Comments on: Lee Hsien Loong vs Barack Obama

By: Traveller

Traveller — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 02:09:27 +0000

I think LHL is more clever than Obama. Certainly his academic record is superior to Obama’s even though the latter was a law professor and editor of the Harvard Law Review.Obama can connect with the young better but as the polls are showing he is losing his touch. He has the whole of the USA to choose his cabinet team but selected poorly. LHL has only parliamentary members to fish but his team is far and away superior to Obama’s.(For Obama’s economic team he could only go back to the old Clintonites,apart from Paul Volcker). By contrast, LHL’s team is superior, man for man. I would choose Shamugaratnam anyway day to Geithner, George Yeo to Clinton, Chee Hean to what’s his name. Of course, we also have LKY, GCT, Shmaugan, Ng Eng Hean, etc. Not only cleverer but more in tune with the people (but this may be due to Parliamentary system as opposed to the Presidential).
On the financial crisis, LHL is far ahead of Obama. Two years later and after spending trillions, the US economy is still sluggish and may yet go into a double dip recession. Maybe he does not really understand economics. Singapore got out within a year and is bound for the highest growth rate in the world with 15%.
Oratorical skills, Obama is a class by himself, no doubt. But he is not so effective without the telepromter which LHL does not use. And let’s face it, after sometime we want substance (read jobs), not words. In spite of his oratory, he has not managed to turn America round and his party will suffer cruel losses that will lose the lower house to the Republicans and even possibly the Senate. That means we will have a lame duck president for the next 2 years.
I teared when Obama won and still supported him strongly.But he got his priorites wrong in the first term. The Singapore government knew that jobs was the way out of a recession and worked very hard to get the tripartite parties together to get us out of the bind. Obama just pumped money into the economy. Even his banking reforms were so-so,surrounded as he was by Wall Street people. LHL has a better understanding of how thw world works compared to Obama.
One of the things Obama got wrong in his priorites was in health care. Health care reform was a great achievement and maybe given the situation he was in, the only time he could have squeezed in the legislation. But it took away the focus on the economy. It was a historic moment but how much better it would have been if he had solved the economic problems first and then in a stonger position, both in the country and in Congress, he would not have to make the compromises he had to in the health bill. And perhaps more importantly, he would have maintained his bipartisan approach to important issues, the platform he campaigned on.
My choice?LHL anyday.

By: Cable car 1982

Cable car 1982 — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:22:46 +0000

Obama works his way up, LHL ?…we know what took him to be a BG, running a rescure operation in 1982 when two cable cars cabins fell off rail.. it was actually the commndo unit did the rescure and he was not even commander in the commando unit.

The rest is history….

By: roger then

roger then — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 16:33:39 +0000

LHL vs Obama?? That’s a totally wrong comparison!

Perhaps LHL vs. a janitor from India….even the janitor has higher integrity than this self-appointed good-4-nothing singapore roaches.

By: SZ

SZ — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 07:21:02 +0000

Obama is someone who will lead america *hopefully* out of this current shit hole…while in our case, we are being lead into a shit hole instead by you know who instead….

By: Andrew Chuah

Andrew Chuah — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 01:55:46 +0000

2811/08

Hi Daniel *47-What I meant when I wrote “fine tuning” simply refers to when we have a formidable Opposition in Parliament who can then force the PAP goverment to fine tune its policies and institutions which are flaws, and on the other hand should one day the Singapore Opposition comes to power , they continue to fine tune the PAP policies and insitutions, not dismantling them which will spell trouble for Singapore and Singaporeans.

Today’s papers, besides Thailand where mob rules and anarchy, and both the Thai government and Thai army are very weak, this must not happen in Singapore-forget about Singapore up to 1970s (no longer relevant for Modern Singapore)> Singapore must always have a very strong goverment whether PAP or an Opposition party that becomes the government of the day and this strong government will continue to make Singapore a stronger Modern Singapore in all aspect and a home for all Singaporeans to be very proud of.Look at India, her government is weak and has been beseiged by problems one after another and yesterday Mumbai was blasted by Muslims Militants (not to forget Taiwan and South Korea whose governments are still weak and should their communists brothers attack them, I doubt they will be able to defend themselves).

As Singaporeans, we must always put Singapore above all things and always be very objective and focus and not simply wanting to dismantle the policies and institutions established by the PAP government. I am not pro PAP, I am pro Singapore 100% .

Regards
Andrew Chuah

By: aiyoyo

aiyoyo — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:50:39 +0000

aiyoyo

small dot vs states???

aiyoyo

By: tdyoh

tdyoh — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 12:39:53 +0000

One is a real MAN, the other is an ah kuah…… ha ha ha

By: doe88

doe88 — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:59:21 +0000

i think it’s too early to be comparing LHL and Obama? we haven’t seen the latter in action yet

By: xaero

xaero — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:41:37 +0000

Some say that the comparison is baseless.
Thinking for a while, hmm, okay I’d buy that.

Why don’t we call out those who are currently in their 50s or 60s to ask for opinions / more information on how LHL and his associates were in the past?

I have often enjoyed hearing opinions from the elders as they often reveal interesting insights. Of course, we can’t take everything as a fact, but lets try to look more into the past instead of merely looking at what is happening in the present?

By: Andrew Chuah

Andrew Chuah — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:18:13 +0000

26/11/08

Hi Gemami & Gilbert Goh-Today’s papers we read Thailand’s PAD has so-called taken over the new airport and Bangkok becomes frozen and the Army is so helpless despite its Chief of Staff called for disolution of Parliament and fresh General Election. Singapore must never be another Bangkok where mob rule and anarchy as Singapore is too small and fragile (don’t tell me we had those up to 1970s).Today, we are Modern Singapore and we must continue to use the Ballot box to fine tune the existing PAP policies and institutions (yes, there are flaws in these but these must not be dismantled at all costs,these only need to be fine tune for better,we dismantle these, we become backward).I am all for a much better Modern Singapore for all Singaporeans.

Singapore belongs to all of us especially we who are local born holding Singapore very dearly to our heart and will always put Singapore above all things.We must continue to do our best for Singapore our only place we called our home and I am sure our Prime Minister Lee Hisen Loong will listen to all of us and make Singapore a much better home for all of us (I am not pro PAP,but all out for a better Modern Singapore and Modern Singapore needs a two party system for good governances and transparencies, and the present two elected MPs Mr Chiam and Mr Lau are not good enough, we need at least three single seats MPs and a GRC in the next Parliament.

Regards
Andrew Chuah

By: victor @young generation@

victor @young generation@ — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:48:22 +0000

don insult Barack Obama…

one is god..,,others is suck pp blood devil..
so..
seen like one is heaven,,,others is hell..

By: smallvice585

smallvice585 — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:21:48 +0000

TW might be 1 party state before in its past history? anyone knows? – hum (#54)

Taiwan, like Singapore, adopts the dominant-party system. The dominant party system shares many characteristics with a one-party state and is usually marked by a climate of fear which aids in stifling opposition voices and prevent growth in opposition politics.

Prior to 1986, Taiwan was a dominant-party state under the KMT. Candidates opposing the KMT ran in elections as independents in the past. However, during the 1986 Taiwan elections, many independents grouped together to run and captured more than 20% of the vote. This led to the unofficial formation of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) but the DPP only became a legal entity in 1989. Today, there are 106 political parties registered in Taiwan, with KMT and DPP dominating all upper and lower houses of parliament.

By: hum

hum — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:05:21 +0000

TW political commentators who do not approve of Bian’s alleged misdeeds also supported the idea of having 2 strong parties, one to check on the incumbent.

Despite the disappointing behavior and performance of the ‘Green’ Party, the commentators who may be pro kmt also recognise the need for the EXISTENCE OF A STRONG ALTERNATIVE PARTY.

TW might be 1 party state before in its past history? anyone knows?

By: One hit wonder

One hit wonder — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:22:23 +0000

I think we are missing the point.

I don’t believe that this article was meant to be that in depth and therefore, all the comparisons that are listed on your comments are digging too deep.

By the way, I am not the writer of this article.

But, when I read this article, the only thing I saw was one incompetent mofo trying to justify why he (and his cronies) is dividing the country and a fresh, enthusiastic black man attempting to unite his country.
One sees the cup half empty, the other, the cup half full (and rightfully so, he had just broken one of the biggest barriers in the US by being elected).
One, doing everything in his (and his father’s) power to “fix them”, the other, with every intention to “bring people to the table and get things done”.

Yes, comparing LHL to Obama as a whole, is definitely not comparing apples to apples. I think the writer was just comparing the idea behind one speech to the other speech… which already says A WHOLE LOT.

By: hitachi08

hitachi08 — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:53:34 +0000

there’s no obama in singapore

simply because we dun deserve one

By: Tony Tan Lay Thiam

Tony Tan Lay Thiam — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 01:34:45 +0000

I may be late in penning this as i watch numerous talk and discuss about the prospect of a viable opposition. My views for wanting an OBAMA are as follows:
(1) Too much power resides with the current party which is in power for too long.
(2) Incumbent government is too used to getting their ways and ministers are not used to accounting to the public.
(3) Government is too caught up with making money, and clearly rewards those who help them in their endeavour.
Government rules too much with the brain with too little heart. Their focus group is beyond the middle class, and hopes that by rewarding the top those below somehow will benefit from it. I do not think this is happening now. We need someone to drive a movement that focus on the middle class and below, which are the workhorse and fabric of this nation.

Greed that causes the collapse of Wall Street may happen to us. We need someone who listens and is willing to walk the ground and understand the issues. Someone who feels the pain when families run into economic difficulties, who feels the need to find out why NS deferment cannot be granted so that an individual can continue his education, who wants to help expedite the solution for those who lost their money investing in financial instruments, who wants to know how we can delay streaming our students, who wants to help increase the MRT/Bus frequency so that we can have comfortable journey, who is prepared to control cars in the town instead of ERP/financial payment, who wants to reduce National Service commitment at no expense of operational needs and who allows people to tap into their CPF during downturn. This group of people should be chosen because they have the heart to serve the people. The people come first. Where is our OBAMA?

By: C J

C J — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:39:41 +0000

Here’s my comparison;
One has a Heart of Gold, the other… just a Silver Spoon.

By: Quo Vadis

Quo Vadis — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:31:54 +0000

Remember President Johnson – he declined to re-run . Now Obama has won and the news is that he is visiting Indonesia next year. Hope that he will drop by Singapore too.

On the world stage there are few outstanding and charimatic leaders which one can compare for their achievements – a man is judged by his deeds and not his words, Hence the “Lee versus Obama” is premature. It may be good to revisit in 4 years’ time – hope that the TOC is still around then to do the honour.
Looking forward to 2012.

By: royal jester

royal jester — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:48:45 +0000

I believe the comparison was made with the intention to send a message
to Lee Jr., MM Lee and the mindless PAP members.
It is also for the rest of the world to read what we Singaporeans feel about our own ” leader “.
I recall MM openly supporting Obama’s rival and making unflattering statements.
Now that Obama has officially won the elections, it is timely to compare Lee Jr with Obama for the benefit of the oldfart and the rest of the world visiting TOC.
Lee Jr is a fine example of negative leadership that is forced upon us.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:31:37 +0000

“What Singapore requires is fine tuning of the existing PAP government policies and not total dismantling of these policies and institutions, ”

Isn’t the gov be finetuning the system since independence ? So what happen then ? What is it getting from bad to worse since the old guards gone ? System that give false sense of assurance and securit ?

We can stop fooling ourselves into thinking that system can be finetuned when vision and mission of PAP are no longer there anymore. It has long been about money. You want to finetune money-making business ?

Finetune what when nobody is going to be responsible for the change ? When the oldman and his son and his family’s mindset are still much the same about no free lunch and running Singapore as corporation. Until there is a CLEAR accountability, transparency and responsbility whether for ministar, MPs, old fart, Woody, one can forget about finetuning the crap.

Really? What’s there to finetune when the system already lost its intended purpose.