I felt exactly the same about LKY and I am sure (a very good thing) I am not alone in feeling that way. In fact as a kid it was my late father who taught me that was LKY special gift. Growing up listening to him only served to reinforce that.
This is the big hole which I had mentioned many times in early blog posts that is not filled. Personally I think they are indispensable for our future success.
I worry when a day before the PM said Singapore as a tiny state has no foreign policy. May be that was just his lousy and easily misunderstood way of saying we are a price taker. Always a modest man he might not be confessing an active foreign policy in the background which will continue without LKY.
Fortunately for us, by and large in public discourse nobody is worrying aloud like me for the loss of this gift of foresight. Therefore our confidence remains intact even if it has perhaps lost its foundation. Wiser folks must grasp that LKY's genius had bought us time.
I share your worry. And I believe many discerning singaporeans (and even foreigners) do hold such view. It is a problem that needs to be addressed quickly
ReplyDeleteYou are taking his remarks out of context Pengyou. He is translating a Chinese saying and remarking that we are very vulnerable, not price setters but price takers. (You are right, you misunderstand the PM) In the context of the link you showed us, I am sure you agree that Singapore cannot decide and coerce China and the US to do her bidding.
ReplyDeleteI notice that you take very trivial matters like allegedly insensitive remarks like Lui Tuck Yew suggesting that shopping can be done and cars driven on a Sunday, Teo Chee Hean putting a picture of a rainbow (I thought it was a beautiful tribute to LKY!) and portray it as a sign that this country is going to the dogs. This post no different.
I understand the nostalgia for the older generation of leaders but Lee Kuan Yew really relinquished power in the mid-80s (He said in a 1988 election rally that the electorate is judging Goh Chok Tong's performance not his) and was very frail towards his final years and could not and was not allowed to have a say (He admitted in a 2007 INSEAD forum that the role of Minster Mentor is a toothless one) in policy making. The island didn't sink. You should give more credit to LKY's successors.
MSMM