Archive for the ‘Commentary’ Category
An interesting opinion piece in The Star (Malaysia). With the retirement in February of Cuban President Fidel Castro, who also took office at the same time 50 years ago, Lee suddenly became the world’s longest surviving political leader. … Lee’s hold on power – especially the nation’s finance, military and the mainstream media – is […]
Filed under: Commentary, Newspaper | Closed
Tags: fidel castro, lee hsien loong, retirement
Economist: Raising the bar
The Economist adds its two cents on Lee Kuan Yew’s testimony and the mysterious case of the missing IBA letter. MEMBERS of Singapore’s government are notorious sticklers for legal exactitude. So it has been interesting to watch the reaction after the country’s elder statesman, Lee Kuan Yew—a British-trained lawyer before he became a politician—gave inaccurate […]
Filed under: Commentary, Newspaper | Closed
Tags: chee soon juan, defamation, economist, iba, trial
Chee Soon Juan posts an interesting essay of sorts on the Singapore Democrats site: Tearing down the facade His words are explained, researched and re-explained, every jab of the finger or the bringing down of his fist for effect is broadcast, accolades are reported in greater detail than a doctoral dissertation, and every smile is […]
Filed under: Commentary | Closed
Tags: chee soon juan, lee kuan yew, sdp
WSJ: Democracy in Singapore
An interesting editorial from the Wall Street Journal, tiptoeing carefully around defamation but still stating bluntly that Singapore is not a democracy and implying that Lee is to blame. Lee Kuan Yew’s Singapore can rightly be proud of many achievements, but full democracy is not one of them. The city-state he founded in 1965 and […]
Filed under: Commentary, Editorial, Newspaper | 4 Comments
Tags: chee soon juan, defamation, gopalan nair, lee kuan yew, wall street journal, wsj
A column by Lee in Forbes, regarding views of China in the West and in Hong Kong. Oddly, it’s datelined June 16, 2008, but published almost three weeks ahead of time. Two Images of China Huge crowds welcomed the torch parade. The usual pro-democracy demonstrators were outnumbered by crowds of ordinary people cheering on the […]
Filed under: Commentary, Newspaper | Closed
Tags: china, forbes, Olympics, tibet
What then?
Some of the few public discussions about the fate of post-Lee Singapore. Singapore’s ‘Martyr,’ Chee Soon Juan. Hugo Restall, Far Eastern Economic Review, October 2006. Smutocracy is a facade for democracy. Michael Backman, The Age (Australia), May 17, 2006. Will SG Change After LKY? Discussion in the Sammyboy.com forum, via Little Speck.
Filed under: Commentary, Uncategorized | Closed
Tags: feer, littlespeck, sammyboy, the age
Mission
One of the great taboos of Singaporean politics is discussing what will happen once its prime-minister-for-life “Harry” Lee Kuan Yew finally goes to meet his maker. With fear of the Old Man gone, how fast will the concentration of absolute power in the hands of Singapore’s tiny ruling clique corrupt it? Will the squabbles between […]
Filed under: Commentary | Closed
Tags: deathwatch, lee, lee kuan yew, people's action party, singapore
Lee Kuan Yew Watch 
Singapore Justice: a Moving Target
An update on the glacially-moving Lees vs FEER defamation case. Asia Sentinel reports: In an extraordinary move, nearly two years after Singapore’s ruling Lee family filed a defamation suit against the Far Eastern Economic Review, a high court judge let it be known to the Lees’ lawyers that he was “searching for a higher defamatory […]
Filed under: Commentary, Newspaper | Closed
Tags: asiasentinel, defamation, feer