YOURSAY ‘Is Lee right and has he scored a direct hit? If not, why do politicians bother to entertain his irrelevant comments?'
Lee Kuan Yew's views obsolete, says Anwar
Anonymous #70881335: PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim should not not brush aside former Singapore PM Lee Kuan Yew's views on Malaysia and its race based politics. This is perhaps his last book, and he had "let it all out" his thoughts and feelings about Singapore, Malaysia, Asean, China, USA and the rest of the world.
If you read between the lines, he wants Malaysia to succeed.
Rahman: Yesterday was Anwar Ibrahim's birthday. I hope someone bought him a big mirror to look at himself.
Lee was talking about meritocracy as against affirmative policies. Isn't that exactly what Pakatan bandies around but has failed to implement in Selangor.
I think Anwar's issue against former Singapore premier Lee Kuan Yew has nothing to do with race-based policies. He is fuming mad when Lee said that Pakatan will not be able to govern the country, that unity in Pakatan is fragile and will collapse once they are in power.
I totally agree with Lee. See how PAS runs Kelantan shutting out PKR and DAP. See how DAP runs Penang shutting out PAS and Pakatan.
Although I disagree with what Lee prefers for Malaysia, he is a much respected statesman and very objective about his observations.
Anwar is not even half of one-quarter of Lee. It is Anwar who is irrelevant and talking from his days in Umno.
He is a political scavenger roaming the streets looking for bites. He wallowed in to bite Lee, Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Premier Najib Abdul Razak ,and he got whacked.
Proarte: Lee is right - race based policies have exacted a terrible toll in our ability to govern efficiently and to progress as a nation.
Umno with the craven subservience of MCA, MIC and the East Malaysian BN partners allowed vital institutions of governance to gradually lose their integrity and to merely serve the interests of BN.
We have now reached a state of 'rigor mortis' with institutions like the judiciary and the police unable to function professionally and as a result have lost the trust of the people.
The recent spate of killings in our streets and the rampant corruption amongst the elite is reflective of this sorry state of affairs. Our universities and schools too have been 'dumbed down' deliberately by Umno for political reasons.
Malay educationists are appointed in state institutions to positions they are not qualified for.
The losers are all Malaysians, mainly the Malays and Indians who do not have recourse to private education to the same extent as the Chinese.
Fair Play : Even in his twilight years, Lee is still capable of rattling politicians from both sides of the political divide. Instead of writing a lengthy comment, I just have this question for our politicians.
Is Lee right and has he scored a direct hit? If not, why politicians bother to entertain his irrelevant comments?
Pputeh: Lee is happy to see Malaysia is in this state. No competition means Singapore can have it all. As long we are the way we are now, corrupt, wasteful, educated feebly, Singapore will rub their hands in glee.
There is no reason why its dollar should be higher than ours. Blame it on our leaders.
BNtheLaughingstock: What is so good about Singapore in the first place? Even Singaporeans complain about the lack of compassion in their lives. Their government runs the country like a corporation and as a result, the element of humanity in the country is ruined.
Yes, Malaysia has its own faults, but we are still a nation of humans rather than a group of preprogramed robotic workers. Now that's Lee's legacy.
Boonpou: No matter what Lee has to say, let us all keep in mind the mindset of most Singaporeans, including him - the ‘kaisu' mentality.
Lee and other really smart Singaporeans will say this or that in order to keep Singapore as a developed country in relation to her neighbors as "developing countries."
See, the failure of her "developing neighboring countries" due to corruption, mismanagement, cronyism, and what not, is only going to promote Singapore as way better, to the rest of the world.
So long as her neighbors are stuck with corruption, nepotism, cronyism, and so on, Singapore can advertise itself as the best place for foreign investors to be at.
Of course, poverty, homelessness, taking advantage of cheap non-Singaporean labourers, etc, are hidden away. Singapore; this clean and orderly prison-like city state. Kiasu forever.
Ferdtan : "If we allow free exchange of the media, then I can safely say we can cross 65 percent of Malaysians prepared to shift from obsolete race-based politics to needs-based agenda of reform," Anwar said.
To me that said it all. It is time to treat all Malaysians as one; we help those who are in need and not by the colour of their skin.
Incidentally, the majority of the needy are the Malays and the Indians, so by implementing this policy, most poverty would be solved by itself. With that, patriotism and love of the nation will return, bringing the country to the heyday of the past glory.
We, of the older generation, mixed so well in our schooldays with our Malaysian brothers of different races which we don't see today.
Just drop in any school, college and university today, and you will see the polarisation of the races among the young. Whither Malaysia?
Anonymous_4031: The best way forward for the nation is meritocracy in the truest sense. That is how players win in tennis, golf, squash, football.
That is how you win in the Olympics. The best wins. That is why the great footballers are in great demand Bale, Rooney, Suarez, and Beckham. High fees are given to them.
That is how universities should be run; only the best should be vice-chancellors and professors and lecturers.
That is how the best CEOs should be recruited for GLCs. That is how we should choose our leaders. That is how scholars should be picked, based on merit, not race.
Failure to give the best shot to those who do well in exams is a failure of our education system. The nation needs the cream.
James1067: Lee has done more for Singapore than many Asian leaders have done for their countries. Today Singapore is a success story. We cannot deny this fact.
It's true that race has been one of the stumbling blocks in the betterment of this country. It is still being played to the hilt.
Some of his ideas may be backdated but he still talks from experience. Can we tell our children not to heed our advice just because we come from the old school of thought?
What about all the experiences that we have gone through that could be used so that our children don't repeat our mistakes? Old is gold.
Onyourtoes: No matter how clever or capable Lee is, he has chosen to be his own master in that little island. It is time to challenge his views and assumptions on Pakatan especially when majority of Malaysians think otherwise.
We Malaysians must move on. A good life and progress are for us to make, not for him to decide. He is not god.
Swipenter: Whether Malaysia is run by Umno or Pakatan, the country will go down the road to nowhere if politics is dictated by race and religion. We need a clean break from racial (and religious) politics and all its implications.
Anyone who thinks that some higher being can just appear and guide us to peace and harmony, progress and prosperity, is really suffering from a severe case of delusion. Human affairs are best settled by humans, and spiritual affairs between a man and his god.
Look at those countries where they think that politics are best settled by "god's laws" and see the mess they make out of their countries. Just criminalise racism and 90 percent of overt racism will disappear overnight.
King: Believe me or not. As long as Malaysia continues with race and religion based policies, we will be going down the drain. The brain drain will continue.
Today, it is the non-Malays and when the going is not good, the smart Malays will also go. Already the education level is poor and it will get worse. We will be lacking in human resources.
When the going is difficult, people will cheat and rob. All this will happen when the oil money stops flowing.
When this happens, the richest of the rich Malays and Chinese will continue to enjoy their friendship over glasses of wines somewhere in Paris and London (which they won't do here) while we, the poor, will face the harsh rules of the Taliban and young Malay girls will be sent to Indonesia as maids.
Dumbo: Anwar has a jaundiced view of what Lee has written in his book simply because that is the truth that is happening in the Pakatan states including Selangor.
Has the Selangor state government appointed senior competent non-Malays in vacant positions?
Race based politics is still the order of the day, even in Pakatan states.
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