Malaysian bloggers are more objective about the achievements of Lee Kuan Yew. They are prepared to give credit where it is due. How many Singaporeans would swap places with our neighbours?

It's amazing how many Singaporeans wholeheartedly believe in nonsense like this. Singapore's success is the achievement of its people, not Lee Kuan Yew.

Singapore had hard working, frugal, entrepreneurial migrants from southern China and India who worked their asses off to better their lives (and therefore the lives of their descendants). The population of Singapore wasn't dominated by indigenous folks who prefer napping under coconut trees to hauling rice sacks from sampans. Most of our ancestors did not believe in a religion that require prostrating to Allah five times a day, they believed in the religion of money.

Singapore's success has been based on these emigrants -- destitute, desperate people who had nothing to lose -- similar to, for example, the Jewish emigrants who made New York -- and those who in the past made equally gloriously thriving places such as Venice, Beirut, Constantinople, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.

Our success has nothing to do with Lee Kuan Yew. If anything, Lee Kuan Yew and his family and cronies probably squandered the wealth accumulated by a whole generation of hardworking Singaporeans.

You shouldn't blindly believe in the PAP's propaganda or the load of self-aggrandizing crap in LKY's memoirs. Had Lee Kuan Yew swapped places with his Malaysian counterpart, he would have fucked Malaysia up much worse.

I think you ought to be careful with generalisation...will not argue with you about LKY's contribution but your attack on "indigenous folks who prefer napping under coconut trees to hauling rice sacks from sampans" is unnecessary and discrimatory. It makes you no different from the Umno bullies.

As for the religion of money, I can argue that it is MCA's religion too and yet, they are desperately bad and makes PAP look very good.

Monetary success is each individual's responsibility and it is dependant on individual abilities (not race). The government is responsible to provide a level playing field and minimum level of infrastructure services so, based on this criterion, I think LKY is better than his Malaysian counterparts.

It's politically incorrect but it's the truth. Think about it -- if it weren't for the immigrants, Singapore would have remained a fishing village like Batam and Bintan. By and large Singapore's economic growth was fueled by its first generation immigrants. This has nothing to do with race; it's just that the indigenous population of Singapore lacked the same survival mentality of the migrants.

Wow that is patriotism for you! Another country edifies our leaders and we tear them down. Truth be told, Harry has done much for Singapore and so have Singaporeans. So please stop being so self righteous and saying that it all about us alone.

Give credit where credit is due, it may not be perfect but it is heck of a lot better than half of the other countries in the world.

Be thankful and mindful for what you have, do not condemn it, and if you do not like it as much as you say you do, then LEAVE lah!

It's a heck of a lot better than half of the other countries in the world because of its people and its geographical location. It could have been even better if not for Lee Kuan Yew and his cronies, who instead of investing the nation's wealth back on its people, blew it on worthless investments in foreign lands.

I do not find a single argument in what you wrote that demonstrates why LKY deserves any credit. All you did is to parrot the same shit that the PAP-controlled media has been feeding you.

There is no need for me to add an argument on what he has done because it is obvious to all. I will be the first person to critique the PAP but in this matter I am sorry you are being t0o general, narrow focused not to mention discriminatory to think that Singapore was solely built on the backs of its people.

Based on that rationale, many of the countries in our region who are full of migrants should be prosperous too, but with their lack of insightful leadership they have faltered and progressed little. A good leader can only be a good leader with followers, so I urge you to read carefully. I am not saying he is solely responsible, he played his part and together with Singaporean we have achieved what we have. Finally to repeat myself:

Be thankful and mindful for what you have, do not condemn it, and if you do not like it as much as you say you do, then LEAVE lah!

Which other country in our region is full of migrants? And how is it obvious that Singapore's success is due in any major way to LKY?

Which piece of LKY's famous policies do you have in mind? Is it his creation of GIC and Temasek? The "stop at two" population control? The graduate mothers scheme? The suppression of dissent through ISA? The use of libel suits to crush opposition? The complete control of the media? The massive import of foreign workers?

Ignorant folks are normally the ones most likely to be hoodwinked by propaganda from the PAP. And since they can't put together a coherent argument supported by facts, they regurgitate propaganda when confronted with the truth.

I'm thankful. I'm just not blindly thankful to the wrong person.

LKY deserves some credit, but not all. And it is the cosmopolitan, migrant community that had the drive to bring this place into a buzzing trading colony, pre-LKY.

Wow! I presume you are Singaporean indeed but a very unhappy one. But you are still here? Why? Perhaps you should look at the positivity of why you are still here rather than the constantly bitching about why this is this way and that way.

I think you have again not read carefully and missed the point which my fellow commenter "Krusty" has seemed to have grasped. So for your sake I repeat, albeit again:

"I am not saying he is solely responsible, he played his part and together with Singaporeans we have achieved what we have. "

Do not be so presumptuous to think Harry is the one and only person responsible for the successes and the failures, which is why your argument is completely flawed and does not hold any water. So I see no point in "arguing", (by the way, this is a discussion here, I get no reward in winning here perhaps you do - if so congrats!)

In your mind, Singapore is a failed country, with the list of negatives that you have listed perhaps you should look at both sides and see the positives unless you do not see any, then .....I think, I am sorry for you. Because I love my life in Singapore, and I will not give up for anything! There is good and bad, but that is life. Thanks for the enlightening discussion and I wish you better luck in your life.

God Bless!

Goodness. You do not even know what an argument is. From the context it should have been absolutely clear that I meant "a course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating truth or falsehood: e.g. presented a careful argument for extraterrestrial life", and not "a quarrel or dispute."

It's no wonder you can get confused over something so simple: I claimed that "Singapore's success is not due to LKY."

If I am happy with Singapore and choose to live here, it has nothing to do with LKY. In fact that's exactly my point: "Singapore's success is NOT due to LKY."

Did I ever say that Singapore is a failed country? Did I not say that "Singapore's SUCCESS is not due to LKY?"

Sadly, your fuzzy thinking reflects the triumph of the PAP spin machine --- you have actually confused Singapore with LKY. Goodness.

This is in part also a response to the guy upstairs.

Tautologies like "LKY is not the one and only person responsible for the failures" are just meaningless nonsense. Hitler is not the one and only person responsible for the Holocaust; Stalin is not the one and only person responsible for the Great Terror; Bin Laden is not the one and only person responsible for 9/11; Mao is not the one and only person responsible for the Great Chinese Famine; Deng is not the one and only person responsible for the Tiananmen Massacre.

Yeah sure. Strictly speaking all these statements are true. Just like LKY is not completely responsible for squandering $300 billion, he has Ho Ching's help.

I note the blogger did not mention GCT or LHL, both of whom total 19 years of prime ministership. That's 43% of the history of independent Singapore -- ignored. Hmmm...

You know, there is a curious, kinda foreign-inspired, hero-worshipping of LKY in this millennium here that wasn't around the previous couple decades. That's not saying the earlier (baby-boomer) generation wasn't grateful, not if you had experienced how the country rallied during the Chaim Herzog fallout, the Michael Fay controversy, the Asian values debate, etc. Those days were genuinely "Total Defence" (to cliche it), without glorifying some personality cult like now.

As for neighbors who wanna do comparisons (or genuinely pay respect), I'm still waiting for someone to highlight their ex-countrymen in the PAP Old Guard leadership -- & rue what could've been if these able men were somehow recruited into their political leadership instead. Goh Keng Swee (Malacca), Toh Chin Chye (Perak), S. Rajaratnam (born Sri Lanka but raised in Negri Sembilan), Ong Pang Boon (KL), Lee Khoon Choy (Penang), Devan Nair (Malacca), Yong Nyuk Lin (Negri Sembilan), Ahmad Ibrahim (Penang), Yacoob Mohamed (Kelantan), et al. were not born here. Even ex-Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin was from Penang.

By acknowledging this, I would've appreciated his knowledge of history, whether or not I agree with his views.

Crazy all this talk . Singapore is a small insignificant city , it is not a country , the PAP only have one city to look after and no country to speak of , so whats so fantastic . The country already existed when the PAP took it over , and now it is just a concrete jungle just like any other city of the developed world , with excessive consumption and pollution.
And don't say I don't know , I live here ( unfortunately) and see and have photos of all the pollution and unecological things that go on . To pay the highest salaries in the world to politicians in one of the smallest city states in the world makes Singapore a laughing stock . And that only when people know where Singapore is , over 80% of people I have asked world wide don't even know,

basically singaporeans are well enough of a new idea. not PAP-based policies. more and more singaporeans feel they need to contribute something which PAP lacked. SDP is rising and will topple the ruling government. more open speech for people like the "indegenous people as well as minorities and more democratic people." If people would ever know about 'operation coldstore', you'll really know PAP are real cowards. search at wikipedia about operation coldstore or maybe youtube to find out more.