Ho Cheow Seng / Guest Writer
My father has incomplete Secondary Education in English. He speaks better Mandarin than he does the English Language. So he’s an anglophone at the mesolectal level.
My mother, like my father, came from China when she was in her teens. Although her grandfather was a warlord in feudal China and her father fairly well educated in Chinese she was never sent to School. But she speaks a brand of Hokkien with my father that used to leave their anglophone children befuddled. Yes they speak the ‘educated genre’ of their dialect.
So as you can clearly see, my parents cannot be considered to be ‘university calibre’ or academically inclined. However their 4 children all made it to the local national University. How come?
Once I was seated with my friend at a table in a food-centre. The table was not very far from several of the stalls. My friend and I were very amused on that occasion upon hearing the drink-stall owner ‘yacking’ animatedly in ‘market’ Hokkien about how wrong and prejudiced Lui Kong [meaning Thunder-God, MM's nickname among the semi-literate and the illiterate Singaporeans] was to condemn the not very educated Singaporeans.
The drink-stall owner used a rough-hewn Hokkien idiom to illustrate what he he meant. He said:”How can Lui Kong[LKY] say that because we are ‘sweet potatoes’, we will give birth to ‘baby sweet potatoes’?”
‘Sweet potatoes’ is a term in Hokkien which is used figuratively to describe some one who is a ‘good-for-nothing’. So in Hokkien, the full idiomatic expression of what MM was alleged to have said was rendered as:
“Yee kong nan ‘hun-chih, sare hun-chih kia. Boey sai un nay kuan kong, mah. Yee kuah nan boey kee, aah. Kang nee nah”.
My friend and I quickly turned our face, each in a different direction, because we could hardly control our bursting out aloud in laughter.
But the stall-holder was right. I know for a fact that many among the generation older than I had less than a Secondary, and in some cases, a Primary Education. And in one instance, the Primary-School dropout produced 3 children, two of whom became very successful medical specialists, and the youngest son graduated with an M.A. and became a Secondary School Teacher.
And this is only one instance I am citing here. I have easily half a dozen similar instances to prove that MM’s theory relating to marital discrimination in favour of those with tertiary education holds no water.
Look into the lives of Einstein (high school dropout), Thomas A. Edison (one of the most famous inventors who apparently had less than 3 months of schooling), Henry Ford (no formal education at all), Bill Gates (college dropout), Sylvester Stallone (the man once sold his dog because they had no food to eat), Steve Jobs (college dropout), Michael Dell, Larry Ellison (Billionaire CEO of Oracle Corp)… etc etc.
Oh come on! The older generation did not have 10% of the advantages and privileges that the young of today have because their parents were mostly labourers, working-class folks or, at the most, clerks.
Their children who are now in their late fifties and sixties haven’t done too badly, have they? And we don’t have to go too far to drive home the point, actually. You know what I mean? Aah, I ‘hun chih kia’ also know how to be subtle, you know?
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i suggest all the hun-chih-kia get together, consult their lawyers and see if there is a case to sue Lui Kong for defamation. Seriously. make it a People against Lui Kong case.
the words were not uttered by a common man but by one who has often preached and claimed to have the highest level of integrity, wisdom and reputation. these are the ‘values’ by which he often uses to sue his opponents and these same ‘values’ have enriched him beyond imagination.
by making such a statement at a gathering and mockingly laughing at the stupidity of those who did not believed his theory of eugenics – he has agravated the crime beyond any word that can be used to expressed the degree of aggravaion.
apart from suing Lui Kong, the hun-chih-kias must aslo demand from the present govt on their stand on this issue and seek immediate clarification to ensure that the hun-chih-kias and their offsprings are not prejudiced against in the future.
there must be no ‘goreng-pisang’ from the govt where this is concern. they must not attempt to play down the utttered words and if no reasonable explanation can be given for such an insult, the govt must do the rightful thing and sack the damned Lui Kong immediately.
Aside from eugenics, LKY’s argument is flawed because it does not take into account recessive genes, especially the retarded gene that is just waiting to rear its head in his descendants!
… especially the retarded gene … – Ark (#2)
You forgot about the recessive albino gene.
Lui Kong’s parents were also hun-chih kia. How come Lui Kong got cambridge qualifications?
goon standing on top of the pedestal will kena strike by real lei gong one day.. isn’t he insulting his own ancestory? Mocking the whole population & even worse, mocking the lives that made this little dot what it is today.. oh i forgot, it was built by him singlehandedly, just like TTdurai built NKF.. my bad..
I believe what Thunder God meant that if you don’t have both grandparents who are educated at university (at least one of them at Cambridge/Oxford) and parents who also are educated in elite world class universities, you do not stand a chance of ever ruling Singapore…….
leave the old man alone. he is a demi-god in his eyes, but poor thing for him his family is not going well, other than baby god. he can only control singapore and us, nothing else. his wife is unwell, i guess waiting for time, his other children? well, what about them? leave him be and let him continue to be mm so he can still enjoy the trappings of power, even after its long gone!
“Mah Bow Tan, age 16, took his O levels — six distinctions, two credits. Mr Chiam (See Tong), age 18 — 1953, I think — six credits, one pass. He passed his English language, not bad. The next year, in 1954, he worked harder, he got a credit for English. So you see, it’s not because he doesn’t know English that he found difficulty expressing himself. It’s what’s inside here [tapping his head]. And you better search your inside before you cast your votes.”
– Then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, at a PAP rally in Fullerton Square in the 1984 General Election. Chiam See Tong beat Mah Bow Tan with a 60.3% share of the vote to win the Potong Pasir seat. [Source: The Price of Victory: The 1997 Singapore General Election and Beyond, by Derek da Cunha]
Of course lah. Paper qualifications mah! They are still considered the most important in Singapore. At least that is what we are teaching our children…don’t forget, u need something inside there [tapping head] too…probably a centre where one parrots/regurgitates everything told to him/her.
Singapore vs Lui Kong? Please lah. Case thrown out of court and then the population will kena sue for defamation some more. Mana eh sai!
9) guojun
“Singapore vs Lui Kong? Please lah. Case thrown out of court and then the population will kena sue for defamation some more. Mana eh sai!”
hun zhi not so bad, later Lui kong make fried hun zhi! A lawsuit will not work out, so Let’s Move On..
“If you don’t include your women graduates in your breeding pool and leave them on the shelf, you would end up a more stupid society…So what happens? There will be less bright people to support dumb people in the next generation. That’s a problem” — MM Lee, 1983 National Day Rally
DAMN!!! did he said this? DAMN him again!
After GE 1979, Lee Kuan Yew (then PM) switched gear from the “two-is-enough” population control campaigned to the “pro-family,” “procreation” and “graduate mother” campaigns. In GE 1984, he tried to help Mah Bow Tan’s election campaign by going around espousing the virtues of his theories as manifest in Man Bow Tan’s academic achievements. M.B.T. was eventually beaten by Chiam See Tong.
Anyway, that didn’t seem to deter L.K.Y or had taught him anything. The Social Development Unit (SDU) and Social Development Service (SDS) were setup to help singles find partners. SDU for graduates, SDS for nongraduates, clear segregation there.
Notably, SDU was (and still is) run by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) whilst SDS was run by the People’ Association (PA). SDS has been merged in SDU earlier this month. Is L.K.Y. displeasured by this move to mix graduates and nongraduates that he’s addressing this topic and reiterating his believes again now?
Many years back he also said that those parents who are poor or illitrate should’nt have more children, cause they will be having the same gene of their parents either they are stupid or less bright. this cause some unhappiness amongst the poor and less educated or less fortunate. As a Prime Minister at that time, how can he criticised his own citizen. When he said that is he bright enough? I wonder is he aware that the rice he and his family feed on was mainly planted by the poor and illitrate.
His words, if spoken in other developed nations, would have probably caused him to be open to the charge of discriminatory speech.
It is very uncalled for, and there’s no excuse for such words.
Sigh..
Lui Kong can only tries to be a modern day philosopher but alas he is just senile.
Just cannot measure up. Best he just retires and disappears and no one will notice it.
On the flip side……there’s an EDB director who’s a PSC scholar who married a fellow scholar with 1st class hons in accountancy. They produced 3 sons aged 12, 9 and 6. Sadly all their 3 sons are autistic and are now attending special schools.
LHL with his late 1st doctor wife (her remains are now at Mandai columbarium) also produced an Asperger (mildly autistic) daughter and an albino son.
Such are the mysterious workings of the human genes…….
Lui Kong is too clever by half!
#17) Who is that EDB director?
Anyway, I must say that if he is still supporting the children.. he is GREAT! Imagine the blow you get when all your 3 sons are austitic.. the disappointment is great and you have to worry for them.. and to bring them up is an achievement on the part of the parents.
Kudos to that Director! :)
This will do him no favours among the younger generation.
Seriously ask yourself if You will respect, adulate, idolize and some even deify a man who look down on his countrymen, a man who loves wealth, power and fame.
Think seriously, think and check about the history of Singapore.
patriot
The Minister Mentor is like a big frame super computer, full of data and digits but devoid of feelings(emotion/sentiment), a highly efficient machine that depends on inputs and power(current) supply(the people and their supports). Once the power is switched off, the Machine will kaput.
And kaput it will, just don’t bring down the company(State) with it.
patriot
Education will guarantee nothing. Competitiveness is more important than having a university education, or for the matter, any kind of formal education at all. Some very honest professional educators will tell you that education will not necessarily make you a better person or equip you to face life after school. Of course persons with an education will want recoup the time and resources they spent on education, so you can expect them to present paper qualifications in a job application for instance. That’s them being competitive. If you don’t think education makes you competitive for job openings, then by all means don’t pursue an education. Get into the right vocation, the kind you know you’re cut out for, and be competitive in your work, or focus on getting the relevant experience for jobs you apply for. Whatever you do, you need to know what you’re good at, what you can do, what you cannot do. Build on your strengths, overcome your weaknesses. Never let up. You’ll make it.
Thanks.
Some people obviously never heard of inbreeding.
Eugenics is an evil way of thoughts. In the seventies, to encourage parents of lesser academic background to produce less offsprings, the govt introduced incentives, in the form of cash topups to their CPF which they use for the downpayment of the HDB flat when they opt for ligation. This was part of the “Stop at 2″ campaign. In the eighties, there were some twists and the incentives are now thrown to graduate mothers ( not fathers) in the form of tax discounts. A better word will be social engineering, but whatever it is, it is not right.
This heralds back to the days of genetic engineering. Poorly conceived and utterly diabolical.
So are we going to build a master race then? The Nazis were proponents of this thinking too. Crap.
Death is an equalizer..we shall wait and see.
Lui Kong lau lang gey. Lau lang gey luan gong wey.
Hitler saw lesser beings in others and pretended he was superior being and today the World remembers him very much for that. He is remebered for nothing positive but sin, he did not live very long nor die very peacefully.
Germany under him and after him, did not conquer nor influence the World in culture or anything. So much for a self aggrandizing folk.
Education is good for everybody in that it enlightens and provides mankinds with knowledges. To connect education to ones’ success in material pursuits per se is shallow and vain. There are many knowledgeable people in history who lead frugal and meaningful lives, who instead of massing wealth, went about teaching and helping others. They became respected for tens, hundreds and thousands of years after they passed on.
On the other hand, there are people who abuses their intelligene, after getting recognized with their qualifications, they went about lording and bullying others. They take advantages of others’ weaknesses with every opportunity to enrich their wealths and powers but care less about others’ problems and sufferings.
People maybe clever and educated to the same high level but their natures could be as different as benevolence versus tyranny. What each chooses to be in his/her life is an individual choice, so please do not impose, dictate and force others!
patriot
Few months ago, LKY always said at various getherings, forums, spook to reporters etc that sgpoor has many good yrs ahead. Sgpoor GDP would growth > 5 % for the next 5-10 yrs if oil price doesn’t go up >120 usdlr ppl.He kept reasuring ppl that the govern is doing well and we have many good yrs to come. Last week, He said about Asia need 5 yrs for recovery if the banking system…………………Why a sudden about turn from many good yrs ahead becomes receesion and needs few yrs to recover.He is very good in twist and turn according to situation.How can sgpooreans trust a person changes his story every few months and call himself got good foresight and able to predict others future.
That’s why he is always right since he changes his forecast every few months.
In that case, i think majority of us also know how to forecast.
Not only LKY is good in his twist n turn tricks, he also groomed a bunch of such ppl in his so called world class leaders to be like him, just try to recall how many of these twist n turn thingy happened lately.
Back when Singapore was in Malaysia, he, playing the role of an opposition in Malaysia Parliament, liked to laud the virtues of an open society and those liberal democratic values. If that was too far back for some of you, look what happened when the economies of the four Asia dragons began to take off. Not one to be humble, he openly boasted about a Pacific Century era and attributed its ascendant to the Confucian values abiding these East Asian societies. Eminent Confucian scholars were invited to give credence to his theory/outlook. Look what happened now. All very quiet, not even a squeak.
what do u expect fm an ‘MM’ (MENTAL MOCKERY) man, as lasts of his days, he still ain’t see nothing? about this “eudcated” financial crisis created by all the ‘gurus’ wif all sort of high academic qualifications? hereunto the facts lies also in e high calibre govt of this land, nothing ‘ecomoic’ that could save or contribute to greater cause then ‘lamenting’ yet again, singing e same old tune, get a life or next..(life)?
Politics aside….. whatever happens, we are in an interconnected world. I hope the Fed and the US economy will right itself, largely sparing the global economies from grief and poverty.
I learnt yesterday of a neighbour living at a block nearby me whose son earned First Class Honours in Engineering NUS and recently graduated with a PhD from a University in England without any scholarship. He was flabbergasted when he read the report as not only his son was turned down when he applied for a scholarship but LKY’s comment was totally off tangent. And the best part is… he has only a Sec two Education!
Now… where has the formula gone wrong?
The govt really believes that the poor & illiterate cannot produce bright offsprings?Then they should just banned these poor people from giving birth in the 1st place. Why even bother to introduce baby bonus?
Cannot all be land lord right? The land still need cow to plough right? Sori for my ink ga lish ah. pai sai. Extually hor, we hun-chih kia also got inportant role you know. If everyone so smart hor no contrast 4 them to compare and bring out their smartness. You imagine ah, how can a manager be a manager if he got no people to manage tio bo? I also got some brain right? Ayy.. i steadi hor :-)
37) hun-chih kia
yes, yes, you got brains and your brains are very okay. steady also.
unfortunately, lui kong says people like you & me better not look at, or take a graduate partner. graduates are not for hun-chih-kia like you and me. how can cow and phoenix mix? lui kong will strike you ah!
ok ok… so sad until lau buck sai
Question – should i being a hun-chih kia, cut and BBQ my testicle(sori ah i not educated, please forgive me for not being refine.) so that i don’t accidentally mate and produce more hun-chih kia that will become a burden for our country. Although a hun-chih kia as i may be i love my Singapore.
And for fellow Ms Hun-chih mei mei and Ms graduate mei mei out there, I don’t mean to make you all pai sei with my above statement about testicle bla bla bla. My parent alway teach me man must treat woman nice nice. I just angry and must say out if not i canot sleep. I love you all. muack muack muack.
Don’t pai seh ….. pai seh is when ………
1. your graduate partner want to go to starbucks and you want to go kopitiam.
2. your partner want to eat doughnut, you want to eat hum-chim-peng.
3. your partner want to eat pizza, you want to eat roti prata
4. your partner want to eat to go to Europe for holiday, you want to go to Batam
5. your partner drives Lexus, you are a lorry driver.
I don’t really agree with your example la..
i got many kaki from different background. Some study very ta kong but even more humble than me and they also chio me to kopitiam to drink humble coffee and beer. They got good parents (many who are also from hun-chih kia clan) who gave them proper bring-up on maners and respect for people.
Dun know what i talking la.. you know what i mean right? We dun streo type people la if not we are same same like them. Sori ah no offend ok? You still love me? hahaha
I mean become like MM
This old fart too arrogant, he looks down on the poor and illiterate. If “te kong ewoo buck chui” meaning heaven got eyes will punish him and deserve effective retribution.
41) hun-chih kia
sori ah . . . don’t mean to offend your friends but you are right. There are many graduates who don’t think like the lui kong.
Maybe lui kong think like how i think that’s why he thinks every body must think like him and think that his thinking is always correct because he is the only one who can think while others cannot think.
now my turn to pai seh . . . thank you for showing me the light ……. zap!…….