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Week Around the Ists
Interview: Coco Zhao, from jazz to M. Butterfly
'You can take a Chinese or an Indian, bring them to America and,
as a minority in the American milieu, he will begin to absorb the American ethos.
But you bring a few Americans to China or India and you think
you can spread this ethos into India and China, you're dead wrong.'
— Lee Kuan Yew, making his point at the recent Singapore Human Capital Summit
that cultural barriers do not come down easily in Asia
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i've been a fan since that tv doc, "the history of singapore", this guy is amazing
agreed, his ideas need to be studied more carefully....after all, the Lee Kuan Yew model may as well be the very ideology followed by the PRC govt
he just wants to justify his authoritarian capitalism,which is doomed to fall in the long run.There is no Singapore Model/Ideology,nor there is,or will be a Chinese one
I don't know? I am still waiting for the Bollywood version of Crouching Tandori Hidden Dal
Yeah, you know what ? You SHOULD study him more indeed. Then you'd see what's REALLY going on behind the dark halls of Singapore's "economic success". Justifying authoritarian capitalism (which the PRC is taking more than a few cues from) is totally right.
Why is he still alive?
I agree with his comment only as a statement about the folly of certain Western businessmen and politicians regarding Asia. The explanatory caption is not correct though because this does not show the resiliance of Asian cultural barriers. His comment applies to any cultures:
"You can take a Venezuelan or an Azerbaijani, bring them to Saudi Arabia and,
as a minority in the Saudi milieu, he will begin to absorb the Saudi ethos. But you bring a few Saudi Arabians to Venezuela and Azerbaijan and you think you can spread this ethos into V and A, you're dead wrong."
I am afraid to say, that the harmony between the thoroughly different races, cultures and religions in Singapore most unfortunately might not be able to exist without authority that keeps radicals at all corners in check.
I believe, that in terms of harmonious, multi-cultural, multi-racial, multi-religious society there is no person more qualified to speak than Lee Kwan Yew.
Singapore has had its fair share of racial unrest. Different from politicians in most other countries, in Singapore they have been able to actually learn from experience.
While I write this, conflicts and oppression related to race, culture and religion ride on in basically all other Asian countries except South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore.
"except South Korea, Japan..."
are you KIDDING, dude ??? Wow, that's the most uninformed post I've seen.
No racial conflicts in Japan and South Korea ! Well that's a new one !!! :D
I think this "racial harmony" in Singapore is pure BS to justify the tight control. Come on, it's a city. And the decisions they make are not even based on racial issues !! It's B.S. . Any Singaporean who's ever left the island will confirm.
And the decisions they make are not even based on racial issues !! It's B.S.
I am a Singaporean who's left the island and I will tell you racial issues are talked about ALL the time. I'd also add that Singapore is a lot more heterogeneous than South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. In addition to the ethnic diversity of its own people, close to a quarter of its population are foreigners from around the world. So yes, I do think Singapore has a thing or two to teach others about racial harmony, BUT this quotation from Lee Kuan Yew has absolutely nothing to do with that. He is talking about the East/West cultural divide here.
Lee is trying very much to secure his legacy as the "leader of Asia," by attaching his name to the so-called "Singapore model," which India and China are supposed to follow.
As for his comment about westerners being unable to spread their ethos into China or India, he is in fact dead wrong. Go to India or China and everyone is wearing western dress, listening to western-style music, watching western-style television, often consuming western foods and drinks, etc. This period, with the west mired in financial crisis, is marked by Asian triumphalism, which is unfounded and short-lived. In both India and China, there is scarcely any facet of life that has been untouched by westernization.
Lee has a prominent legacy to be sure, but not quite as grandiose as he envisions.
Lee is trying very much to secure his legacy as the "leader of Asia," by attaching his name to the so-called "Singapore model," which India and China are supposed to follow.
As for his comment about westerners being unable to spread their ethos into China or India, he is in fact dead wrong. Go to India or China and everyone is wearing western dress, listening to western-style music, watching western-style television, often consuming western foods and drinks, etc. This period, with the west mired in financial crisis, is marked by Asian triumphalism, which is unfounded and short-lived. In both India and China, there is scarcely any facet of life that has been untouched by westernization.
Lee has a prominent legacy to be sure, but not quite as grandiose as he envisions.
Lee is pretty much towing the CCP line about "western values and culture not being suitable for Singapore's/China's/Asia's condition".
Values like watching someone die in the street as entertainment.
LKY has had all kinds of things to say on race. And all of them unpleasant.
Relatively high-ranking Chinese officials have been making trips to Singapore for the last 10+ years to study the "Singapore Model". It's not just a matter of casual borrowing, it's deliberate sharing.
I have a lot of respect for him and what he (and all of Singapore) accomplished, although the means he employed were far from the most virtuous.
And finally, I think Singapore is a healthy mix of many cultures. China is becoming more "mixed"... although I still look forward to the day when foreigners/immigrants (besides Taiwan/HK) have a true lasting impact on the fabric culture, as members of society and not just as temporary transplants.
While you can't really point to any one thing he says that would clearly make him a racist, when you look at the totality of what he says and the argument that he is making, he is most certainly a racist.
I know that every governor and mayor wants major Chinese cities to be just like Singapore, use its methods of governance, police control, censorship, taxation, education, mind-control etc. Everything to keep the party in power. However, Sing is a city and much easier to control in the time it was developing. Now, it is too late to use that model, and China's development will inevitably be more democratic and/or chaotic.
Wasn't he the same guy that said Singapore needed to "loosen up" so that more creative ideas could reinvigorate Singapore's stagnating economy? As if he can turn this stuff on and off like a faucet?