3/24/2015

George Yeo remembers LKY


There was an interview with George Yeo on CNA yesterday evening on his personal encounters with LKY. There was one particular point that stood out glaringly in a tussle of opinions and interpretation on investment in India. LKY was not in favour, skeptical given the difficulties in that large subcontinent. George was always the optimist, sharing his positive impressions of how great India was as an investment opportunity. And in many occasions LKY dismissed his views and maintained his negative outlook of India.
George claimed that LKY seemed to have been convinced by his feedback and relented, changing some of his reservations about investing in India. That could be the reason why the CECA was signed. The CECA must be George’s and Chok Tong’s pet project as both were deeply involved in the initiative to invest in India in a big way.
 

Did LKY changed his view of India or did George manage to change his view? Read this interview with CNA,
 

‘I remember leading a delegation to India in early 1993. We spent two weeks in India and when we came back the report to the Cabinet was a relatively upbeat one. He was profoundly skeptical. And never failed, afterwards, to send me articles which expressed skepticism about India’s development.
 

But every time I visited India and reported what I saw to him, he listened. So while he had a view his mind was not closed. And gradually I saw how his position shifted, not wildly, and in many cases., he was proven right. Two years later when it was clear that Singapore was making progress in India he said to me over lunch, he said be prepared for a change of government. And a year later he was proven right, even though when he mentioned it to me, it did not seem likely.’
 

Was LKY’s position or skeptism changed? ‘I saw his position shifted, not wildly... Two years later when it was clear that Singapore was making progress in India he said to me over lunch, he said be prepared for a change of government. And a year later he was proven right.’ What has this to do with his skeptism of India’s development?
 

Did LKY give his blessing to the signing of the CECA. Until his departure, LKY had never mentioned a word about investing in India and neither had he said a word about the CECA.
 

The divergence of views of the two men was wide and whether the gulf was narrowed has not been confirmed except for what George has said. My view is that LKY has not changed his view on India and it was left to Hsien Loong and his cabinet to decide as by then he was taking a back seat.
 

History will prove if this CECA is a good and wise decision or a daft one. Would CECA benefit Singapore in the long run or lead to more problems for govt and people to handle? It was a very big and serious decision and the consequences would impact every Singaporean for good or for bad.

20 comments:

  1. 不听老人言,吃亏在眼前。Bor tua bo say.Should have listen to my dear LKY.

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  2. "Would CECA benefit Singapore in the long run or lead to more problems for govt and people to handle?"
    RB

    Hahahahahahaha.

    If even casinos, and not one but two, are OK, why not CECA, u tell me lah?

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  3. anonymous 11.07am pls note......

    do not talk about the opening of the 2 casinos in Singapore......

    there were many many untold very sad stories on the ground.......

    sad......

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  4. CECA, just like casinos, will benefit Singapore in terms of GDP growth.

    And talking about benefits, u should not mix Singapore and Singaporean people together, especially the local, daft and suffering ones.

    More problems for govt and people to handle?

    No problem for the govt to handle, if the Sinkie opposition is still not ready to be govt.

    More problem for the people to handle?

    No issue with that, if the people comprises 40% or less of total voters who will not vote PAP because of that. And with more new Sinkies, this percentage can even be reduced further. And also no problem with that.






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  5. George Yeo ham ka cham. His son having leukemia is the best thing happening in this world.

    This CECA make Singapore flooded by slum kid. George must have taken monies from Indian.

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  6. George Yeo was damn unlucky to face Teochew Ah Hia and team in the last GE.

    And perhaps George would have been reappointed as foreign minister or even promoted to DPM by now, had it been a different opposition candidate he faced in GE 2011.

    Can u imagine, when even Wong Cant Sing (of Mas Selamat fame) and Mabok Tan (of HDB pigeonhole shot to the sky prices fame) could win, why not George?

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  7. Can u imagine, when even Wong Cant Sing (of Mas Selamat fame) and Mabok Tan (of HDB pigeonhole shot to the sky prices fame) could win, why not George?
    March 24, 2015 11:54 am

    Well, the elctoral boundaries of Aljunied GRC. Who decided where to draw the boundaries ah?

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  8. Not only CECA, but George Yeo was also the one who proposed and pushed for casinos in Singapore when he was the Trade and Industry Minister.

    So is it "karma" that he was the only minister that was being voted out in a GE in Singapore's history?

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  9. anon 11.54
    if pigeon hole prices goes up becos of MBT, the more he will get my respect and support. We are doom if prices fall.Mai khongcum.

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  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  11. From what George said, he was so impressed by the Indians and was trying desperately to impress LKY of how great investing in India was. No prize for guessing who was behind the CECA all the way.

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  12. CECA = fake talents flooding sg.

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  13. The Western Philosopher Boy and his Team failed to impress the Aljunied GRC.
    To take Aljunied GRC back to PAP, maybe the Prime Minister himself and Josephine Teo can form a team to contest It at the Next General Election.
    The Team could include the Affable Lim Swee Say who has always being well love by NTUC Members.
    Khaw Boon Wan should be included to the Team as Aljunied GRC Voters will want someone with the Greatest Expertise to manage the Town Council there.
    With a team comprise of popular heavyweights, taking Aljunied GRC will be plain sailing.

    一路顺风。

    patriot

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    Replies
    1. Or send them off just like Georgie boy??

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  14. CECA, like most controversial and radical, never-before-tried policies, is an EXPERIMENT.

    Since the people get the govt they deserve, they should not complain if their govt chooses to experiment---try something new out.

    It is too soon to even gauge the success or failure of CECA. However, data should be collected and the results of the CECA agreement should be looked at in 50-100 years time.

    Then you'll get a much bigger picture.

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  15. @ b:

    >> CECA = fake talents flooding sg.


    That is to be expected. That is the "noise" mixed in with the signal. In experiments, you will always get some "noise". Nothing to worry about.

    The experiment is early days yet, so it is reasonable to assume the "system" is chaotic.

    Next on the horizon is the TPP---Trans Pacific Partnership. The one cuntree vehemently against it is China. However most of the signatories have already started implementing aspects of the TPP.

    The TPP has been universally criticised by people of all political persuasions because it apparently gives corporations the power to fuck up everyone's shit.

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  16. Haha........

    TPP, CECA, Casinos..........., they are for giants to play. Small boys go catch spiders and play marbles.

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  17. Heng Swee Keat was the chief negotiator for the CECA with India. What a joke! No restrictions on how many head-wobblers we let in every year. None on spouses and families too.

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  18. Some say LKY saw George Yeo as a threat to Pinky and that he said his famous "You have five years to repent" warning to Aljunied GRC voters so he could get Yeo out of the way.

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  19. George Yeo...who?

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