedom of speech, thought and action.
Political SalesMaN on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 3:07 pm
Dr now adays use to drive big car with big Bugalow Houses.
They hope LKY can live for another 10years or so, they are making big money.They don’t know mistake sometimes can take Human life.Policy “Stop At Two” has murder & Slaughter 1/2 million “Innocent & Defencless” Foetus.When U commited a mistake U’ll be punish. Why till now he admit the mistake.This mistake has cause many people in IMH cases.. Dr John Ng I’m sure he will be contesting in the Next GE.(Another Ellites)
singapore boy on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 3:10 pm
it must be PAP internet brigade behind the doctor.
A brilliant misinformation technique used by pro PAP people.
wrong is wrong. So what is so great about admitting you are wrong?
Locking up people for half their lives, without proper and true reasons. Tell other people, that he is a communist.
Painted colours on other people.
But he, LKY , is always white in colour, pure in actions and words.
HAHA.. nobody is buying your lies.
cy on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 3:18 pm
The Beauty of Singapore
A former Singapore scholar speaks out about his bilingual education
I am a typical byproduct of Singapore: a Chinese who can speak Mandarin, passed Mandarin classes but can still barely read and write the language well enough to be considered proficient. Technically I am illiterate. And, while that may not speak for all of us, there are sufficient numbers to justify the label “typical.”
This has become an issue because Singapore’s founder, former prime minister and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew openly acknowledged last week that the 40 years of bilingual language policy he put in place was “wrong.” Today, he says, that policy started out on the erroneous assumption that it was possible to master two languages – English and Mandarin, the latter for the majority Chinese community – equally well, and that Mandarin was taught at a too difficult level that “turned students off completely,” he said. In retrospect, he said, Chinese language teachers should now make learning the mother tongue fun.
That was quite an earthshaking statement. And, as has always been so typical of Singapore, you can bet your mortgage that Chinese-language teachers will find a way to turn their ever-so-routine and regimented lessons into something seeking to approach fun almost overnight – because Singaporean citizens and institutions almost never fail to recognize the hidden message from the larger-than-life Lee senior: an instruction has been delivered. Or have you not noticed the word “now”?
The public acknowledgement blew my socks off. Since when was Mandarin, also commonly known as Putonghua in other parts of Asia, taught at a level considered too difficult? Chinese compatriots in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan would certainly challenge that premise. And why is the officially branded “second language,” Mandarin for the Chinese Singaporeans, (ethnic Indians and Malays receive language training in their own native tongue) always termed the mother tongue when English is the official first language and business language?
“What exactly is your mother tongue?” That is a long story, I thought, and where should I start?
For starters, the bilingual policy was not the only thing that went wrong. Let’s shoot back a few decades, when Singapore introduced several eye-catching policies that for decades will affect its education system and the future of its human resources, its only and most treasured “natural” resources according to the government. There was the controversial streaming of students in the late 1970s into three classes – Special, Express and Normal – at the age of… 10!?
Debatable as it may have been, and it is still in practice today with even more subdivisions, it pales in comparison with another more daring stroke in the 1980s: the policy aimed to encourage and reward the highly educated to have more offspring and to encourage the less-educated to keep their children to a minimum. There were a few short-lived experiments, such as one introduced in the mid-1980s whereby the whole class got to wash school toilets during their physical education lessons, simply because the then Minister of Education was impressed during an official visit to Japan that disciplined Japanese students did exactly that. This is perhaps one education-related policy with the shortest shelf life but at least manufacturers and sellers of toiletries and toilet-washing equipment had a windfall.
But not all the social engineering policies were flawed, controversial or in bad taste, at least to the rest of the world. The senior Lee decided in the early 1980s to boost Mandarin proficiency and usage and banned dialects on television and the movies for double dosage, and it was perhaps seen as a master stroke in the present context. So effective was this policy that the majority of those under the age of 30 today hardly know any of the multitudes of Chinese dialects. Did I tell you that when the senior Lee gave instructions, he was always taken very seriously?
Now back to this bilingualism fuss. What happened to the typical lot — me?
When I was in school, I knew all along that I needed at least a pass in English to gain entry to the local universities although it was fine to fail in Chinese. That has since changed to a mandatory pass in both. Fine after all since the mother language is the only class taught in a different, secondary medium – told you the mother tongue issue was confusing!
And here is where Lee Senior missed the point with what he said last week: motivation and not fun is the key to learning a secondary language.
Look at Hong Kong in the mid-1990s. Not only did few people speak or understand Putonghua then, most scorned those who spoke it and labeled them as inferior. Ten years on, as China has catapulted itself into a recognized, serious economic power, the general public of this former British colony has suddenly, successfully and openly embraced and learned the language.
The main driver is obviously motivation – driven by economic reality and practicality. By the same token, if France were to become the next super economic power, you could certainly expect to find “Bonjour” and “Merci” commonplace in Hong Kong. And why else did so many of my classmates and friends in Singapore learn Japanese in the 1980s? It was again, motivation – pushed by the perception then that Japan was to be the next super power.
When I was in school, in fact we studied but did not learn the Chinese language. Memorizing and dictating Chinese phrases and idioms, often without emphasis or even a proper introduction or explanation of the origins, are not only a rigid and regimental approach to education (okay, this is true for many parts of Asia as well) but a real turn off for me – so MM Lee was right on this.
I was also always relieved I could replace Chinese words I could not write with pinyin – officially HanYu PinYin, the romanized system for the Chinese language and often used as a way to spell Chinese words in foreign publications. Now was that not simply brilliant for the typical me? The Chinese essays that I always dreaded in school became somehow manageable – I have more romanized letters than Chinese characters in my Chinese essay and I can still score a pass! Did I tell you I love Singapore?
In my Singaporean school days there were English-dominated schools and Chinese-dominated ones. The former meant the school had strong English cultural roots, where almost all students spoke English among themselves and most likely did at home. Many of these schools are easily recognizable by their names, such as “Saint” this and “Saint” that, “Convent” this and “Holy” that. The latter, a minority, is where the Chinese language prevails. In my days in school, one was scorned and outclassed if he or she spoke Mandarin or dialects in an English school – you will often find a mixture of languages these days – so again, where is the motivation?
So was the bilingual policy wrong after all? I certainly do not think so.
What Lee Kuan Yew did was to attempt to take a polyglot Chinese community made up of Cantonese, Fujian and Hakka among others and, in a bid to weld them into a single community to give them a common mother tongue that basically belonged to all of them – Mandarin. He reinforced the bilingual policy that started some 40 years ago by encouraging the use of Mandarin and the avoidance of dialects within the Chinese community. And he ordered a ban of dialect programs on television and radio in the early 1980s – a move so effective it explains why those under 30 now barely know much of these dialects.
On my part, I wish I had learned Mandarin well and to be as proficient with it as I am in English since it is considered my mother tongue after all. But what I experienced as a student, with only one subject in Mandarin with the rest in English, as well as the other problems I experienced above, was not motivating and perhaps a turn off.
So the typical me is fluent in English, Singapore’s first language, and able to manage a decent conversation in my mother tongue. And I can understand several dialects. That helps me a lot in my work, especially where China comes into play, so long as I don’t have to read or write a Chinese document — or read a menu, for that matter. So I think I’m still blessed in some ways, as long as I don’t speak Singlish. But that is another story, perhaps as a result of another policy gone wrong.
fpc on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 4:20 pm
Yeah, as if LKY can earn more at the age of 86 than if he was not a minister?
What a joke!
blackfeline on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 4:28 pm
40 years later? this doctor quack should get his head examined!
Chee Kiong on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 4:31 pm
In politics one has to fight to lead. Otherwise please step aside. Only chickens hide behind blogs to slander and libel others.
Of course, the winner will lead. Maharthia fought Musa, Razaleigh and then Anwar. Who’s complaining?
TR is an open and transparent online newspaper. Right? Why does its writer have to hide behind “Our correspondent” all the time? Let the readers assess the credentials of the writers. This is no Gulag.
Singapore’s is MM’s baby. He has said it many a time that even if he’s one foot in the ground, he’ll still care for the well-being of Singapore.
Singaporeans are proud of the founder of modern Singapore. He is admired round the world. No one can deny this fact.
Only a true leader dares say he has made a “mistake”. But smart Singaporeans know it wasn’t his mistake. As PM then, he only needed to give the outcome (vision) like any other leader and the instruction was carried out by the professionals or government officers. That’s protocol Moreover, he’s a lawyer not an educationist! What did he know about teaching pedagogies then i.e. how to teach the subject painlessly and effectively? Ask you brain lah!
I see he’s only taking on the blame for those Nantah teachers who only knew teaching Chinee via rote then. He wasn’t paid as a teacher of the Chinese language either.
Anyway, we salute you MM. Many happy returns and thank you for today’s developed Singapore. The only surviving city-state on the planet.
smallyfly on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 4:35 pm
My dear dr. john ng, i also have the “up-most” respect for your extreme stupidity, radical view, outrageous remark, idiotic mindset, sycophantic admiration, obsequious glorification to your “godfather/paymaster”, the “dirtiest-old-man” in this world. i salute you for having the courage to stand-up for this “dirtiest-old-man”, in putting aside all your dignity and integrity! By the way, medical profession is one of the most well paid professions, as far as easy money is concerned! hahahahaha………
fair and square on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 4:53 pm
the doc was indirectly thanking the gahmnen for his vast potential to buy one or more bungalows along Bukit Timah
Road.You see,recently the employers thank gahmen for
FTs which ultimately means more money into their own pockets.
Now,with medical tourism coming him,those docs for money
cannot so much as to thank MM lee and his flunkies for
the “honey” !
it’s ironical,some things like workers’ meagre salaries have got no “flooring” but others like medical fees have no ceiling!
the world is UPSIDE DOWN!!!
globalisation!what a name…er,i mean what a SHAME!!!
Omega Lee on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 5:25 pm
“The only surviving city-state on the planet.”
Typical ignorant frog in the PAP well. Vatican City, Monaco + some other equally small countries apparently dont count. One could argue that HK is a city state as well.
LKY has so many fawners, it is obvious as opposed to Mahathir what is the former’s weakness. 虚荣. They are so busy saluting instead of having the courage to point out the mistakes and potential problems.
Tua Kee on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 5:44 pm
I also think we should forgive his mistake.
I think we should support the kindness campaign now on-going . I saw the ’smiling lion’ similar to the one used in the old courtesy campaign at a recent Hougang dogs competition where mr Lui was there in a GRC which by default is having George Yeo as minister together with MP Yeo.
Also , tv have been showing kids asking people to be kind to donate to help the needy.
I think we should Forgive and give them our support.
Time for Change on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 5:53 pm
Not surprising that there are quite a few Singaporeans who are willing to suck up. Most are looking after their own interests.
There was another forum writer who was sucking up also. He wrote to counter the letter by Australian Ms Lilian Reuters on the bad English of PRC sales assistants. Another apple polisher.
Nov 23, 2009
No more criticising Chinese nationals – they serve better and with a smile
I AM a native-born Singaporean, one of the many who used to criticise the number of Chinese nationals in many of our retail outlets. But not any more.
Two recent incidents changed my opinion of Chinese nationals. I found them not only a pleasure to deal with but also very knowledgeable in their areas of service.
The first experience was when I wanted to buy a laptop from a popular retailer. At first, I ignored a Chinese national who tried to serve me because of my stereotyping all Chinese nationals as being unable to speak English. But after disappointing encounters with two Singaporean sales staff, I turned to the Chinese national when he came to me again.
I was astounded at his service skills. He understood my concerns and showed me three models, explaining the differences between them. Then, after asking me my usage preference, he suggested why I should buy one of them. It was a pleasant surprise.
Of course, he did not speak the Queen’s English but he could get by. More important, he knew what he was selling and took
pains to understand the customer’s preference and concerns. I parted with $1,500 just because of him.
Now, for my second experience. In my 20 years of eating good Chinese food, I have never had a dish explained to me in detail. But that happened recently. A waitress from China went over the menu in detail, telling me, for example, what herbal duck is. She spoke in ‘Chinglish’ but she did it with a smile that told me she wanted to serve me well.
We are in danger of being overrun by Chinese nationals, not because of their numbers but because of their many pluses.
Their humble demeanour and friendly manner more than compensate for their ‘Chinglish’.
And soon, they will learn to speak better English as well.
Vasanthan Govindasamy
This guy is shameless. If he was sincere and appreciated the good service, he would have mentioned the PRCs names and the company that they worked for. Instead, he took two isolated incidents to generalize on this as reflecting all PRCs working in the service sector.
It is ludicrous to believe that after 20 years he still needed someone to explain the menu IN DETAIL for him. Either the restaurant had only a few dishes or there was very few customers at that time. Or he could have been twisting the facts to suck up.
I just hate reading the letters from this stooges.
bornloser on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 6:16 pm
His arrogance and intolerance of any variant view has led to the many ills we face today. He is peddling very hard to reverse the tide that he initiated, albeit like the duck you cannot see what happens under water.
Sad to say, he has screwed up our civil liberties with no apology. Till today we have no evidence that Lim Hock Siew, PSK and CTP were communists or cohorting with Communists. Is this an abuse of the Internal Security Act? Hopefully before he leaves this terra firma, we will see some light.
for singapore on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 7:25 pm
why was MM Lee so popular before ?
cos at that time ,he still cared for singapore and singaporeans.
now,why is MM Lee, popular now all over the world?
simple, cos he care for outsiders!!!
if you look in sincerity,LKY has had the good counsel of
devoted loyal minsiters who were paid “peanuts” but worked
very different from “monkeys”.The likes of GOH Keng Swee and
Rajaratnam were honest and frank enough to say “no” to the then
PM LKY.
Nowadays,ministers who are paid a bomb merely ‘tag along safely” so as to protect their “unreachable” salaries.
PM LHL doesn’t have the luxury of good counsel like his father.
what a waste of taxpayers’ monies.
Outraged on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 7:26 pm
These balls-carriers are getting to become more and more stupid.
LKY did good things, praise sky high; LKY does wrong also praise sky high.
What the FXXK is happening in this country?
If Dr John Ng were to become a PAP MP, he may also end up like the Yio Chu Kang MP who got burnt by the ex-taxi driver.
Fu Lu Shou on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 8:33 pm
If my guess is correct. This John Ng is not a medical doctor by profession. It is a Phd he got from some other professional studies. He was my sunday school teacher in early 70’s and in mid fifthies. He is also a regular speaker on our radio programme. He was from one of those top school who got very rich parents and most of them only speak english and they own many properties along orchard road.
His command of english is superb and mandarin is the other extreme and i believe he was a victim of the failed policy.
But not many people are as fortunate and smart as him to be where he is today in view of the failed policy. If not i don’t think he will be writing about this. It depends on which side of life we are in. Just my two cents worth.
knnbccb on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 8:39 pm
Wow. Talk about record speed for the running dogs/Lee fanboys to crawl out of the woodwork to lavish praise on that piece of overrated old fossil.
Seriously, if most Singaporeans think like Dr John Ng, we’re screwed. Maybe John covets a PAP tea session? With all the talk about ‘party renewal’ and the penchant to induct the upper class folks into the PAP collective, I won’t be surprised if John ends up as a future PAP MP.
Nonsense on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 10:35 pm
@ Chee Kiong on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 4:31 pm
Good nonsense you wrote!
And Justice For All on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 11:13 pm
This Dr John Ng is a famous LKY bootlicker. He got his PhD in Bootlicking from University of the Lees.
MERCI on Tue, 24th Nov 2009 12:57 am
YIN & YEW
A tourist was visiting a temple in Singapore when he noticed a statue, with two faces, a man and a woman, back to back, by the altar.
He asked the monk what was the significance of the two.
The monk explained that in the Chinese belief of yin and yang, positives must always be balanced by negatives, and having the statue with two sides ensures that the universal balance is maintained.
“This statue of the woman is the Goddess of Mercy, Kuan-Yin.”
“What about the other one?” asked the tourist.
“The one with the man’s face is the God of No Mercy, Kuan-Yew..”
Citizen on Tue, 24th Nov 2009 3:56 am
Well, is this the only “honest mistake” made?Are there other mistakes made in the past?Will there be apologies for these too?
mindless admiration on Tue, 24th Nov 2009 5:12 am
This John Ng bugger should take note that MM Lee admitting to his mistake is actually no big deal. Of far greater consequence is the collective mistake made by Sporeans in handing power on a platter to old fart and his famiLee.
Unlike John Ng, I prefer to admire fellow Sporeans who admit it has been a mistake supporting old fart and his stooges
mindlessly.
Huminster de guaca molly on Tue, 24th Nov 2009 9:29 am
Time for Change on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 5:53 pm
“Of course, he did not speak the Queen’s English but he could get by.”
That letter writer is using a simple technique.
1 example out of all cases.
I have seen this used many many times.
Many are oblivious if you do not analyse and just accept all that is printed.
Elfred on Tue, 24th Nov 2009 10:13 am
Just share my experience… In the modern days, when I had my brief time teach Chinese in MOE school, whenever you spoke in English, some dunno-who would warned against Chinese teachers speaking in English…
I was totally puzzled. This is Singapore, this is the situation we got, and why this sort of thinking…
But spelling is still ok, dictation is not. The main problem is this, take the classes I took, students were generally so weak in Chinese’s foundation and totally empty in the cultural compartment after I took over from another… I was so shocked by the poor standard, and with spelling, at least students bother to read up without parents making noises. Spelling is, after all, an education ‘culture’ in local schools, so most parents won’t be so bothered to complain.
Practically speaking, it’s very tough to elevate Chinese education because the main problems are actually often with MOE’s management and those parents.
Without correcting these two obtacles, those kids will just go on fooling around with Chinese education and our standards wil have to go lower and lower so that ‘enough students’ may pass, and parents will ‘give business’ to schools… What the f… …
Of course, this education system is a messed up… MOE needs a revamp down to the root. Heads will have to roll… I am afraid. So… for the meantime, it’s still best to just whine about problems in Education. Hahahahahahahahaha…
Time for Change on Tue, 24th Nov 2009 11:19 am
Huminster de guaca molly on Tue, 24th Nov 2009 9:29 am
Exactly! But I wonder where all these apple polishers come from. Is there a team of bootlickers managed by the MIW or even the Shitty Times on standby to counter any criticism of government policies or to heap praises on them when they make a mistake.
Are they paid for each toadying letter or are they just doing this in the slightest hope of a pat on the back by the MIW?
Whatever it is, these people are shameless.
Bernice on Tue, 24th Nov 2009 1:02 pm
When I was little I love the cortoon Mr MagOO.
Today, if I want to have a good laugh when tired, I check out TR where the ditital lynch mob (mainly foreigners & ex-Singaporeans under pseudonyms) make my day.
It’s so so Unreal from the real thing wat we read.
How I wish the world is coated with sugar & honey.
Little wonder the gods must be CRaZy.
And Justice For All on Tue, 24th Nov 2009 1:37 pm
Time For Change
You’ll be duly surprised ! When MM was the PM he had 12 press secretaries (these are people who do researches, prepares the blue-prints and do final grammar-editing of his scripts after they have passed his nod of approval).
dd on Tue, 24th Nov 2009 1:55 pm
wow if hitler was to have apologised to the Jewish people and then after shoot himself. This John Ng would love him.
Empathise with the man maybe. Admire the man?
Screw that. I’ve alwayes blamed the lack of stimulation to learn the Chinese language solely on the Singapore Government whose policies failed. And don’t freaking blame my parents, i’m a product of multi racial english speaking singapore.
Chee Kiong on Tue, 24th Nov 2009 4:56 pm
Omega Lee on Mon, 23rd Nov 2009 5:25 pm -
(“The only surviving city-state on the planet.”
Typical ignorant frog in the PAP well. Vatican City, Monaco + some other equally small countries apparently dont count. One could argue that HK is a city state as well.)
Are you stupid or what?
In any country, big or small, resource rich or not, it’s actually the quality or type of PEOPLE who make or break the country. Either the people are generally wealth creators or consumers. An example. Japan would fit the former and Indonesia, the latter, in a simplistic sense. Given, the handouts & special favours, Malaysia will undoubtedly fall into the latter more than Indonesia. Therefore, what will happen to Malaysia is anyone’s guess without the non-Malays.
Singapore is just a 700 km² rock (enlarged over the years by human ingenuity in land reclamation). It is souvereign with a standing army. Its per capita income today is amongst the tops in the world and 2nd only to Japan in Asia.
Whether you like it or not; believe in it or not, the water has to continue to flow by the Agreement and Pedra Branca is not Pulau Batu Puteh by walkover like Jaffa, Sri Lanka. And mind you, we’re only a LITTLE RED DOT.
It’s a bona fide city state! And your lacking in knowledge brings your stupidity to cite “comparables” like Vatican City, Monaco and HK.
Before 1997 HK was a colony of the UK. Today, it is part and parcel of China with its Chinese motherland as its hinterland. Brother, HK doesn’t even fly a national flag of its won!
Vatican City is a tiny-weeny place of 0.44 km² right smack in Italy. The seat of the Roman Catholic church. It’s a recluse for celibates making up of friars and monks and occasional tourists. Needless to say, Italy and the worls’s 1,3 billion Roman Catholics are its hinterland.
Monaco, worse still. Less than 2 km² in size. A French- speaking, French protectorate i.e. Monaco’s defence is the responsibility of France. And needless to say France’s its hinterland.
Poor Singapore has to make the world’s as is marketplace. So? Sell cheap and nopt only cheap must be good for others to buy our goods and services. How erh?
Hey stupid. Mlaysia and Indonesia are not our hinterland! One threaten to cut water; the other has just cut off our sand asupply after seighting the IRs coming up from Batam.
Can use OUR brains or not??????? LOL!
Muppet on Tue, 24th Nov 2009 8:12 pm
I am still waiting for him to admit the mistake of stifling entrepreneurship in Singapore by creating so many gahment-linked companies and makan all the contracts that are out there. Don’t even have crumbs to feed on … so how to be entrepreneur?
cognitive dissonance on Tue, 24th Nov 2009 9:23 pm
Chee Kiong on Tue, 24th Nov 2009 4:56 pm
“Its per capita income today is amongst the tops in the world and 2nd only to Japan in Asia.”
Where did you get this rubbish statistic to dress your your rubbish talk? I can find one which says Qatar, Kuwait and Brunei ranked higher than us. Even one has Macau ranked higher than us. Hong Kong is not rated since it it part of China now. In any case, Luxembourg and Norway, small in population also ranked much higher.
BUT STILL IT IS MEANINGLESS FOR SINGAPORE BECAUSE OF LEAKAGE. MNCs and foreigner took out the lion’s share and very high proportion could be even be tax as their taxable income a year is less than S$20K
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita
Please cut your your ignorant frog croaking here, will you?
And Pedra Branca was terra nullius. We occupied it with a lighthouse and habitate it to our advantage. Malaysia acted in good faith of not forcibly occupying it and lost. It could have gone the other way and Malaysia could make all other negotiation outstanding tougher.
As for bona fide city-state. What is the big deal when Minister told one and all, we are NOT even a country? We are in reality slave to foreign interests – business and soon to be over-run by foreign migration too.
Where is your Singapore’s identity left? Chee Kiong? What happen to the solemnity of your highfalutin national pledge of 44 years – all hoax, just like this post?
If you can’t even recover your pride of national pledge, no need to suck up in pretense.
fpc on Wed, 25th Nov 2009 5:47 pm
I expressed disappointment with this doctor for admiring an vicious man who don’t mind locking people up for NO reasons and torturing them for 20 years because he couldn’t find a reason to lock them up.
HK didn’t have Lee KY and they still have world class infrastructure and doctors. And they needn’t lock people up for 20 years for NO reasons.
Sad case of lack of morality in doctors.
fpc on Wed, 25th Nov 2009 6:04 pm
//cy
Colourful description but it is not true that Chinese is not fun or well taught at your time.
It was just that Chinese was not important then as LKY went around “killing” off people who only knew that language.
His approach is wrong. He loves to force people to adopt to what he percieve as right when there is no legitimity as to why what he think is right is the correct thing to do.
Taiwan has a revival of their native tongue. It didn’t affect their command of Mandarin a bit. In fact, the mainland Chinese is thinking that they perhaps should learn from the Taiwanese, from their way of teaching Chinese.
It is silly simply to bet on one Man in the hope that he will get everything right.
The world is too diverse. Even for 3 million people on an island.
crap on Wed, 25th Nov 2009 9:37 pm
Right.
Now then he apologises? Is that now then he listens to US?
Maybe he should have LISTENED us that we , students are complaining the way the system teaches Chinese.
May be not. Because of China’s vast market opportunities and he is like SHIT, we have not much manpower handy with Chinese language.
THANKS.
Elementary My Dear Watson on Fri, 27th Nov 2009 5:39 pm
The one big mistake that LKY did which till this day he has not admitted nor be remorseful was in acting as an “interpreter” to the Japanese Army Administration during the occupation years. That was a very neutral term for the job, but in recent times we call it “informer”.
From recollections recanted by my late father, on the day that the Jap Army Administration learnt of the Imperial Surrender in Tokyo there were mass suicides by Japanese Army officers at Alexandra Hospital and elsewhere (he was a witness). These acts were, perhaps, ironic in providing some form of satisfaction for those who were tortured or brutally tortured by them in earlier times. My dad himself survived by feigning death after he was lined up with others and bayoneted once from the back. Those who went down the ground and continued to groan or wriggle received a second stab to finish them off. He was conscious enough to remain quiet and still, an act which saved his life.
After the Japanese surrender, a lot of these “interpreters” (informers) were rounded up by the population, with their heads shaven clean and paraded on the streets. Most of these “snitchs” and “moles” were Taiwanese brought here by the Japanese to mingle with our crowd (Taiwan was under Japanese rule long before WW2). Of course there were treacherous locals. LKY was very lucky not to have suffered this fate. Maybe his many years of privilege with the Jap Administration provided him many avenues of a safe haven.
And that is why he has maintained a very low profile whenever the historical years of Singapore under Japanese rule have been mentioned. Similarly he has also maintained a cloak on the grand sacrifice of our only war hero Maj-Gen(post humous) Lim Bo Seng, whose memorial at the hilly slope of MacRitchie Reservoir has not been given full state honours. Not a single PAP MP dare breach the subject of elevating this war hero, who sacrificed himself for his beloved country, to the stature that he truly deserve. Because to do so would rake up questions of like wise able bodied young men such as LKY and what sacrifice they had done for the country.
And Justice For All on Sat, 28th Nov 2009 2:10 am
Elementary My Dear Watson
Yes, a lot of what you said is true. This is collaborated also by what my late father told me before his passing.
He was also bayoneted by the Japs but survived. In fact a lot of Singaporeans have been hearing only stories of the period, some of which were true and some fictitious. There were some facts which did not find their way into mainstream media for one reason or another. What Singaporeans in general did not know, and still do not know is that a large of the Japanese force which entered Singapore in the initial phase of the war were actually not Japanese at all.
According to my dad the first group of Jap soldiers who confronted him were actually quite courteous and they spoke in Hokkien, yes Hokkien. They told my father to run and hide because the second group coming up behind them were cruel. Before they had finished telling my dad this, the second group appeared. Immediately the initial group switched to conversing in Japanese ! And it was the second group of soldiers who bayoneted him.
So who were these soldiers? Well the first group were Taiwanese, and the second group were Manchus. Both of these groups of “Japanese” soldiers were drafted into the Japanese military because Taiwan was already under Japanese rule long before WW2 and Manchuria was a satellite state of Imperial Japan. The Manchus had an axe to grind against the Chinese because of the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
So history did not get the real thing in proper perspective. The front force of the Japanese were made up of Taiwanese and Manchurians, the actual Japanese soldiers were in the rear. A lot of this has to do with military tactics, because the Taiwanese spoke our dialects and the Manchus spoke Mandarin. In other words, besides letting this foreign element bear the brunt of the attack (lessening the Japanese casualties) they also act as intelligence gathering units. None of these facts ever appeared in our history nooks. I think, someday, our history need to be properly re-written.
And Justice For All on Sat, 28th Nov 2009 2:15 am
And my dad hated LKY all along because he knew of LKY’s treachery firstly, as a Japanese informer during the occupation period, and later also as an informer to the colonial police force (ISD) during Operation Cold Store in 1963 when he was the Prime Minister while Singapore was given self-rule from the British (1959 – 1965)
The Truth Be told on Sat, 28th Nov 2009 2:31 pm
Yes, I think the younger generations need to know about all these true historical perspective, and the shady side of LKY which the government controlled press never report. Only the older generation know about his treachery and scheming mind. There is a lot of apathy on this through the eyes of our younger generation, and this is quite sad, because those who really know of LKY’s evil have already passed on. And the mainstream media has only played up the successful side of this dictatorial leader.