Truths that make us hard
When i used to live here, nearly fifteen years ago, something which always passed the time was taking titles of ST headlines and LKY's latest IPO and playing a wee bit with it, so that it was mostly changed but recognisable at the same time.
Like Hard Truths. We could have come up with The Hard Truth is Out There (on a Piazza), The Truth is Hard to Find, Hardly the Truth.... it was juvenile, but it always got us laughing.
Anyway, after suffering from indigestion last night i was doing this... in between reading the book. So i'm sort of almost in the middle. I've come to the section where they reinterview him. It is 2010, and Singapore has enjoyed an 'eye-popping' 15 per cent growth. The reporters want to know what the man thinks about this growth and what lessons can be learnt from the last economic crisis.
The answer which emerge come across as a the man channelling Yoda and escoteric Zen Bhuddism. That was when i thought, it's not fair to pick at him. He is clearly losing the plot.
On a human level, LKY is scared shitless about Singapore and its survival. For all the reasons listed in the book. His analysis on things always comes down to - we are too small, we have really awful neighbours (and he doesn't mind being really rude about this), we have no talented and intelligent people (definitely not enough, definitely none like me), eugenics - why didn't anyone take this seriously?... apart from the Nazis of course -, Chinese people are not like any other people, if only Singapore was closer to China (he actually says that life would have been different if Johore was next to Shenzheng, we would have merged with them), stupid people need to know their place, clever people need to know theirs, (thank god i'm clearly in the clever people category), leadership, leadership, leadership... even clever people don't always make good ministers... how very annoying....
Then there is a vanity and the arrogance... but if you put that all aside, you see someone who is realising, my legacy is not secure. I don't know if these were right things to do. I can justify this over and over and over again to myself, but really... when i'm dead i can't take Singapore with me to the grave. Or can he? (Hmmmm that was a Mighty Boosh moment...)
But that last interview i read made me very sad. He had clearly lost a lot of the energy that had guided him in the rest of the book. Questions posed to him elicted very short answers, which were a bit obvious... like What can Singapore learn from this last crisis? There was a crisis, in every crisis we have something to learn. End of answer.
Well, i'm not going to continue critiquing the book. It's kinda mean. It's still fascinating and hilarious reading. Some of them are gems....
Look at New Zealand. We are not New Zealand (i am parapharasing a bit now). They are good at producing grass and sheep and tourism. But they are dull. We don't want to be dull.
The Americans went to a continent with nothing on it. They killed the Red Indians (yes he uses this term), they buffaloes, then they set up towns and said you be the sherrif, you be the accountant, you be the baker... and they created something out of nothing. That is why they are so creative.
I am a streetfighter. If we go down a dark alley only one of us will emerge. I took the communists on and i emerged from the dark alley.
And so forth.... but i'm not doing this anymore... it's just not fair.
Like Hard Truths. We could have come up with The Hard Truth is Out There (on a Piazza), The Truth is Hard to Find, Hardly the Truth.... it was juvenile, but it always got us laughing.
Anyway, after suffering from indigestion last night i was doing this... in between reading the book. So i'm sort of almost in the middle. I've come to the section where they reinterview him. It is 2010, and Singapore has enjoyed an 'eye-popping' 15 per cent growth. The reporters want to know what the man thinks about this growth and what lessons can be learnt from the last economic crisis.
The answer which emerge come across as a the man channelling Yoda and escoteric Zen Bhuddism. That was when i thought, it's not fair to pick at him. He is clearly losing the plot.
On a human level, LKY is scared shitless about Singapore and its survival. For all the reasons listed in the book. His analysis on things always comes down to - we are too small, we have really awful neighbours (and he doesn't mind being really rude about this), we have no talented and intelligent people (definitely not enough, definitely none like me), eugenics - why didn't anyone take this seriously?... apart from the Nazis of course -, Chinese people are not like any other people, if only Singapore was closer to China (he actually says that life would have been different if Johore was next to Shenzheng, we would have merged with them), stupid people need to know their place, clever people need to know theirs, (thank god i'm clearly in the clever people category), leadership, leadership, leadership... even clever people don't always make good ministers... how very annoying....
Then there is a vanity and the arrogance... but if you put that all aside, you see someone who is realising, my legacy is not secure. I don't know if these were right things to do. I can justify this over and over and over again to myself, but really... when i'm dead i can't take Singapore with me to the grave. Or can he? (Hmmmm that was a Mighty Boosh moment...)
But that last interview i read made me very sad. He had clearly lost a lot of the energy that had guided him in the rest of the book. Questions posed to him elicted very short answers, which were a bit obvious... like What can Singapore learn from this last crisis? There was a crisis, in every crisis we have something to learn. End of answer.
Well, i'm not going to continue critiquing the book. It's kinda mean. It's still fascinating and hilarious reading. Some of them are gems....
Look at New Zealand. We are not New Zealand (i am parapharasing a bit now). They are good at producing grass and sheep and tourism. But they are dull. We don't want to be dull.
The Americans went to a continent with nothing on it. They killed the Red Indians (yes he uses this term), they buffaloes, then they set up towns and said you be the sherrif, you be the accountant, you be the baker... and they created something out of nothing. That is why they are so creative.
I am a streetfighter. If we go down a dark alley only one of us will emerge. I took the communists on and i emerged from the dark alley.
And so forth.... but i'm not doing this anymore... it's just not fair.
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