Lee Kuan Yew Series

This is a series of quotes from LKY in honour of his contributions as one of the founding fathers of Singapore. I will post a quote a day until I run out of quotes.

“But we either believe in democracy or we do not. If we do, then, we must say categorically, without qualification, that no restraint from any democratic processes, other than by the ordinary law of the land, should be allowed. If you believe in democracy, you must believe in it unconditionally. If you believe that men should be free, then, they should have the right of free association, of free speech, of free publication. Then, no law should permit those democratic processes to be set at nought.”
 
- Lee Kuan Yew as an opposition leader, April 27, 1955

Kopi Level - Green

Hong Kong Tiananmen in the making?

The Hongkies are at their best again, protesting for more democracy. They did not see this as an important thing when hiding under the skirt of Queen Elizabeth. They were ruled by the British, a bastion of democracy, for 150 years without democracy. I think they were having a good time then. Then came Patten who taught them what democracy is all about and they now die die must have democracy, to the fullest. If they did not get their way they would not mind doing a Tiananmen in Hong Kong. Good luck to them if that is what they want.
 
Between the authoritarian rule of mainland China and what democracy could offer, it is undisputed that what the Hongkies are demanding for is a good thing. Bearing in mind that democracy can also be corrupted. I would agree that China needs more democracy and a pulling back on authoritarianism. It is not that the new regime is bent on ruling with a stick. I also think that with prosperity China would become more like western countries in practice and a communist state on paper. When life is good, when there is peace and prosperity all around, when the people are happy and living well, there will be lesser demand for authoritarian rule.
 
Having said that, the political culture of China and the mentality of the power oligarch need a massive change in favour of greater democracy, more rule of law, and lesser authoritarianism. And this must be enshrined not only in the psychic of the leadership and the people, but also in the political system. Hong Kong could be the spark that is needed to keep the spirit of democracy alive in China and to spread it across the country. China is also changing and despite being an authoritative communist state, the Chinese people are enjoying a lot of political freedom and expression as long as they did not threaten national security and interests. Less haste may be a better way to achieve this result in the long term.
 
As Hong Kong pushes for more democracy, it must never forget that Hong Kong is a small part of China and is being ruled under the ‘One country Two Systems’ model. Remember, ‘One Country’ comes first if ‘Two Systems’ is to exist. When ‘Two Systems’ threatens the ‘One Country’ formula, when national security is compromised, the ‘Two Systems’ would have to go. Hong Kong is expendable if it threatens China as a country. So don’t push your luck too far. Work within the system and know that Hong Kong is China. China as a unified country, a nation, must never be shaken if Hong Kong is to exist as a prosperous autonomous region.
 
Hong Kong’s Chief Executive cannot be simply determined by the people to create problems for China, at least not now. The Chief Executive is like the one Golden Share, one vote that can over rule everything when national interest is at stake. Other than that, this Golden Share will be dormant and unseen, and Hong Kong could do as it pleases in almost anything. You don’t sell your country away by allowing the top post to be in the hands of a suspect, someone who would not mind serving the interests of foreigners or a foreigner.
Hong Kong should remain the catalyst, the stimulus to advocate for greater democracy in the whole of China, like the yeast that would change the character of the whole pack. But while doing it, it must not mess up the dough, it must always bear in mind that ‘One Country’ comes first

Kopi Level - Green

Back to Class, Hong Kong Students

by MIKOspace

GO BACK TO CLASS For Your Future please, Hong Kong students. Education drives out fear. Fear is frightening, no pun intended. Fear is birthed from ignorance, and driven by loud rhetoric not grounded in facts.

Why are Hong Kong students protesting? Because many speakers, news articles, politicians and so-called democracy activists have generated so much panic and uncertainties over the next Hong Kong Chief Executive (CE) due to be elected by universal franchise in 2017.  Fears were planted.  Fears that the next HK CE will be pro-Bejing and anti-Hong Kong? Fears that a “good” Pro-Hong Kong candidate will not be selected for the final ballot? Fears that HK Democracy (what this?) will die? Fears that the Nomination Selection Committee would be more pro-Beijing than pro-Hong Kong?  Fears, fears … and more fears feeding itself to derive the worst of bad scenarios.  

Read Hong Kong Politics for the truth and facts.

Go learn from the UK and US systems ... HK 2017 electoral procedures are in fact more democratic and consistent with democratic principles. The American people have never directly elected their President. Neither did the British people ever elect their Prime Minister. The candidates were also never nominated by direct popular acclaim. BUT, HONG KONG PEOPLE WILL ELECT THEIR CE IN 2017..! Back to Class now. LEARN

HONG KONG (HK) DEMOCRATS SHOULD LEARN FROM SCOTLAND. There was no mayhem, riots, demonstrations or Occupy London after the Scottish "No" Vote, despite more than 2 million "Yes" votes. WHY? The Queen, who was also the Queen of HK until 1997, credited this to "the nature of robust democratic tradition we enjoyed", but denied to Hong Kong during their 150 years' occupation. “We” presumably refers only to WHITE Britons. China introduced Democracy into HK in 1997. In any democracy, there will be "strong feelings and contrasting emotions which must be tempered by an understanding of the feelings of others". Hong Kongers should grow their own democratic tradition in a spirit of mutual respect and support for HK future, and indeed also China.

Kopi Level - Green

Read more:

Hong Kong Politics

Hong Kong Students' Protests

Hong Kong Lessons from Scotland

More Singaporeans in top posts in foreign banks..hahahhahaha…

After Tharman talked about the vanishing Singaporeans in top bank appointments, today there is a report in the ST saying ‘more’ Singaporeans are now in top bank positions. I cried until I almost fell out of my chair. Oh there were statistics for this claim. Actually with the few number of banks here, there could be a good table to show what is the real situation, how many Singaporeans are CEOs, how many are in number 2 and 3 positions and how many are foreigners.
 
Also, how many are promoted recently for cosmetic reason, after Tharman raised the issue in public? Why has the situation degenerated to such a pathetic state of being when Singaporeans used to be the top bankers in our country? Who allowed this to happen? No body knows because it just happened, or everyone was busy counting their money or went to sleep?
 
No need to waste my breath laboring on this point. It is like the country is going the same direction if nothing is done to put a stop to it. If national leaders could not even bother, or did not see this as a vital issue, best to let it be.

Kopi Level - Yellow

Mega projects – What have we gained other than the intangibles

We have done great things, built great cities like Suzhou, Tianjin Eco city, F1, great Gardens By the Bay, and now we are going to build smart city or cities in India. We have contributed no small sum to the building of Nalanda University. How much have all these great projects cost us and what were the returns in absolute monetary terms? Let me touch on the intangibles first, like great publicity value, everyone now knows where is Singapore, endearing relationships, building goodwill, they will love us surely, if not at least for our money, they will help us now that we have helped them….etc etc. Ok, now that the intangibles are out of the way, let’s talk real numbers, the bottom line. How much we have spent and how much have we gotten back.? In other words, accountability.
 
We cannot be spending and spending public money on multi million dollar projects, or hundreds of millions of dollars per project without looking at returns. We are no Santa Claus or international philanthropists throwing our money everywhere for people to like us or be nice to us. It that why people welcome us?
 
Every project that costs hundreds of millions of dollars must be justified and accounted for. It is public money and no one should be thinking of using public funds casually for vanity. The hundreds of millions spent on foreign students, what is the return? Can I say zero except some goodwill, hoping that those scholars will be nice to us in the future? Oh, they helped to increase our talent pool and talents for the industries.
 
I believe every project of such high values is meticulously studied before approval. Do these mega projects need Parliament’s approval or need to be reported in Parliament? Have we not gone past the phase to tell the whole world we exist? Do we still need to keep telling the world that we are a world class city and please come and visit us in case the world did not know who we are and where we are?
 
What do you think? I think the whole wide world must by now know who we are and where we are and how good we are or how daft we are. Do we still need to spend hundreds of millions to advertise our existence or to affirm our relationships with other countries?

Kopi Level - Yellow