Wednesday, September 16, 2009 20:41
Passion And Patriotism (PAP)
In Main Stories, Top Story • 2,598 views • 91 Comments
TOC wishes MM Lee Kuan Yew a happy 86th birthday and thanks him for his nation-building endeavour.
Ravi Philemon
“It is difficult for him not to interfere,” said Mr Goh Chok Tong as he took over from Mr Lee Kuan Yew as the Prime Minister of Singapore in 1990. Whether one likes him or not, no one can deny that this Cambridge-trained barrister who has promised to get up even from his sick bed or while being lowered into his grave, if he feels something is wrong with Singapore, has left an indelible mark in the modern history of Singapore.
A Stroll down Memory Lane
Mr Lee probably was politically awakened while he worked as a clerk and later as a cable editor at a Japanese propaganda agency during World War II. In his late 20s, Mr Lee joined Laycock & Ong and he campaigned for his boss John Laycock, a Singapore Progressive Party leader, in 1951. During this period, he became increasingly involved in a number of left-wing cases.
Whatever his detractors may say, there is no denying that if there is one quality this man had, it is the one called passion – Passion with a capital P.
Mr Lee never charged for the legal services he provided the unions. Former Straits Times news editor Felix Abisheganaden, who was acquainted with Mr Lee in the 1950s and 1960s, noted that he hardly ever charged the unions for his work. “You can never say that he was ever in his life after any kind of financial gain – never, never, never.” His stint in London, his involvement in the Malayan Forum and the influence of the British Labour Party had taught him that he had to be pro-labour and build his network power base through the trade unions. Right from the start, noted former People’s Action Party (PAP) chairman Toh Chin Chye, “It was the unions that provided the mass base. Lee Kuan Yew was the legal advisor, so he had a mass base.”
It was but the passion of Mr Lee and the team he led (with the likes of Mr Toh Chin Chye, Mr S Rajaratnam, Mr Goh Keng Swee and Mr S Devan Nair), which enabled PAP to sweep the 1959 general elections. It was his passion which persuaded the Malayan premier and leader of the Alliance Party, to include Singapore in the merger. It was his passion which caused him to campaign for a ‘Malaysian Malaysia’; and again, it was Mr Lee passion which was the major reason for the separation of Singapore from Malaysia.
“The ousting of Singapore, despite what history books might say, are anything but cordial,” says Mr M.G.G. Pillai in his article “Did Lee Kuan Yew want Singapore ejected from Malaysia?” Mr Pillai writes that Mr Lee then being in his 40s was brash. This prompted Tunku Abdul Rahman to condition that if Singapore were to remain a part of Malaysia, Mr Lee had got to get out of the picture. That was a condition which was too unacceptable to consider, even for an impassioned Mr Lee.
Maybe it was the ouster of Singapore from Malaysia which kindled Mr Lee to prove that Singapore could not only survive without Malaysia, but could also do better than Malaysia. Perhaps Mr Lee envisioned Singapore to be him and him to be Singapore; and driven by Napoleon Complex Mr Lee strived to keep Singapore ‘up there’, whatever the cause was. It’s highly possible that he had something to prove to those who ‘pooh-poohed’ his ideal of a ‘Malaysian Malaysia’.
The Present
Fast forward to the year 2009 and we find a Mr Lee who is still impassioned about Singapore. Recently he found it necessary to “bring the House back to earth” for their highfalutin idea that the Singapore National Pledge was an ideal. It was an aspiration he said – not an ideal. Never mind that the pledge is neither an ideal nor an aspiration, but a promise; “Nobody can speak with the knowledge that I have”, he said.
But what Mr Lee failed to realise was that the Nominated Member of Parliament, who tabled a motion calling for the House to reaffirm its commitment to the principles enshrined in the Singapore National Pledge, was actually echoing the call Mr Lee Kuan Yew made decades ago; only this time for a ‘Singaporean Singapore’. Did the ouster from Malaysia turn this man into a convert of cold-eyed pragmatism, which prescribes that there are no ideals except the ideal of pragmatism?
From his days as a cable editor of the Japanese propaganda machine, through his years as an agitator for independence from Britain, to the merger and (soon after) ouster from Malaysia; from his time spent talking to the Americans during the Vietnam years to his role as a confidant of China’s leadership, Mr Lee has seen it all. And more importantly, he has raised a generation of pragmatists.
But in a rapidly changing world, pragmatism does not fire the imagination of many, especially the young. Singapore craves for a leader with the “bring back to earth” kind of charisma that Mr Lee possesses; but charisma which is tempered with humanity. Pragmatism sadly can never breed such a leader.
Mr Pillai argues in his article that “Singapore will eventually have to merge with Malaysia, but as an adjunct of Johore”, when Johor stops supplying water to Singapore. Perhaps we need problems of such magnitude to throw up true patriots like our founding fathers – patriots like Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
Happy birthday Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
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91 Comments
lust for power
blackfeline
Passion? More like unquenching thirst for blood!
dude
Very well written article imo, a well summarized but revealing insight into the man who ’shaped’ modern Singapore.
Yes Lee Kuan Yew is truly one passionate man – passionate about power that is.
“Mr Lee never charged for the legal services he provided the unions. Former Straits Times news editor Felix Abisheganaden, who was acquainted with Mr Lee in the 1950s and 1960s, noted that he hardly ever charged the unions for his work. “You can never say that he was ever in his life after any kind of financial gain – never, never, never.”
You’re right, he never did because he didn’t need to. By then he was already in the Progressive Party building up his political career. He was always an ambitious person. When the Rendel Constitution expanded the electoral rolls to include all local-born as voters, resulting in a significant increase in Chinese voters, LKY decided to form the PAP and contest in elections.
I’ve actually written about this at http://secretpoliticalblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/is-lee-kuan-yew-more-interested-in.html
austenfan
There is a classic book entiled “PAP” written by Jane Austen.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that an old man in possession of too much fortune must be in want of more power.
Donaldson
5) austenfan on September 16th, 2009 9.53 pm
There is a classic book entiled “PAP” written by Jane Austen.
It is “Pride And Prejudice”. Haha…
KJ
@Austenfan and Donaldson: How about “Pillage and Plunder”? : )
Yamamoto
4) Secret Political Blog
“Mr Lee never charged for the legal services he provided the unions. Former Straits Times news editor Felix Abisheganaden, who was acquainted with Mr Lee in the 1950s and 1960s, noted that he hardly ever charged the unions for his work. “You can never say that he was ever in his life after any kind of financial gain – never, never, never.”
Well, look at William Henry Gates III, Gates bought QDOS, for $50,000, renamed it DOS, improved it, and licensed it to IBM for a low per-copy royalty fee. Earning peants at that time, but it establish Microsoft as the leading operating system provider and on its way toward PC industry domination and Bill Gates became the world richest man.
So what does this tell us, with all due respect to Bill Gates, but it tell us that something given at the start for free will go a long way in generating goodies. Or it can be like chinese saying “putting out a long line to catch a big fish”
city of constantly changing weather
I think, having a title like “Passion and Patriotism (PAP)” gives the impression that
1 – the PAP stands for ‘passion’ and ‘patriotism’ :)
2 – LKY is PAP
3 – PAP is Singapore
4 – LKY is Singapore.
5 – which just render the words ‘passion’ and ‘patriotism’ rather meaningless.
It’s quite naive, to kick in an own goal like that.
X man
@ austenfan, Donaldson, KJ
PAP = Persecute and Prosecute
manKhan
“promised to get up even from his sick bed or while being lowered into his grave, if he feels something is wrong with Singapore,”
haha… good joke…
NotQuiteSo
Think about it. During the Japanese occupation, Lee Kuan Yew works for the Japanese. I mean what kind of Chinese people works for the Japanese then when the Japanese were mass killing the Chinese. We call people like this “Han Jian” (Chinese traitor). Who knows whether a person of such kind of “integrity” will ever betray the Singaporean for his own survivor and benefit or not?
AdmirabLee
“cable editor at a Japanese propaganda agency during World War II. ”
Thanks to Ravi for this informative and well written piece.
As a long time follower of LKY, I am constantly impressively amazed by his capabilities – i din know he worked for a Jappy agency before! Did he know how to translate jap into england?
I wish him best health and sincere regards to the wife as well.
Somebody
My god, I thought I had stumbled upon the National Education website.
Impassioned? How about power hungry?
A P
Hitler also has Passion and Patriotism
Shihan
nice one Ravi. :-)
Hahaha
I also hope that he will stay alive for a long, long, time. Long enough to see
1. mini Lee kicked out of his PM spot,
2. any skeletons in his political-closet becomes widely known, and
3. his family’s 3rd generation will known the shame of his extended family’ misdeeds to Singapore citizens.
preston loon
Dear MM LEE,
Singapore can never again find another you.Perhaps,some one may
come along in the near future could imitate you but you can never be duplicated.Your presence in this little red dot is once in a thousand year and is for a reason.Nothing is by chance.We know you have been trying hard for this last 15 yrs,pondering how you wanted to shape Singapore for the future to come.Alas!.a man cannot be a measure for all things.Why not let our future set its own course.
Like an Englishman used to say,”i take my hat off to you.”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE ONE AND ONLY LEE KUAN YEW.
Preston Loon.
Gemami
Singaporeans must start to be passionate about their country and to use that passion to ensure that Singapore will always belong to Singaporeans.
Oxford Dude
Pride And Prejudice
Passion And Patriotism
Pay And Pay
Pillage And Plunder
Persecute And Prosecute
LOL
gemami
“You can never say that he was ever in his life after any kind of financial gain – never, never, never.” : Felix Abisheganaden.
Perhaps it is true that LKY never did go after any kind financial gains, or is it?. He is way smarter than that. That’s why this comment by Felix shows up the dumb ass Felix is – for telling us that LKY was never after any kind of financial gains.
LKY knew that with absolute control of power, all these other gains will automatically fall in place and comes under his mercy to indulge himself as he may. We saw this in the latter years of his political involvement. He got back what he had lost in the early years of his political career – many, many, many times more than the peanuts he would have charged for his legal services back then.
To think Felix can even claim to have known the man from the 50s to the 60s. He knows nothing about him because must have been blinded by the aura of his presence all the time.
There were many other politicians in the early days of Singapore’s political landscape who were passionate about what they thought was best for Singapore. Passions with capital Ps were all over the infant island. It just so happened that one man was able to destroy all these other Ps and took to seeing that his was the only P that mattered.
How Singapore became the worst for it is now felt throughout this same tiny island. We never grew out of our infancy eversince.
Oxford Dude
gemami #21,
Let’s just say the man changed over the course of his entire political life.
jon
Describing Lee selling out to the Japs AND calling him a patriot?!??
Something is wrong with this article. It is not about passion per se, but passion for what and to what end.
A few small points:
Lee was Cambridge- not London-trained
Rajaratnam, not Rajaretnam
strove, not strived
the usage of ‘condition’ and ‘kindled’ are ungrammatical
And the following para says nothing:
“It was but the passion of Mr Lee and the team he led (with the likes of Mr Toh Chin Chye, Mr S Rajaretnam, Mr Goh Keng Swee and Mr S Devan Nair), which enabled PAP to sweep the 1959 general elections. It was his passion which persuaded the Malayan premier and leader of the Alliance Party, to include Singapore in the merger. It was his passion which caused him to campaign for a ‘Malaysian Malaysia’; and again, it was Mr Lee passion which was the major reason for the separation of Singapore from Malaysia.”
I would have preferred some substantiation.
gemami
He sure did, Oxford Dude.
Our only hope now is for him to meet the other P – Rest In Peace.
Stranger
I pity those who cannot see that the writer is not actually writing about Lee Kuan Yew, but about, “Singapore craves for a leader with the “bring back to earth” kind of charisma that Mr Lee possesses; but charisma which is tempered with humanity. Pragmatism sadly can never breed such a leader.”
Oxford Dude
23) jon on September 17th, 2009 8.10 am
strove, not strived
the usage of ‘condition’ and ‘kindled’ are ungrammatical
“Strove” is American while “Strived” is British. I prefer to keep to British English.
Why are the use of the 2 words ungrammatical? “Condition” is also a verb while “kindled” is synonym to “aroused”.
23) jon on September 17th, 2009 8.10 am
I think ’strove’ and ’strived’ are both acceptable, no? Agree with you on the other grammar points you raise though.
As for the para you cite, I think substantiation is not necessary as that is not the point of this article – I daresay the whole article is one backhanded compliment.
Daniel
PAP is a great study and reference of what modern corruption is all about. One that use compliant system, kangaroo law and media to hide its echelon corruption. I expect a lot of books will be critically analyzing and expose the regime once old fart meet his maker.
Daniel
“Describing Lee selling out to the Japs AND calling him a patriot?!??”
Why not ? How about been a Japan Patriot not Singapore patriot ?
U see that old fart is a opportunist devoid of principle. He will go whatever to ensure his own survival. Betrayal is not in his dictionary.
tango
Can’t believe TOC would write such a one-sided and skewed article. The writer omitted many important facts about how PAP wheeled and dealed its way (resulting in the destruction of lives) to come into power.
Shame on you, TOC!
UselessReasoning
So, it is true that Lee Kuan Yew was a traitor.
What a joke? Singapore was led by a traitor and now by the family of the traitor.
HONKYTONKYMAN
Looks like PKMS has taken over the role of providing amusement and clown from CSJ….
hellomotto
Is this a copy and paste article from the Straits Times?
Pros
–> 10) X man on September 16th, 2009 10.32 pm
@ austenfan, Donaldson, KJ
PAP = Persecute and Prosecute
Time to set up a new PAP – Persecute the Prostitutes.
Oxford Dude
33) hellomotto on September 17th, 2009 11.25 am
Is this a copy and paste article from the Straits Times?
Do you guys know what a backhanded compliment is?
anakin
A dictator will always claim the country will fail if he is not at the helm. U need strong and focused govt to keep the country together, they will always say. So many examples in history, eg Suharto, Marcos, etc. But what actually happens after they are toppled, nothing, life goes on.
nothoodwinked
You can never say that he was ever in his life after any kind of financial gain – never, never, never.” : Felix Abisheganaden.
nothoodwinked
“You can never say that he was ever in his life after any kind of financial gain – never, never, never.” : Felix Abisheganaden.
Sly and crafty people are always good in business, and in politics as well.
The are never magnanimous.
Perhaps Felix is naived to know that he is staging for better thing to come
:political power and with it every thing would fall into place
The great Deng Xiaoping only received $80 salary. Of course, he did get a government house and all the other necessities to live a decent life from the state. But he did not yearn for more. And he did step down from power.
Anonymous
“Dictators are rulers who always look good until the last ten minutes.” – Jan Masaryk
Same for their sycophants who will then jump ship or switch side.
Yue Fei
Dear MM
I personally wish you good health and happiness in life.
some wishes from Singaporean
1) Please treat us as adults, some of us are even older than your PM son
2) Don’t cramp on our CPF and dont tell us that we dont know how to manage our OWN $$
Your daughter in-law and her troops did noyt manage the citizen’s money in getting into BUY HIGH SELL LOW strategy, losses that may only recouped in 20, 30 or 40 years later, by then you dont see it, many of us dont see it and who knows it will happen at all ?
3) Don’t frighten us that without PAP Singapore will fall
I think, a 15 to 20 seats for opposition will make PAP a better govt , maybe to extend the PAP rule till 2109 !
4) Dont use tax payers ‘ money as ransom to tax payers by with-holding basic hosung upgarding and facilities. Didn’t we say we are all Singaporean ?
5) Stop the political narrow mindset of ” IF You are NOT with me, then you are AGAINST me”. George W Bush did badly in that
6) Don’t let the PAP inner circle grow uncontrolled, Singapore is ALL SINGAPOREAN’s Singapore
7) Do a sanity check
a) How many of your ministers can really do a CEO job in PRIVATE sector ( GIC dont count, please )
b) Can a 80+years lawyer still earns $3.78M a year ?
c) How many of the PAP back-door MP can stand and defend the criticism with voters face to face, ( of cos, hire body guards so no more acid attacks ), also
d) Do your MP really have the rapport with Singaporean ?
8) Last but not least, go sympathize people about your age, and help them with more gracious aid… $243 a month welfare is not a crime, it is a shame and a sin, that is one hour salary of the big gun of govt big shots
9) Please be gracious, treat your opponents with respect, they are no more Marxists ( whom u deal them a blow ), they are no more communists ( whom we are making friends with in middle kingdom ) and [ by the way, don't you see the communist China infiltrate Singapore by disguising as foreign talents ?]
Pls, no more Gomez saga in future GE, we want debate of ideas, prep your young PAP to convince us with ideas and not authoritative tones.
With the above 9 wishes, we ish you have a long life , 9999 !
tango
From this article, ia not clear that the writer is totally ignorant of contemporary history of Singapore?
Observer (SG-HK)
MM is a person who does not get bothered by criticism as he is one who strongly believe in what he does with conviction (whether it is with popular demand “rarely” or authoritative means, the latter is more likely). Whatever it is, you have got to give this man credit where it is due. However, I so wished he will let go and leave it to the younger generation to run this nation without interfering even if the younger generation fumble along the way. Yes, the younger generations of leaders do not have the same level of passion and fire, but if you deprive the kid of growing up process and continue to shelter under stormy weather, there just can’t be enough passion and diction in these kids to pick up where you left off when your time is up.
Does historical record always project the full truth of the events? Histories only gives us a macro view of the events capture in time, the details are so often inadvertently or deliberately left out.
For whatever he had done with or without the help of the old guards (not forgetting the many fellow older generation of Singaporeans who had given him the support and made countless sacrifices); I believe common citizenry are capable of making their judgment.
Anyway, here’s wishing MM Lee a healthy 86. It is not easy to survive two bypass operations and why keep on burdening yourself? It’s time to rest. You can’t watch over the shoulders forever. 天下没有不散的宴席。
Sincerely,
Observer (SG-HK)
Observer (SG-HK)
apology for typo errors..the following
“there just can’t be enough passion and diction in these kids to pick up where you left off when your time is up.” should read as
“there just can’t be enough passion and gumption in these kids to pick up where you left off when your time is up. ”
Sincerely,
Observer (SG-HK)
I think you can argue against the fact that modern Singapore would not be what it is today without the leadership of MM Lee and his early team. Yes, it is ironic that the man credited with Modern Singapore actually spent his early years campaigning for “Malaysian Malaysia,” and thought the idea of Independent Singapore was “Ridiculous.” However, when you look at what he and his team did for Singapore, it has been by and large good.
However, how much longer can Singapore last as MM Lee’s creation? Isn’t it time he actually allowed the Minister’s brought up in his system to get on with the job without any “Mentoring.” Seriously, it reflects badly on the last two governments that they’ve seemingly required him to actually stick around and be mentored.
I also think that as good as MM Lee has been, we need to move away from the idea that he’s God. Yes, his leadership was an important part of building modern Singapore but he didn’t do it alone. If one understands the basics of our history, one will realise that it was guys like Goh Keng Swee who did the real work.
I get a little frustrated because LKY in his day was a decent leader who brought talented people together in a united vision. He provided the vision, but allowed people to work. He actually admits that he had arguments with his colleagues – shock and horror, LKY had the courage to argue with people.
Today, nobody dares to argue – life is filled with people how bow down the moment he whispers something. You don’t need the old man to enact a harsh law – some bureaucrat will do before being asked to just because he thinks it may score brownie points.
To me, this is not the Lee Kuan Yew who made modern Singapore prosperous.
Albino Kangaroo
Actually, a lot of mabe’s.
The fact is Life is uncertain and no one really knows. Eg. the economic crashes no one see it coming to be able to prevent it. Your guess is as good as mine, a uneducated joe.
I mean, no one will know, can know or knows how different singapore would have been if the vote was casted in favor of the other guy.
No one knows. And I dare anyone to challenge me on this. Anyone.
Albino Kangaroo
So, no one knows and people should say they dont know.
Anything else is guessing even if with full conviction. That is at best an educated guess. Technically, still a form of guessing. There is no proof. Zilch. Nothing. Emptiness. Vacuum.
patriot
Hi Oxford Dude #20:
May i add Postiche and Pompous to your list(at#20)
patriot
gemami
Hi @46) Albino Kangaroo,
One cannot live based on what one does not know and your challenge to prove that Singapore would either be a better or worse place than it is now is a worthless one.
The fact of life, though uncertain – and therefore beautiful – is what challenges generations upon generations of mankind. No one can be certain of anything until it has passes, and this is where our focus ought to be.
For example, we knew what LKY wanted in the early days of our history. We have repeatedly heard every word uttered by him and we have taken his words into our hearts and minds, even as we try not to hear them.
From what we have seen and heard from him and of him, we can turn uncertainty into certainty. We see how the generations of new leaders that come after him are struggling to lead the people with his shadow looming large and fearful behind them. When these new leaders are continuing to be subservient to him, his words and ideas, it can only mean that we, the people become just as subservient – existing to serve only the man’s notion of what’s good and what’s bad.
There is certainty in this – we will never make the kind of progress we know we can.
OnlineShmonline
@ 41) Yue Fei
My hat’s off to you. Your wishlist of needs is something many of us desire.
Sadly, it’s unlikely the PAP will pay much heed to you…after all, if it’s not broken (for the PAP), don’t fix it. I also do not believe the current batch of likely opposition candidates would be able to contribute much other than an opposing voice. What I want to see are clear plans they may have – sadly, they’re hamstrung by a PAP govt that clearly ransoms opposition wards with limited funds and a judiciary perceived to be kow-towing to Mr Lee and company.
Having attended a few Young PAP sessions, I noted that there are some very driven people who seem to believe in the ‘if you’re not with us, you’re against us’ ideology. That is very scary…I am for Singapore doing better, being better for our future, for our children’s future.
OnlineShmonline
Just a thought. If an independant candidate applied for a MP post, why does he get very little support? Is it because we don’t know what he’s about? It doesn’t help that ST only proclaims his flaws and the shortfalls of his plans. How might TOC be able to help?
TOC,
perhaps, you could offer an alternative website where interested and possible candidates could begin to prep their profiles before the PAP announces when they want everyone to vote for PAP. You could definitely charge for this service as election budget should allow for it…assuming the Elections Department decide this is illegal (in order to control media access?)
Better yet, a Singapore political wikipedia…any volunteers?
Wee SK
Credit shd also go to all S’poreans who sticked ard since 1965 to get what we have today. I shd think too much credit has gone to 1 person who may not replicate the same thing even if he had inherited an independent Sri Lanka or any other country. It is basically down to the average person who was wiling to slog it out, to give it a shot to a newly independent country 44 yrs old. Now we are going to hand all of these on a silver platter to foreigners.
True Patriot Down South
I can never understand how through all these years people can calmly mention that Mr Lee worked for the Japanese in a highly sensitive position without skipping a beat. Maybe I am ill informed or have been totally confused with the concept but does that not make him a collaborator? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have kinsmen who DIED fighting and disobeying the Japanese invaders so yeah, I would think it reasonable to say that calling Mr Lee a patriot is a rather bad joke to say the least.
Triple Threat
39)
He did not step down from power. He died in 1997. All the while he was the Chinese Premier.
Merobok
Passion degenerated to crave for power!
Qin2 Kuai2
Ref: 53) True Patriot Down South on September 17th, 2009
3 years ago, in a foreign affair forum chaired by a reputated Journalist Ruan 次山, organized by Lian He Zao Bao, a public member raised a similar question, the Chinese newspaper did not published and the question of MM’s mysterious role in WW 2 went unanswered.
The question is, without Japanese language education, how did a 19 years old be trusted by the occupation force to work as a “translator” ?
This is not a joke, i think it is Singaporean’s desire to know the truth !
Agent008
53) True Patriot Down South
I am very bothered by this as well, simply because a leopard never changes its spot. He will betray anybody or anything for his own gain when he comes to it, and we have seen it in the past (operation coldstore) and many times esp of late that he succumbed to his weakness of betrayal to his own country men & women in order for his power to survive.
Yamamoto
I still remember back in the 90s, i saw a “comic” that talk about some history of singapore. They were selling it in school and somehow there is one part that tries to portray LKY as a hero. who was nearly round up and manage to escape….
anybody remember it?
tiredsingaporean
#53) True Patriot Down South
This power hungry old man is becoming more and more dangerous person to the nation and its people. All opp members and parties please do something before he sell off the entire nation to the foreigner.
Sam Thong Fire
#59,
why u so pissed? just because Temasek’s portfolio value falls 30% on-year ?
But that is Temasek what. Not the old man waht.
GIC how ah?
mice is nice
most of us are getting PAP…
Poorer And Poorer?
lol…
notalone
56) Qin2 Kuai2 on September 17th, 2009 7.49 pm
The question is, without Japanese language education, how did a 19 years old be trusted by the occupation force to work as a “translator” ?
===============
LKY memoir did mention about him attending a few months Japanese Language lessons, but that was UPON Japanese ‘arrival’. In no time he got to work as a translator on the cable job that intercepted highly sensitive communication signals of the British troops and its allies.
And when he got the first hand information of impending Japanese defeat, he quickly left the job (without official resignation) and went off to ‘quiet places’ for long vacation, followed by his higher education in Cambridge.
Super duper shrewd fellow!
WHAT THE...?!
Patriotism my foot. For a person who lets foreigners invade our country freely, I consider him a greater problem than people like Mas Selamat.
Nicely written, Ravi.
travelagentnotsecretagent
leekuanyew is the most passionate man in the HOLE of singapoor
whenever singapoor in trouble..leekuanyew is never aroun
from the riots to the strike versus the bird flu..pig diseaes and without a doubt the sar flus as well to the extend of convertin a flyin sia ambulance in 48 hours turnaroun and his last best passion? fired the sia chief pilot negotiator and deport him to australia…
that is leekuanyew passion..remember that..it will alway be there
Economist
60) Sam Thong Fire
“why u so pissed? just because Temasek’s portfolio value falls 30% on-year ?”
Why should I be pissed? Ho Ching says:
<>
Let’s just hope they don’t get more “comfortable”
Economist
Opps Ho’s words were missing:
“So as far as we’re concerned, we’re in a fairly comfortable position”
OnlineShmonline
@ 62) notalone
I’m sorry, you’re allowing HIS memoirs to tell you the actual account of what transpired, as opposed to simply being his version of what happened?
If this was a financial audit of a company, it would be like the director telling everyone that he never defrauded anyone and claiming that’s enough due diligence. You have to go to the source. Sadly, more and more of those of his age are dead or would not make reliable witnesses…is there anyone left alive to share the truth?
Murder She Wrote
#68
words of wisdom.
XD
Ravi Philemon, you have showed your true colours in this article. Shame on you for promoting this endorsement of a non-democratic dictator.
blue
But in a rapidly changing world, pragmatism does not fire the imagination of many, especially the young.
Absolutely right in the context of the statement above. The young of today is living in a make belief world, living the high life when they hardly can afford it, wanting the sky when they haven’t learn to walk. Being pragmatic is having your feet planted on the ground.
The founding leaders of Singapore were a pragmatic lot dealing with actual situations on the ground that had got us to where we are today. The future leaders have to deal with the young of today. Where do we go from here?
Stranger
XD@70, this is a loaded article. lots of subtlities. Especially aimed at someone who has a hatchet in his bag and fights with knuckle-dusters.
Yue Fei
62) notalone on September 18th, 2009 1.23 am
Hello,
Anyone who knows the characteristics and culture of Japanese, you would know that they would never trust outsiders to do highly confidential work especially in a war time.
So, why should they trust the 19 years bright kid ?
and MM said, he went hiding after he noticed that Japanese military police in WW2 Kempeitai trailed him… how capable was he to escape from the notorious Kempeitai, while more than 50,000 Singaporean adults were arrested and died in massacre ?
There are plenty of loopholes in his story
Do you notice that in past 44 years since Singapore gained indeoendent, our relationship with Japan was super good and hardly a demand for war compensation except we begged them to come in for investment ?
collaborator
Put aside his later life and anything he did afterward, his war time collaboration was truly disgusting. I wonder if any other the tranlation work he did inevitably led to the torture and death of any of his countrymen.
grundig
Singapore was not built by one man.
Daniel
“I wonder if any other the tranlation work he did inevitably led to the torture and death of any of his countrymen.”
What do you think one can translate during WW2 ? Translating Japanese literature work to English ? Or translating Chinese informer/traiter information to Japanese killer that lead to the capture and death of Singapore patriots ?
tamtomo
LKY is afflicted with P.P.S. – Post Power Syndrome.
The Singapore Daily » Blog Archive » Daily SG: 17 Sep 2009
[...] – Sgpolitics.net: Men In White — Another example of PAP’s “managed dissent” strategy – TOC: Passion And Patriotism (PAP) – Rachel Zeng’s blog: Just for [...]
True Patriot Down South
58) Yamamoto on September 17th, 2009 9.05 pm I still remember back in the 90s, i saw a “comic” that talk about some history of singapore. They were selling it in school and somehow there is one part that tries to portray LKY as a hero. who was nearly round up and manage to escape….
anybody remember it?
———————————————————————————————————–
Yes it was a “Historical” comic (title was along the lines of riding the tiger or taming the tiger) allegedly about Singapore’s stuggle for independance.
The book was basically the Mr.Lee/PAP version of your typical Marvel Super Hero comic what with all those bulging muscles. They may as well have dressed him up in a red cape with the cresent moon and stars.
Anyway……about Mr.Lee escaping from the sook ching round up and subsequent massacre, it seemed that according to Mr.Lee’s on account, he managed to get away after being gathered with the other chinese at the holding area by fooling a Japanese guard into allowing him to go home to retrive some personal belongings and never returning. Now lets put this into perspective:
1. Most of us guys have been in the SAF. Even as a soldier in wayang outfit like the SAF will you let anyone go just like that after all the bloody effort taken to round the whole lot up?
2. What belongings? As far as historical accounts by survivors go, they were told to bring only a limited food supply, perhaps a few articles of clothing. Can you imagine a Japanese soldier saying :’ oh poor thing, you did not follow our instructions and came empty handed? its ok, run along and get it now.’
3. People who were not massacred were given a crude pass stamped on their body or a piece of cloth or paper which will allow them minimum restricted safe passage and some freedom to move around (not always of course). Having run away Mr.Lee would not have had a valid pass but amazingly he not only managed to survive but also obtain employment with the Japanese!
Total BS if you ask me. Smells like a ton of fish left in the sun.
Another fact about Mr Lee’s conduct during WW2: He was a Black marketeer
selling tapioca-based glue called Stikfas. Now we all know that in times of hardship more often than not the black market is all about exploitation. Who do you think were his products aimed at?
Someone fetch a lynch rope please.
Charles Stewart Lee
Cool article.
68) OnlineShmonline on September 18th, 2009 9.29 am
Yes there are people of his age who know a lot about what actually went on off the record. They are still around but won’t be for long. I know of 4 personally and there are no doubt more. There are numerous civil servants from the 50’s and 60’s too who did the work and could show the current crop of civil servants a thing of 2 about serving the people.
Singapore is and must be for Singaporeans first.
The people must step up and do what they know is best for the country.
The country is for you and you all- each and every one – have to let this be known.
To do anything less is to demonstrate apathy and confirms that the people are content with the status quo.
Embrace your individual power and empower yourselves to make a change.
Singapore has soooooo much still to offer the world in so many ways by being a place that looks after its people first. Do this and the comfort of happiness and content will be there as you all know it can be.
Don’t lose the uniquely Singaporean Identity that once made the country an inspiration and can make it the inspiration to all it was meant to be once more.
Daniel
“he managed to get away after being gathered with the other chinese at the holding area by fooling a Japanese guard into allowing him to go home to retrive some personal belongings and never returning.”
Wow, a Japanese guard so fool-able than Singaporean ? Why should a guard let his victim go and get this thing if the guard know that that the victim is going to die 100% anyway, and to allow his thing for what ? To fix the Japanese and buy his vote ? LKY think he going for some vocation using Jetplane like he does currently ? So the con behaviour start long long time ago.
dark secrets
to 79) True Patriot, nicely put together.
It is simply too obscene to link the words ‘Passion and Patriotism’ to LKY.
I believe the truth about him and what he stands for will eventually be revealed.
We only need to ask ourselves, “what sort of man will it take to earn the trust of the notorious Japanese and work for them during the occupation of Singapore ?”
Agent008
He is selling SG off to China! What patriotism are we talking about?
JW
Mr. Lee K Y , a good start but a very bad ending.
Big Brain
Yes JW, I agreed with you 200% that Mr. Lee KY, a good start but a very bad ending. Mr. Lee KY is now mad after power and money and afraid to loose it. Sad to say that he will save a tree and sacrifice the forest. Anything or anyone that comes into his way have to be demolished.
I only have secondary education and am a father of 4 boys with 8 grandchildren. I paid a heavy price for not stopping at two. When my children were young I told them what to do and what not to do. When my boys grown up and knew what was right and what was wrong, I began to release my control over them because if not, I believed that my boys can never be better than me.
Today, my 4 boys are married with 2 children each all Canadian citizens earning good income and living comfortablely. If I were to stopped my first boy from migrating to study in Canada 20 years ago, today my 4 boys may be still single and competing for their 3 basic meals with the FTs.
Each of my boys own a bungalow with 2 cars which don’t cost them a bomb. The only problem is that they cannot visit me but I can visit them and stay any period I wanted. It is not that they cannot afford but it is the Singapore government that do not permit them come into Singapore because they did not come back to serve the NS.
Why only Singaporean boys must serve NS? Do boy FTs becoming citizen need to serve NS? Do the government trust the services of our own NS boys? Why do we need the Nepalness to guard our mininsters? If you are the employer, will you employ a Singaporean boy who have last served 3 years of his life as an officer and with NS liabilities to age 45 or would you choose to employ a FTs boy with no NS liabilities to age 45 with lower pay and longer working hours? The answer is obvious. My boys were right from the start to stay away from Singapore and have no regrets.
If I have not let my boys have their ways and let them venture their life, today their lives will be a very sad and sorry and competing with the FTs over the miserable low pay. So life can be better for Singapore without the tight control of the PAP.
Agent008
Good start? We would have been much better off if he had left us to the British like Hongkong was.
Realist
So he was able to walk away from the detention camp (so does that mean he spoke Japanese to the guard) and was later employed by the Japanese as a translator .As pointed out, I am surprised the Japanese would trust a Chinese with such a sensitive position, after killing so many of them.
I am still lost because I remember reading somewhere that he was actually doing underground anti-japanese work and that he was helping the British and thus was a hero of sorts. It was also mentioned that the Japanese found this out and were trailing him so he had to disappear to Malaysia. Can anyone verify this.
Its actually amazing that the Japanese, the Communist, the British, the other founding members (those detained under cold storage) all trusted him. Its seems only the Malaysians did not trust him and were wary of him. Someone also mentioned that he was not around for the major historical events like the riots, detension etc. Is this true?
Daniel
“So he was able to walk away from the detention camp (so does that mean he spoke Japanese to the guard) and was later employed by the Japanese as a translator .As pointed out, I am surprised the Japanese would trust a Chinese with such a sensitive position, after killing so many of them.”
No one will trust a person unless the person do something to make the Japanese believe him. Is it that hard to guess what that something is ?
“Someone also mentioned that he was not around for the major historical events like the riots, detension etc. Is this true?”
If he want himself to look good, and yet mastermind all these, why should he be around ? He just to disassociate himself with bad events to make other (scapegoat, dog, lackey) look bad while himself look good.
Like father, like son. It is no hard to see the old fart is imparting this valuable skill to his son. Just look at how the son disappear completely when his decision and action lead to fcuk up and screw up, and using lackeys and dogs to pacify the public, which generally lead to disastrous ramification to his party’s image.
Unfortunately, such wayang act fool no one, especially in the internet’s age. The problem with old fart is that he keep repeating the same old tricks and not updating those tricks that any people can see through them easily.
OnlineShmonline
@88) Daniel on September 22nd, 2009 1.10 pm
Seeing how UMNO tried that same sodomy charge at Anuar Ibrahim (despite public laughing behind their back), it works because enough ’stakeholders’ are involved to make it work.
Same in Singapore. People Applying Power, kind judges and journalists with journalistic integrity all come together to ensure the same old situations resulting in the ungrateful people who oppose the god-like vision of our leaders being taken to task.
btw, you should realize I’m joking about all the qualities in the para above. :)
reformed hokkien guy
Ya-Lah,
Passion – for FT of caucasian origin, kow-tow to them but treat Singaporeans much like slaves esp males. After 44 yrs still got NS. Why pay regulars so good salary and in the same time still retain NSF?
Low crime rates and no corruption in govt agencies alone is not enough. We need leaders that understand people’s plight!
George
All of us hoped one day the truth will see the light of day. No body live forever. UK oldest person was 113 year old who passed away a few month ago. No matter how much good deeds one acheived in life when one squadered it away in old age just simply negate all those good deeds. All we could see are :
1) Greed via legalised corruption
2) uncaring gahment
3) Dictatorship
4) building a dynasty in a supposedly democratic country
5) Nepotism and croynism accepted practices within the ruling party
Passion during the initial 20 years, after that it degenerated into a different kind of Passion……..Passion to remain at the apex……call it Lust for Power if you like.