That is from LHY Facebook page and this post is recording what I told my children yesterday. I told them why a large country or even a group of islands like Japan is different from city states.
The reason is quite simple although I have never heard it explained. You can't relocate China, India, Indonesia, Australia or even Japan. However just take the example of China, its capital has been moved many times and what is a capital but the most important city of a country or empire. So that is the challenge for Singapore, a city state. As a city it cannot be anchored must less be permanent. It always have to defend, adapt and if necessary find new reasons to be where it is. A city must be 100% adaptable. In other words no structure is sacrosanct. You can gazette an old building as a monument but unlike in large countries, we must be prepared to tear it down when it becomes necessary. The life of a city if it wants to last the longest time is a brutal one. If necessary it must be prepared to completely abandon its past and only let history remember it.
That is why LKY recommended that his house be demolished. It is part of a hard value system that is necessary for the long term survival of this place. Adapt or perish even if it means you become unrecognizable in the process. Unfortunately we have leaders who a small on courage and big on giving themselves As for performance. The PAP want to use 38 Oxley Road for its self interest. In this instance it is completely inimical to the interest of our children teaching them the wrong values for their long term security.
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