1. Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

RIP Lee Kuan Yew: The Father of Modern Singapore

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by rocketsjudoka, Mar 22, 2015.

  1. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2007
    Messages:
    53,826
    Likes Received:
    41,765
    Even though the man had some authoritarian tendencies helped create one of the miracles of the 20th Century by creating a successful country with a strong economy out of a post colonial back water that Britain and Malaysia didn't want. He was affectionately / paternalistically known as "Uncle Harry" and combined UK pragmatism with Confucianism to create a unique society.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/w...rst-premier-of-singapore-dies-at-91.html?_r=0

    Lee Kuan Yew, Founding Father and First Premier of SingapSINGAPORE — Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father and first prime minister of Singapore who transformed that tiny island outpost into one of the wealthiest and least corrupt countries in Asia, died on Monday morning. He was 91.

    “The prime minister is deeply grieved to announce the passing of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, the founding prime minister of Singapore,” a statement posted on the prime minister’s official website said. “Mr. Lee passed away peacefully at the Singapore General Hospital today at 3:18 am.”

    Mr. Lee was prime minister from 1959, when Singapore gained full self-government from the British, until 1990, when he stepped down. Late into his life he remained the dominant personality and driving force in what he called a First World oasis in a Third World region.

    The nation, reflected the man: efficient, unsentimental, incorrupt, inventive, forward-looking and pragmatic.

    “We are ideology-free,” Mr. Lee said in an interview with The New York Times in 2007, stating what had become, in effect, Singapore’s ideology. “Does it work? If it works, let’s try it. If it’s fine, let’s continue it. If it doesn’t work, toss it out, try another one.”

    His leadership was sometimes criticized for suppressing freedom, but the formula succeeded. Singapore became an international business and financial center admired for its efficiency and low level of corruption.

    More at link.
    spoilered for size.
    [​IMG]
     
    #1 rocketsjudoka, Mar 22, 2015
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2015
  2. Jontro

    Jontro Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2010
    Messages:
    34,341
    Likes Received:
    22,073
    RIP. Singapore owe everything to this man.
     
  3. rockbox

    rockbox Around before clutchcity.com

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2000
    Messages:
    21,630
    Likes Received:
    10,522
    He's as close to a benevolent dictator as you are going to get. Singapore is the hub of SE Asia without any natural advantage. He created it.
     
  4. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2007
    Messages:
    53,826
    Likes Received:
    41,765
    Benevolent dictator is a good way I describing him. Singapore's success is without a doubt but at the same time he hasn't shied away from soon things like using the judiciary to punish political opponents and also installing his family into power. Lee's Singapore also hasn't shied away from manipulating and controlling the lives if Singaporeans in many ways. Paternalistic might be a better term.
     
  5. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2007
    Messages:
    53,826
    Likes Received:
    41,765
    One thing I find funny is about how many people complain about how many people
    Think that Obama is a paternalistic dictator when anything that Obama has done doesn't come close to what Lee did in Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew would and has argued to his critiques that the result has been taking a third world country and in a generation turning into a place with one of the highest standards of living and advanced infrastructures.
     
  6. Faust

    Faust Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2012
    Messages:
    514
    Likes Received:
    33
    i think places like dubai and singapore and hong kong and qatar show you dont need freedom and democracy to succeed and kick ass economically. i seen pictures and movies in these places and it makes my hood look like somalia. i have a lot of family back in kentucky and missouri and man that area looks 3rd world for sure.
     
  7. vorpal

    vorpal Member

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2013
    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    2
    That's grounds for libel, yo.;)

    Seriously, though. The present PM, his son, was the Senior Wrangler at Cambridge, ie the top math undergrad at Cambridge.

    His grandson by his other son, the CEO of the state telco, was the top Econs student at Oxford and Best Speaker at the World Universities Debating Championships.

    Those aren't things that can be simply bestowed by fiat.
     

Share This Page

  • About ClutchFans

    Since 1996, ClutchFans has been loud and proud covering the Houston Rockets, helping set an industry standard for team fan sites. The forums have been a home for Houston sports fans as well as basketball fanatics around the globe.

  • Support ClutchFans!

    If you find that ClutchFans is a valuable resource for you, please consider becoming a Supporting Member. Supporting Members can upload photos and attachments directly to their posts, customize their user title and more. Gold Supporters see zero ads!


    Upgrade Now