Margaret Thatcher Obituary: Thatcherism and us

I could have written something equivalent if it was LKY but Maggie Thatcher has preceded him. Both are loved and hated. It would appear that Thatcher had attracted more hatred but until such time we don't know. Anyway it doesn't matter to me. I think LKY is a genius and we are better off because of him. He cannot be perfect, nobody is. For example, I strongly disagree with him that talent is mostly born and not made. That has yielded many policies at the expense of the locals.

I picked a few lines from the article to remember Thatcher.

"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money,"

How true! Her detractors to the very end fail to grasp, if they think they are worse off, it could have been much worse for them and nearly all others.

Her personal credo, founded on competition, private enterprise, thrift and self-reliance, gave birth to a political philosophy known as "Thatcherism".

I think and I believed she had admitted before that she had adapted our ideas for her country. The proud former colonial master's media would not admit it. In their usual unscrupulous ways, they stole it.

But while Thatcherism made many better off, unemployment doubled by the mid-1980s to more than three million - a level not seen since the hungry 1930s. Opponents said Thatcher had created a nation divided between the wealthier south and the poorer north.

Such is life that you cannot count on counterfactuals to defend yourself. Strong leaders know when not to care anyway. Weak ones cannot resist passing off form for substance. Our leaders are drifting toward weakness.

No system is forever and every system age and must eventually be replaced or reworked. It is time for the pendulum to swing back. Had we be socialists all along, we wouldn't even have the wherewithal to keep going. We would have failed and perhaps taken back into Malaysia on their humiliating and onerous terms.

Update: 7:50pm

I must find some time to read this article on Margaret Thatcher in Vanity Fair.

Update: April 10, 9:55am

Europe's economic malaise grew out of numerous mistakes. Some, to be sure, are tied to the peculiarities of the Continent's currency union. But Europe holds plenty of wider lessons for Asian states. They should see how nations that sacrifice too much economic freedom for social security end up with neither, impairing both private enterprise and public finance.

Source: Sri Mulyani article in the WSJ

Update: April 10, 10:25pm

I am lucky to serendipitously come across a comment that I could never equal. This is the result of the Old Man belief that talent and intelligence are born and you cannot make up with investing in education. It is a terrible price we are paying for his prejudice which he stuck to it like truth. For all his intelligence and wisdom he couldn't understand this is bad politics and in the end he would lose. On this alone, I will not support LKY and after he is gone there could be a surprising number of people who would pop champagne like they are celebrating Thatcher's passing away.

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  Mia Tan When I went to NUS, my friends who didn't get at least B3 in GP had to take an English bridging module, and have to keep retaking it until they have passed it in order to graduate.
  A girl friend had 2As 2Bs but failed GP wasn't even allowed to apply for local uni. 
  So my question is this, why are we giving free scholarship plus living expenses allowance to students particularly from china, despite their brilliant results, when they can't speak a smattering of English? 
  I welcome competition yes, but let's compete on fair ground. 
  I don't expect government to give us priority but here they are obviously shortchanging its own people. 
  
  Other universities take in foreign students not only because of grades but may also be due to higher school fees. In SG, foreigners come study free and go home. 
  
  I was on a long flight home from USA one day, stop over in HK, a china auntie got on next to me. She couldn't fill up her immigration form. So I helped her. 
  I asked her what's address at destination (SG) she said NTU. Her daughter was given a scholarship to study here. She asked me bluntly, "your country so small, not even the size of a China city, what if my daughter cannot find job? I wanted her go USA study, but Singapore offer free scholarship, plus easier for me to travel and visit her. I think after she graduate I will tell her go USA to work."I almost tore up the immigration sheet. 
  
  I wish our government will grow a heart, two ears and two eyes.

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