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While his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has been busy meeting up with former US President George Bush, Singapore's ever so feisty and sprightly 86 year old Minister Mentor1 Lee Kuan Yew has gone halfway around the globe to meet US President Barack Obama in Washington ahead of his debut Asian tour that will include China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. Lee's tour also saw him meeting two key Cabinet members of the Obama administration - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
In his various meetings rubbing shoulders with very important minds, the sage-like Lee who has often been counted on to interpret Asia to the west did not hesitate to tell the Americans what he saw in his crystal ball.
"The 21st century will be a contest for supremacy in the Pacific because that's where the growth will be," said Lee. "If you do not hold your ground in the Pacific you cannot be a world leader."
Prior to his meetings with Obama and Clinton, Lee received a lifetime achievement award from the US-ASEAN Business Council in a high profile event witnessed by the likes of Henry Kissinger. In his keynote address delivered at the gala dinner last Thursday in Washington, Lee urged the US to remain engaged in Asia:
The size of China makes it impossible for the rest of Asia, including Japan and India, to match it in weight and capacity in about 20 to 30 years. So we need America to strike a balance.
Those comments had the effect of rubbing up Chinese netizens the wrong way. Within a few hours of the Global Times 《环球时报》report hitting the interwebs, Lee's comments attracted the fury of hundreds of Chinese netizens, but wait a minute, there's more.
In building any new East Asian architecture, Lee said the United States must be "an important part" of it, adding that "it would be a serious mistake for the region to define East Asia in closed or, worse, in racial terms."
Here is a snippet from a Global Times blogpost summarising the reactions of Chinese netizens (with translation from the Malaysian Insider):
Many of those who responded were upset and said that Lee had treated the Chinese as outsiders although they had treated Singaporeans as “among their own”.“Lee Kuan Yew spoke for the feeling of those in the West who fear China’s rise would harm their vested interests,” said one netizen.
Another described Lee as “a political animal”, saying that while he “relies on China to develop his country’s economy, he is ushering wolves here to deal with China”.
A third posting said: “Just because he has achieved some success in Singapore, he dares to play the guiding light that shows US the way. If he has the stuff, he should go to Africa and offer tips on how to shake off poverty and achieve wealth.”
Another posting brushed off his comments as insignificant as Singapore was a small country.
“Lee Kuan Yew had made such comments likely because Singapore is a small country that needs an interplay of balances in the international arena,” said the netizen.
“However, what significance do his words carry when the reality is that for a voice to be heard and the views realised, one needs to be truly powerful,” the netizen asked.
A few highly vitriolic essays written by netizens have been given prominent positions in the blog sections of mainstream media portals. Here are just two of them:
李光耀的言论暴露新加坡是美国围堵中国的桥头堡
"Lee Kuan Yew's comments reveal that Singapore is but a pawn of the US in countering China"
无耻梦想：李光耀想让新加坡统治整个东盟当以色列！
"Shameless dreams: Lee Kuan Yew wants Singapore to rule ASEAN like an Israel!"
The response by the Chinese mainstream media has been somewhat more measured. Most reports underscored the online fury among netizens, and then weighed in on political scientists to reflect sentiment on the ground. Here are a few headlines:
李光耀谈话显示东盟信任美国胜过中国 [China News Agency]
"Lee Kuan Yew's comments show that ASEAN trusts the US more than it trusts China"
石齐平：李光耀为何建言美国制衡中国 [Phoenix TV]
"Shi Qiping (political commentator): Why Lee Kuan Yew wants the US to counterbalance China"
李明波：李光耀说啥不必太在意 [Guangzhou Daily]
"Li Mingbo (Guangzhou Daily columnist): No need to pay any heed to what Lee Kuan Yew says"
李光耀亲美言论激怒中国网民 新加坡多家媒体辩解 [Guangzhou Daily]
"Lee Kuan Yew's latest comments anger Chinese netizens, Singapore media offer an explanation"
Footnotes:
1 Prior to this appointment, Lee Kuan Yew held the title of Senior Minister when he passed over the prime ministership to Goh Chok Tong. In 2004, when Lee Kuan Yew's son Lee Hsien Loong became the nation's third prime minister, Goh Chok Tong became the Senior Minister and the new title of Minister Mentor was created for Lee Senior. Together, the three are often referred to as the "Father, Son and Holy Goh" of Singaporean politics.
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Together, the three are often referred to as the "Father, Son and Howly Goh" of Singaporean politics]
Howly because Goh's 60 year old lawyer wife howled in the Singapore Court that S$600,000 is only a peanut and her husband Goh cover up the comment without giving an apology!!! The old woman even announced in the Court that she trust the disgraced National Kidney Foundation Chief Durai 100%. Few Chinese men in Singapore will approve his wife to trust another Indian man outside the family "100%", hahahahaha!!!!!!
Check this out:-
Originally Posted by The Vindicator
YPAP member resorts to smearing critic’s character to silence him on Facebook
Unable to defeat a dogged critic in a debate, a YPAP member had resorted to posting personal details about him on the YPAP Facebook in a desperate bid to discredit him and smear his moral character, reminiscent of the dirty underhanded tactic commonly employed by the PAP to demolish its opponents in past elections.
Mr Alex Tan had been posting his outspoken views on the YPAP Facebook against policies like national service (NS) and the Central Provident Fund for the past six months before being barred from posting lately.
YPAP administrators accused Mr Tan of indulging in name-calling and vulgarities without substantiating their claims while Mr Tan counter-accused them of starting the flame war first.
A YPAP member had revealed on the YPAP Facebook Mr Tan had been put in detention barracks for five days last year, for writing a blog post listing the number of people who have died while serving NS since 2000.
Mr Tan felt they (YPAP) should handle him by the content of his posts, and not his person. YPAP has since deleted the majorityof Mr Tan’s posts.
He should not be surprised as the PAP is adept at resorting to character assassination to cripple their opponents as epitomized by their “fixing” of J.B. Jeyaretnam, Francis Seow, Jufrie Mahmood, Tang Liang Hong, Dr Chee Soon Juan and James Gomez in the past.
As expected, PAP MP and Vice-Chairman of YPAP Mr Zaqy Mohamad jumped to the defence of YPAP in Sunday Times today:
“We would not ban someone just for making anti-establishment remarks. It must have been because those remarks were harsh and malicious,” he noted.
It is obvious that Mr Tan must have ruffled the feathers of the YPAP with his hard-hitting diatribes as it is the first time the YPAP has resorted to banning a netizen from posting on its Facebook.
The rising tide of anti-establishment sentiment in cyberspace continues to impede the YPAP’s efforts to reach out to the online community.
A YPAP member and new citizen from India Mr Fredric Fanthome who blogged on the P65 blog, was rapped lately for his callous comments on the opposition’s reaction to the proposed “cooling-off” day.
Mr Fanthome had criticized the Singapore opposition for its “knee-jerk” response and exhorted it to provide “constructive criticisms” to policies instead of “opposing for the sake of opposing”.
Despite investing large amount of money, manpower and resources into the new media such as revamping the PAP and YPAP websites, the PAP has yet to make its presence felt in Singapore blogosphere which is dominated by independent players who are often critical of the establishment.
Copyright © The Temasek Review, 2009