Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, the 3oth of January 2008, is the
75th anniversary of Adolf Hitler forming the government in Berlin with
his appointment as Chancellor in the Reichstag, Berlin, 30th January
1933. So I thought of Lee Kuan Yew. Are there similarities?
In
1933 when Hitler formed the government, Germany was under the yoke of
the West. The Treaty of Versailles signed at the end of the First World
War in 1918 humiliated the Germans. They were required to pay
reparations to England, their navy was ordered reduced, air force
curtailed, the Rhineland was off limits and the Reichmark, the Germany
currency was not worth the paper it was printed of.
For this
defeated humiliated people came a Hitler who told them it was time to
rise again. Time to be proud again. Time to throw up the unbearable
yoke that was put over them by the victors Britain and France. And he
told them he would do it.
Although he did not win outright at
the elections, he managed by skullduggery and violence to force
President Hindenburg to swear him in as the Chancellor. And so began
the Third Reich. And true enough, Hitler did manage to make Germany the
strongest mightiest and economically strongest and most powerful
European country from 1933 to 1939 and beyond. From shambles, Hitler
managed to make Germany the most powerful country in Europe.
And
Lee Kuan Yew? In 1959, Singapore was nothing more than a backwater and
a sea port. Unemployment was high, poverty was all around and people
did not know which way to turn, or what was to come. But Lee Kuan Yew
becoming Prime Minister in 1959 did turn the country around. From the
sleepy shipping harbor that it was Lee Kuan Yew and his policies
managed to turn it into what it is today, an international city.
So
the similarities and the abilities between the two are striking. From
great adversity they managed to turn a difficult situation around. But,
just as Hitler, Lee Kuan Yew will eventually fail. For Germany the
failure was due to military defeat. For Singapore, it will be because
the basis of his policies have lost their appeal in this modern age.
In
1959, it was easy for Lee to tell the people to support his policies
without complaint. It was a time when people were just trying to
survive. With heavy unemployment, with poverty and little hope, the
people of Singapore were prepared to pay any price, sacrifice their
rights and liberties in return for a better life; in return for bread
and butter.
So for a long time, he forced every Singaporean into
resettlement into HDB flats, he controlled the unions, he denied civil
liberties, he kept wages low in order to compete with other low cost
countries, he invited Western countries to set up assembly line
factories with cheap labor from Singapore, he controlled the press with
propaganda, he denied assemblies and protests. In other words he
controlled people's lives for one purpose and one purpose alone; that
is for economic development. The Singapore people who were
predominantly poor allowed him to control their lives any way he
wanted; as long as he managed to lift up their lives economically.
But
the problem now is different. Singaporeans have now reached a certain
level of education. A certain level of sophistication. They are no
longer the impoverished coolie of 1959. They cannot be expected to
tolerate those restrictions imposed on them such as in 1959. But the
problem is, Lee Kuan Yew feels he can still make Singaporeans obey his
orders like before. And this is where he will fail.
Singaporeans
of today are not those of 1959. Today they expect a little more than
just food on the table. They expect some liberties too. They expect a
right to criticize the government. The right to speak. The right to
assemble. The right to a free press. The right to live like Europeans,
as they have the means to do so.
Very soon I expect more and
more Dr. Chee Soon Juans to appear in Singapore. As if one is not bad
enough! You can see this happening already. And just as Hitler fell,
having been defeated militarily, Lee Kuan Yew too will fall because
there are too many Dr. Chee Soon Juans. Who refuse to roll over, just
because Lee says so.
Gopalan Nair
http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/2008/01/adolf-hitler-and-lee-kuan-yew.html
Hitler was the dictator of Germany. LKY is the dictator of Singapore whom many want him dead. How I wish dictator LKY will repent and not always gaining selfish benefits at others' expense.
OMG.... ![]()
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One CJS has discredit the Opps parties enough...... If more CJS is around, Opps parties will lose all credulity. ![]()
One CJS has discredit the Opps parties enough.
I don't feel Chee discredited opposition parties.
I think Singapore mainstream propaganda media discredited opposition parties.
What Chee needs is better PR and a private media to praise him and spread pro-SDP propaganda.
There is no way that Singapore mainstream propaganda media will praise him or spread his propaganda.
Too bad Chee.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=chee+soon+juan&search=Search
http://www.singaporedemocrat.org
http://cheesoonjuan.blogspot.com
http://www.feer.com/articles1/2006/0607/free/p024.html
I'm sure that after years of this daily propaganda bombardment, even you will support Chee, extrinsic.
All i'll say is this: a competent and capable leader will know when to give up power.
A gracious and successful leader who has earned the respect and kudos of the people will not need an army of bodyguards when walking down any street in the country.
An ethical and noble leader will not lash out at his people when they gribe over exhorbitant ministerial salary.
It's a pity that while some among our leaders dream of an 'Austrian utopia' or a Swiss standard of living, it will remain that - a pipe dream, because they have not incalculated our knowledge-based economy with the right grace.