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From: bhatnaga@topaz.ARPA (Bhatnaga)
Newsgroups: net.nlang.india
Subject: Re: Lee Kuan Yew on Singapore and Indians
Message-ID: <1213@topaz.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 15-Apr-85 07:01:13 EST
Article-I.D.: topaz.1213
Posted: Mon Apr 15 07:01:13 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 18-Apr-85 04:18:10 EST
References: <398@sftri.UUCP>
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
Lines: 53

> 
> From an article in the New York Times, April 11, about "The Politics of
> Ruling and Romance in Singapore"
> 
> Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew has mad politics interesting again in
> Singapore, though probably not in a way he intended.
> 
> ...<The article goes on about how the recent elections, where two Opposition
> members won seats, and how this is viewed Mr. Lee as a defeat for his party.
> Frankly, 79 out of 81 doesn't sound that bad!>...
> 
> To quote again:
> 
> Mr. Lee recently added fuel to the debate on Singapore's future with a sustained
> attack in Parliament on "Western" values, under whose umbrella he lumped
> birth-control pills, American libel suits and Indian political practices.
> 
> The Prime Minister .... has drawn close in recent public statements to a 
> strong belief in traditional Chinese values. In March ... he told Parliament
> that Singapore's political success had been a success because its people
> were overwhelmingly ethnic Chinese.
> 
> "Had the mix in Singapore been different", the Prime Minister said, "had it
> been 75 % Indians,  15 % Malays and the rest Chinese, it would not have
> worked."
> 
> <And so on......>
> 
> Now this bothers me because I had always felt that Singapore would be a
> good place for Indians to do business in, partly because of the (10% ?)
> Indian population. Do Lee's statements portend some sort of anti-Indian
> policy or a sons-of-the-soil attitude? I'd appreciate any comments by
> people in the know.
> -- 
> ...ihnp4!attunix!rajeev   -- usenet
> ihnp4!attunix!rajeev@BERKELEY   -- arpanet
> Sri Rajeev, SF 1-342, Bell Labs, Summit, NJ 07901. (201)-522-6330.
I guess that this was not as much as his long time view as an (possibly)
emotional relation to some recent happenings in that country. You might 
be knowing that recenetly Mr. Devan Nair (of Indian origin and President 
of Singapore) had to resign from his post because as it turned out, he 
had severe drinking problems. This came as a severe blow to the 
reputation of the govt. (may be that is why they lost 2 seats).
	It was a nasty comment about Indians, I admit. I propose above 
as a plausible explanation and I wish that this (explanation) is correct.
One fish should not spoil the whole pond.



Neeraj (Bhatnagar@RU-GREEN.arpa)
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