Please remember this is an ideal which we may not completely reach, but because we have this ideal, we’ll continue to make progress.
MM Lee, on Singapore not being a nation yet
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That’s why at the age of 86 years old, he is still needed as mentor.
Hope he can live as long as possible so that “we’ll continue to make progress”.
I fear the day for SIngapore when he is not around. Hope that my fears are unfounded.
No worries, MM Lee has put his son in place to carry on with the duty of
making Spore a nation. If this cannot be achieved, there is always the grandson to carry on, that’s why he predicted another 40+ years.
ps: MM Lee would have made Spore a nation if not for opposition politicians and the stubborn 34% who did not vote for his PAP. S’pore would have been one big famiLee.
We were on the verge of becoming a nation when LKY introduced ethnicity-based community-help groups (Singa, Mendaki, CDAC, etc), made Malays, Indians and Eurasions feel out of place with his Speak Mandarin campaigns, and open the floodgates to peasant-class mainland Chinese.
How can it be a nation when it is running as monarchy and dynasty when emperor and bunch of expensive Yes-man eunuchs and comforting concubines living in Ivory Palace asking the pleasants to shut up and sit down, and doing as they please and as they like ?
Long live the Emperor of Singapore ! May he find the elixir of immortality that keep him running the dynasty for another 500 years.
“because we have this ideal, we’ll continue to make progress.”
Yeah… there is progress in getting money from citizens. Look at all the flat price now, min CPF sum and annuity. I don’t dispute that it is a great leap forward.
Can a nation be a dynasty and vice versa ? Can a nation be a parking lot ? CAn a nation overrun by foreigners ? Or are we a unique nation know as Leetion ?
LKY is admitting that after half a century of PAP rule, we are still not a nation.
Bravo! Either he has finally humbled himself that he is not god as what his PAPpy followers make him out to be, or he is getting senile, not realising what he said.
Please remember that this is an idea that We should NEVER desire to reach. An ideal of a totalitarian state.
Now, now. here we have a leader who sings, at every of the Nation’s birthday, and captured on tv for the entire nation to see, singing happilly away that we are One people, One NATION, One Singapore. That’s the way that we will be, forevermore!”, now telling us that he does not believe in the words he had been seen singing along to? My, my, what is the word that describes one who bluff, bluff, say things he does not believe in? Oh yes, the word is hypocrite! Now he has proven himself a liar too. How long more can Singaporeans tolerate all these lying?
The Great Leader and Magician is at it again – playing with words to create dreams and illusions. The “ideal” has never been to create a nation. It has always been about $$$ and power for the Family. Nationhood is a dream he dangles before the eyes of the peasants to drive them to toil harder and longer, to spill more sweat, blood and tears so as to keep the $$$ rolling in for the Family, the cronies and the fortunate selected who do the dirty work for him.
wah!
last 2 years ago
leekuanyew boosted so loud
without him
all our sinaporean mothers and sisters
would be maids
without him
the nation reserves would be bankrupt
now he tell us
we are not a nation yet?
if we are not
how come grc goalposts is bein used for ages
plus the kangoroo courts and judges
indeed
we are realLEE
not a nation @ all
the whole country
belon to
HIS familLEE
our cpfs
our swaets
our bloods
and
our ORGANS…….
I will be expecting someone who will pop in here with a few liners proclaiming the magnificence of our Dear Leader…..
oh nw we are playing snake n ladder and we are back where we started..thks to him n his team of untouchables!
Yes, the emperor has spoken. Let us bow down and receive his imperial verdict. WAN SUI WAN SUI WAN WAN SUI.
Let us contribute our money and sweat into building the Palace of the Forbidden Garden for the emperor’s senility retirement.
Credit be due because at least Old Fart like the Emperor Qin manage to build his great Wall. Whereas Qin ShiHuang build physical great wall of China to prevent barbarians and invaders from invasion, our Emperor build invisible great wall of Singapore to prevent “trouble-makers” from questioning and voicing out against the policies and action of Imperial court.
The people have lost the confidence of the government; the government has decided to dissolve the people, and to appoint another one.
Bertolt Brecht
The FTs are the appointed people.
another flip-flop entrant for year end- the “Top 10 Flip-Flop!” of 2009?
:)
There was a miserly and hard-hearted king who was so attached to his kingdom, his wealth, his dynasty, his harem etc;; When he died he was re- born as a dog, many many times over at that same place so he can be close to his former kingdom;;;This is the Law of Karma;;;Everybody is under the influence of this Law, you cannot run away from it;;;From this we know what is in store for the emperor;;What goes around surely must come around.
Of course many are aware Spore is not a nation ! What took you so long
Mr. Mentor to finally admit it ? And may I add you are wrong again to think Spore can be a nation in latter years.
How to ? When you put in place a sham election system, a skewed system of justice, laughable laws + laughable interpretations of such laws, a compliant media with low credibility, 81 stooges as MPs with sucking up skill that is highly prized, policies that disadvantage Spore born males.
When alot of happenings that should not be happenings – are invariably happenings in ways to declassified true nationhood – whats there to talk about being a nation ?
>>”S’pore not a nation yet..”
Sigh…”S’pore ALSO not 1st world country yet….”
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_361920.html
MINISTER Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has urged Singaporeans not to delude themselves that they are a part of the First World in South-east Asia.
not a nation yet? onl ah, in these difficult economic times dun need to celebrate NDP liao. must suggest next few years scrap the event, can save money save loh…
should have an online poll on this!! :)
Of course we’re not a nation yet…we’re not a nation according to how he wants us to be a nation. That’s why he’s been trying to destroy what gives us an identity, like Singlish, like dialects, introducing meritocracy and much more! long live our dear leader! The day Singapore is a nation according to his understanding of “nation,” Singapore will never be a nation.
What Nation?
They can’t even raise the standard of living
matching the Swiss 20 years ago…bark previous PM.
The TOP man must give way.
Then the next top
and next
and next
All Has To Go!!!!
Revamp to whole political system!
Install two party system!
We are a nation. We have shared memories, shared narratives.
The definition of a nation can be as allencompassing as need be, not limited to a standard definition of language, one guiding philosophy et al.
No man can live forever. Just be patient. This nightmare will soon come to pass.
…BUT the good news is that the hours is near when the ‘almighty’ sounds ever more urgent and loud.
So then is NDP going ahead still?
I think MM is planning to let his grandson succeed, perhaps with a plan for a seat warmer to take over LHL for 5 to 10 years.
Singapore is a political dynasty or the wikipedia calls it a hybrid regime with human rights ranked amongst the worst or bottom 20.
A nation? when?
For 50 long years and it is just an IDEAL???? this is indeed a very expensive one to follow hah?? at the expense of the suffering citizens losing all their hard earned sweat and blood cpf $$$ and still have to pay through their nose just to get a decent home??? My oh my, I think the whole system is going to collapse soon. Why not just sell the entire country to the foreigner since it is just an ideal of yours??? even if you can still fooled those stupid ones still believed your words, there is still a God up there looking at you.
Who can or is the person to DETERMINE if singapore is a Nation yet?
Can comfom comfom or not?
Dun worry, if singapore is really not yet a nation,
one day in future, the FATHER of singapore the nation will be born and be remembered in the history books of tomorrow.
We need a new holiday!!! asap.
Singapore’s Pledge
We, the citizens of Singapore
Pledge ourselves as one united people
Regardless of race, language or religion
To build a democratic society
Based on justice and equality
So as to achieve happiness, prosperity & progress for OUR NATION…
HOW NOW??? not yet a nation…
it is a dynasty, thats why.
In fact Singapore is now drifting away from what is called NATION. I do not feel the bond between me and the country. I feel that I am being short changed. I bet there are many others who do feel that too. I am worried that my future children will suffer more. I do not want my children to serve National Service as there is no significant difference between being a Singaporean and a foreigner. i.e. given the same job opportunity, education…
Why should I make so much sacrifice when the gahman refuse to do more for Singaporean?
Worse of all, I maybe move to Johor when I am old and useless. This is the signal being sent. I have noted it down.
to 32) ,man against the tank.
I am certain the oldguards in the early 60s to 80s had this ideal of making Spore a nation, and thus made the pledge worth reciting.
Fast forward and what do we see ? One oldfart clinging on to power using his son as proxy and a seat warmer to facilitate the illusion he gave up power.
As someone had mentioned, all the systems put in place by the oldfart is not going to make Spore a nation. Ultimately It is the people that decides whether Spore becomes a nation and not the ambition of one despot and his stooges.
Let us put the definition of ‘Nation’ to the test to see if we are a Nation or not.
According to the online Encarta Dictionary, there are three definitions which we can examine: Are we a;
1. people in land under single government: a community of people or peoples living in a defined territory and organized under a single government?
Passed. We most certainly have a defined territory and is organized under a single government.
2. group with common interest: a group of people united by a common interest?.
Passed. We are definitely united by a common interest to build a better life for ourselves and our children in this small piece of land we call home.
3. people of same ethnicity: a community of people who share a common ethnic origin, culture, historical tradition, and, frequently, language, whether or not they live together in one territory or have their own government?
I will mark this a ‘Passed’ even though we are a melting pot that comprises people from different races and ethnicity. The ‘passed’ mark is based on the government’s own assessment that we are a religiously-, culturally- and racially-harmonious people, able to live happily alongside one another.
Why then does MM sees it fit to describe us a non-Nation? I think I know the answer. It is somewhere in definition #3, and it has to do with the foreigners we have been welcoming with open arms, and who now poses a new problem with integration with the locals. We have therefore regressed from being a Nation to a non-Nation, simply because the new citizens have yet to find themselves accepted as part of our community.
This must be MM’s lamentation, and the fault does not lie with Singaporeans but with the PAP government who continues to not only bring in every Tom, Dick, Harry but every Muthu, xiao hua, Viet Cong and Maung Maung.
We do not have a regressive people but a very regressive PAP leadership.
I want a refund of my book “From 3rd to 1st” …
after listening to Obama – I can’t wait for him to move on so that Singaporeans can get a new role model. We need one.
Guess only the blog can refute his claim, no where else would anyone make a noise.
It’s like a curry chicken recipe gone wrong:
PAP cook #1: Eh, how come this pot of curry chicken got no taste one?
PAP cook#2 (dips his finger into the pot & licks it): Yah hor. Liddat how ah?
(Not realizing that they did not put enough curry spices, salt & coconut milk)
PAP cook#1: Ne’ mind. I got left-over turkey from last year’s Christmas party, chicken tikka masala, bits of Peking duck, carrots and turnips. All put inside and see how.
My first thought was also the kind of songs we sing during national day. It’s not just one song with lyrics highlighting us as a nation for years. Time to read the his lips if (not when) the media closes up on him this national day because I understand that they would have to say the pledge : “……….so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation”
“after listening to Obama – I can’t wait for him to move on so that Singaporeans can get a new role model. We need one.”
You just may get you asking for. We may get LeeBaMa after Oldman’s demise and replacement of clown prince. How about the son of clown prince ?
- When you ask for voice, you get NCP, NCMP that represents only Voice (power ? What power ? Porky Power ?)
- When you ask for MAS to take action, you get MAS to ban FI selling product when nobody buying anyway, instead of asking FI to fully compensate for the scam.
- So going by the track record of the clowns, you will just get Singapore version of Obama, aka LeeBaMa, that just likely do nothing but trying to convince lesser mortal to eat cake and bitter medicine for their own good.
The ideal is to ensure certain people secure the seats of Singapore parliament. Then ideally, they need to be paid big bucks so they have no inclination to be corrupted. Next, ideally, with more perks they should show some competency in leading Singapore as first ASEAN country out of recession. Ideally, Singaporeans will embraced FT/FWs as saviours to the country’s woes in shortage of manpower & talents brought about by an ideal 2.1 birth rate with the “2-is-enough” policy years back (meaning, ideally, 9 couples will have 2 kids and the 10th couple have 3. Ideally, these couples should be graduates but I think that criteria has been dropped with the short-cut of using FTs). Next, ideally… “… because we have this ideal, we’ll continue to make progress.”
Oh, we are sure moving towards somebody’s ideal of an “ideal nation” alright, say ideally GIVE them another 50 years?
@ 37) gemami,
thanks for sharing your thoughts.
My own take on point 2. ‘group with common interest ‘ should be the contents in our national pledge. The late Rajaratnam showed his wisdom when he crafted the pledge. It will take care of point 3.
The question is after 50 years, are we closer to the ideals in the pledge ?
The old man knows better than to fool himself even though he has fooled many.
Why? Why/ Why? does our MM Lee made this comment???? I think he too old to continue. Please MM Lee. Step down and enjoy your rest of life in peace before you are fired in the next election.
So folks, we should know what to do in the next election.
Long Live the oppositions!!!!!
Singapore is in a tough position now. Thousands out of work, prices rising, no end to the recession in sight.
But this is when the resilience of THE NATION will be put to the test — if we recognise ourselves as being part of a nation.
Are we a nation? Not sure. We seem to be speaking with a diversity of tongues, with lots of foreigners not able to speak English — the language that links the nation.
Sure, we must retain our racial identity — Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian, Filipino, Vietnamese, etc etc — and make sure the future genrations know their origin. But English will provide the cement that will help forge a nation.
Take the case of the United States. Americans are proud to be Americans but they also make sure they and their descendants do not forget their roots.
But all new migrants have to know English so that they have a good start integrating into American society.
We could look to the US for clues to help build our own nation called Singapore.
Much has been said in the press in recent times about Singapore being in the league of First World Nations and comparable with some of the best cities in the world as a choice environment to set up or conduct business, or to live in. Economic indicators such as per capita income, GDP, growth rates etc have been trotted out regularly and we have been celebrating our Nation’s birthday with pomp and pride every year for the past 40 + years.
So if Singapore not a nation yet, according to MM Lee, what then is Singapore and what precisely have we been calling ourselves in the past, since becoming a republic, in 1965?
MM Lee, please accept the fact that you have joined the fast growing club of senile people in Singapore.
maybe S’pore is really $’pore INC?
S + I = $
hahhaa….
big boss will hand over the business to his son. “life must go on” sounds like “business as usual”…
:)
Singapore is not a nation yet, so come the NDP we must sing “1 country, 1 ppl and 1 Lee family.”
we are like a cowboy town instead of a nation. it’s every man for himself here. survival of the fittest….. or richest.