Who are our friends?

• robertteh

  16 Jan 08, 20:32

  Who are our friends?
  
  MM Lee's true friends may not be those who praise him in this forum or elsewhere constantly. Those who praise him constantly may be doing so for their own benefits.
  
  In history, many times those in power were always surrounded by those who are greedy and corrupt for their own benefits. Once a powerful man or official is down often due to betrayal by his own close people, he would be deserted first by no less than his own most trusted ones.
  
  Strangely the person who may finally save him from falling or disgrace may be those who wanted to correct him for his own good whom did not even cared or liked to associate with in the first place.
  
  This is a gentle reminder to those who like to curry favor that they may not be that genuine in their loyalty as they seem. They may be faking affection or allegiance for their own personal gains and nothing more than that.
• tut4nkh4m3n

  16 Jan 08, 20:45

  errr okayy...
• phil30k

  16 Jan 08, 20:59

  
  I think people who do not care for someone or who do not like to associate with someone won't try to save them. People who want to correct someone for their own good probably may try to save them.
  
  There's a story told me by an old security guard. He knew LKY's old driver, drove for him for 20 years or so. Then one day the driver's wife asked him to speak to Mr. LKY for a favor for her brother. He didn't mention what it was. So the driver asked LKY for the favor. Don't know if LKY granted the favor or not but from the next day onwards the driver was transferred to work somewhere else.
  
  I don't know if the story was true, it was just idle chit chat.
• Atobe

  17 Jan 08, 03:10

  
  
  Who can we count as our friends ?
  
  The following extract is quite telling, and is taken from an article published in the FEER in Year 2000 - ''Lee Kuan Yew: Measure of the Man''
  
  
  

  
  A STORY MADE THE ROUNDS in Singapore a few years back that went like this:
  
  Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew returned from a private visit to India with a small bolt of silk of extraordinary design. He consulted his tailor immediately, who assured him there was just enough fabric to fashion a suit that would fit him perfectly.
  
  Ecstatic, he dashed off to an official meeting in Hong Kong with Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, bringing the silk with him. Following the meeting, he couldn't resist sharing his excitement with Tung, and asked if he could see his tailor for a second opinion. Tung's tailor was flabbergasted at the beauty of the silk, took Lee's measurements, and told him he could easily make him a suit and an extra pair of trousers.
  
  Although Lee was perplexed, he said nothing because he was already late for a flight to Washington, where he was scheduled to see US President Bill Clinton. Following the meeting, he asked to see Clinton's tailor, who took his measurements, and confidently told him he could make two suits and an extra pair of trousers from the bolt of Indian silk.
  
  "What is it about your tailors," Lee later asked the American president, "that makes them so much better than tailors in Singapore and Hong Kong? Mine said he could make me a suit out of this bolt of silk. Tung's tailor said he could make me a suit and an extra pair of trousers. Your tailor, Mr President, can make me two suits and an extra pair of trousers. Is it your technology? Your superior productivity?"
  
  "Certainly not, Senior Minister," replied Clinton. "It's simply that the further away you are from Singapore, the smaller you become."
  
  

  
  
  Can we depend on the opinions or views of friends who prefer to be polite ?
  
  Can one take friendship on a superficial basis ?
  
  Are the deep seated values of LKY for real - that it can be brushed aside to praise a friend who has made an impact on the larger landscape despite personal failing ? Suharto was already known to be corrupt even by his own peers in the Indonesian Military in the 1950s - see reference site below.
  
  Or is the friendship between Suharto and LKY more then skin deep, perhaps even a personal debt ?
  
  On 26 August 1965, which is about 20 days after it was decided to evict Singapore from the Federsation of Malaysia, it was announced that the Singapore Government had uncovered a ''local Communist Plot'' backed by Indonesia to assassinate LKY.
  
  In less then 20 days after being evicted from Malaysia, Singapore had no SAF except for 1SIR, a skeleton Police Force, and hardly an invincible ISD for Internal Security.
  
  How was this assassination plot uncovered ?
  
  Was there outside help ?
  
  A foreign leak arising from internal betrayal ?
  
  Suharto, who was earlier by-passed and transferred out of the military power circle in late 1950s, had by October 1964 regained his military influence, commanding the best Indonesian elite force to safeguard Jakarta.
  
  With deep seated resentment within the Indonesian Army towards the rising influence of Indonesian Communisit politicians over President Sukarno since the 1950s, the Indonesian Army was divided in their allegiance to the Military Command and towards Sukarno.
  
  Did Suharto hedge his political future and exposed the Indonesian assassination plot against an already weakened Singapore leadership recovering from the shock of being recently evicted from Malaysia ?
  
  It is very unusual to see such rare LKY allegiance and friendship towards Suharto - despite the stark differences in personal values that led to LKY even brushing aside Suharto's reputation to give credit where he felt it was due.
  
  Comparing this unusual LKY's change in his personal values to that of his derisive behaviour towards corrupt President Marcos from the Philippines, and African Statesmen - it can only be seen as a bond of a person, whose life is indebted to the other.
  
  Reference: Snapshots of Indonesian History: 1951 - 1965