Lee Kuan Yew's Chinese Excellence And Malay Paradox

Hantu Laut

Reported in the Straits Times, Feb 7th:

BY THE time Singaporean kids start Primary school, one in four are myopic. One in two Primary 6 pupils are myopic and towards the end of their teenage years, four in five 18-year-old males are myopic - and the trend is believed to be similar for females.

These alarming statistics has earned Singapore the unofficial title of one of the most myopic nations in the world. Ophthalmologists in Singapore cite genetic and environmental factors as the reasons for such high rates of myopia - or short-sightedness - in Singapore.

Also, Singaporeans' lifestyle which usually involves near-work activities such as watching television and using the computer for prolonged periods of time, contributes to soaring rates of myopia here.

Amy Chua had better described the Chinese gruelling parenting for excellence in her book "The Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother" which not only exist in the Chinese American families but among most Chinese Diaspora worldwide and I say Singapore should take distinction in this obsessive compulsive parenting.

My ten-year stay in Singapore where my children were educated have witnessed how parents particularly mothers pressured their children to reach academic excellence with almost zero tolerance.It's all work and no play for many Singapore's children.

A sore pimple in the Malay Archipelago, this 704 sq. kilometer (1/3 reclaimed land) nation outshone its bigger neighbours in academic and economic excellence.

The man who almost single-handedly transformed this tiny island nation into an economic powerhouse that have put bigger and more resourceful nations to shame had also created an ophthalmic nightmare and a society of rat-racers.

Political correctitude is not in his vocabulary.If success breeds arrogance than Lee Kuan Yew has it all and his cut is often the deepest with little attempt at diplomacy even when dealing with his bigger neighbours.

Lee is not an enigma, is not a person who generally expressed himself in metaphorical or allegorical language, he often spades in ethnicity and the genealogical trees that makes him looked like a consummated racist.He spares no time for turkeys.He has paid tribute to the minority Sri Lankan Tamil in Singapore and agonised the Malays at home and across the Malay Archipelago.

His diatribes had angered and caused much discomfort to his neighbours.

The Malays, particularly across the causeway have taken great exception to some of his salvos.

Here, a worthy read on Lee Kuan Yew and the Singapore Malays.

Also read:
Dr M:Kuan Yew just a 'mayor'

Ten DAP Leaders Jumped To BN In Sabah

TAWAU -- Sabah Pakatan Rakyat endured another round of shock today when ten Tawau DAP leaders including publicity chief James Leong Yun Fui (picture) have quit and joined Gerakan, a Barisan Nasional (BN) component party.

This came barely twenty four hours after Pakatan coalition partner, PKR's Sabah chief, Pajudin Nordin threw in the towel before joining UMNO.

The resignation of the DAP leaders was announced by Gerakan vice-president Liew Yun Fah at a Chinese New Year open house here today. The group handed their Gerakan membership application forms to Sabah BN chairman and Chief Minister Musa Aman who passed them over to Liew.

Leong said they had lost confidence in the party leadership who were only good at talking and incapable of delivering their promises.

He said only BN was capable of bringing development to the people via the 1Malaysia concept introduced by Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Musa said the resignation of DAP leaders proved that the opposition had failed to solve the people's problems and rendered them irrelevant to Sabah.

He was confident that more DAP leaders and members would leave the party to join BN component parties.

Meanwhile, Liew said the resignation was a positive sign that BN could recapture Sri Tanjung state seat from DAP.

He said the Chinese community had realised that only BN could bring them development and champion the people.

The series of resignation would have dealt Anwar Ibrahim with a major setback, and may signal a crisis within the coalition rife with infighting and now face a crisis of confidence. The loss in the Tenang by-election have prompted the national pakatan leadership into some deep soul searching but a solution to stem the haemorrhage is nowhere in sight.

Pakatan leader, Wan Azizah has been tasked to reverse the tide but currently may have to contend with the excuse that a little blood-letting from within its fold may indeed be good.

Malaysian Mirror

Yes! Mr Specious Anwar Can Kiss Putrajaya Goodbye

Hantu Laut

"Pajudin will not last long either. The rebels will continue to demand an acceptable replacement and Pajudin is far from being acceptable to PKR statewide membership" .......extracted from my previous post "Who Is Pajudin Nordin? The Final Curtain For Sabah PKR"

"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time." Abraham Lincoln.

Sooner or later your lies will catch up with you.


Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman (right) seen here shaking hands with ex-Sabah PKR chied Pajudin Nordin who has abandoned the Pakatan Rakyat party and joined Umno.

Yes! Anwar can kiss Putrajaya goodbye.Story here.

Photo taken from BarkingMagpie

Only Sabahans can teach this man a lesson.

Anwar! Do us a favour, leave us Sabahans in peace, just do the right thing, close down Sabah PKR.

It's a reflection of your poor leadership.

• Read More">Yes, Anwar can kiss Putrajaya goodbye.Story here.
  

Egypt: Dangerous games

The machinations of the Mubarak regime could yet see much more blood spilt in Cairo.

The Guardian,
Friday 4 February 2011

Blood is not the ideal lubricant for the orderly transition which all political forces in Egypt claim to want. Nor is deceit. Yet there is a clear danger of more of both as the regime in Cairo wriggles and manoeuvres for advantage. They may understand on one level that things cannot go on as they did before, but on another, some of them at least are acting as if outflanking their opponents is the main objective. There is also evidence, in the shape of a worsening of the conditions under which foreign journalists have to work, that they want to do it without the international press at their elbow.

Much of this manoeuvring centres on the physical possession of Tahrir Square. The passionate advocates of immediate change in Egypt have already been pushed out of part of the square by violent pro-Mubarak demonstrators. Now, in addition, they face the more insidious prospect of being "persuaded" out of this symbolic place by the argument that what they are doing will lead to dire consequences for the livelihood of ordinary Egyptians.

The new prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, yesterday apologised for the violence in the square on Wednesday and said it would not be repeated. But he did so in a way which not so subtly equated the two sets of demonstrators, while laying on the anti-Mubarak side the responsibility for the deterioration in the country's economy. Vice-president Omar Suleiman did the same in an interview in which he recounted his attempts to conduct a dialogue with political parties and spoke of the length of time needed to make constitutional changes. The game here is an obvious one: paint the country as more or less equally divided and in need of arbitration and reconciliation, make economic normalisation the immediate priority, and draw out the political process.

One does not have to believe that every pro-Mubarak demonstrator is a thug or a plainclothes policeman to understand that equating the two sides in this way distorts reality. And, while arguments about Egypt's economic plight or the need to observe legalities cannot be dismissed, they are no substitute for creating the trust necessary if there are to be real negotiations about the country's future. Read more.

The Economist:The regime sends in the thugs
Maimi Herald:Egypt's Islamists, caught off guard by uprising, still defining role

The Guardian:Mubarak: 'If I resign today there will be chaos'