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Words of Wisdom by Nelson Mandela

yellowarse

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1459091_626840227354971_529375328_n.jpg
 

Leongsam

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What did he put in place to help educate the slum dwelling masses of SA? :rolleyes:

Does he know that the world is full of unemployed PhD holders and MBAs? Education means nothing without the capitalists investing in ideas and people in order to generate jobs.
 

Asterix

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From Forbes magazine:

In the coverage of the life of Nelson Mandela, due emphasis has been given to his resoluteness and constancy in the face of impossible odds. Another facet of his leadership also deserves attention: his willingness to listen and learn.

I first met Nelson Mandela in December 1991 when he came to Washington DC and visited Lew Preston, who was president of the World Bank at the time. At the meeting, in which I participated as director of the World Bank’s Southern Africa Department, Mandela invited Preston to come and visit him in South Africa.

Preston immediately accepted Mandela’s offer and included South Africa in the itinerary of his first trip as president of the World Bank in February 1992, along with Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Preston’s meeting with Mandela in South Africa was to take place in a game reserve many miles from Johannesburg. When we arrived at the reserve, late in the evening, we found Nelson Mandela, Thabo M’Beki and the rest of the ANC leadership team sitting on an open air terrace having drinks. Mandela was wearing a short-sleeved open neck shirt and looked very relaxed. Preston sat down next to Mandela and I sat next to Preston. As we ordered drinks, Mandela said he was happy to see Preston in South Africa so soon.

Preston wasn’t one for small talk, and there was a long pause. Finally, he said, “Well, Nelson, how’s it going?”

Mandela turned to an associate, whom I will call Ken. Mandela said, “Ken, why don’t you tell Lew how it’s going?”

Ken then began a long rambling diatribe about the grave injustices that had been done to the black people of South Africa by a handful of giant corporations. It was a tangle of rants and raves in favor of Marxism, Leninism, and the need for the ANC upon attaining power to move quickly to nationalize the private sector and redistribute property on a more equitable basis.

This was the first indication of the economic policies being discussed at the inner sanctum of the ANC. For the World Bank, it was bad news. The policies would lead to economic disaster, as they had in Tanzania, Mozambique and much of Africa. All the political gains that might be made from the emerging political settlement would be at risk if such economic policies were openly put forward, let alone followed.

As Ken’s talk went on and on and became steadily more extreme, Mandela smiled benignly and Preston looked on expressionless. Finally, it finished and Mandela turned to Preston, saying brightly, “Well, Lew, what do you think?”

There was a long pause. Meetings with Preston were characterized by long silences. As we waited, Mandela smiled benignly and crickets buzzed.

Finally, Preston turned to me and said: “Well, Steve,” he says, “what do you think?”

Everyone now turned towards to me. I looked at Mandela’s benevolent expression. This was obviously not the moment for a divisive economic debate. So I talked about a variety of things. The flow of money. The relevance of development. The importance of justice. The backlog of investments. The necessity of education. The centrality of health. The role of growth. The need for balance. The importance of patience. The volatility of markets. The risk of precipitous action. Our willingness to assist. I filled in the moment with signs of consolation and hope rather than anything specific.

Happily my intervention was sufficiently long and obscure that everyone could read into it whatever they wanted. The conversation moved on and Mandela chatted affably with Preston about the politics of Africa.

At the end, Preston asked Mandela whether there was anything we could really do to help. Mandela said that yes, actually, there were two things. One was to launch a program of secondment of his staff to the World Bank so that they could see what was going on in the world. They had, he said, been too isolated. It was time for them to see what was occurring elsewhere and learn.

The second thing was that Mandela would like the World Bank to continue an arrangement that had been put in place—unique to South Africa—of undertaking studies, policy discussions and study tours in collaboration with all the parties in South Africa–government and opposition, rather than as an adviser to the government. Mandela said that this program was useful and he wanted it to continue.

The evening ended amiably with Preston promising to respond positively to the requests, which were in due course implemented.

Almost three years later, in October 1994, shortly after Nelson Mandela has been elected as president of South Africa, the Wall Street Journal drew attention to what it called “the second miracle” of South Africa’s transition–the fact that in addition to negotiating the political transition, the new government of South Africa led by Nelson Mandela had adopted solid economic policies that boded well for economic stability and growth. There was no hint now of Marxism, Leninism or the confiscation of private property. The government was not talking about the unwise actions that had impoverished other African countries on gaining independence. Instead the talk was of encouraging investment and getting interest rates right.

David Wessel wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “The World Bank and its affiliates, increasingly on the defensive, are finding themselves the subject of unaccustomed praise for their role in what could turn out to be the second miracle of the decade in South Africa. The first miracle, of course, is the peaceful transition to a multiracial democracy. The second is an apparent move to an economic policy that sounds so market-oriented and fiscally conservative that it could have been crafted by International Monetary Fund and World Bank technocrats.”

Most of the credit for the transition in economic thinking must go to Nelson Mandela for being willing to listen and learn that the economic beliefs that he had held for much of his life did not make sense. As a true leader, he was willing to reconsider and change those beliefs.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2013/12/08/nelson-mandela-a-leader-who-listened/
 

Leongsam

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The first miracle, of course, is the peaceful transition to a multiracial democracy. The second is an apparent move to an economic policy that sounds so market-oriented and fiscally conservative that it could have been crafted by International Monetary Fund and World Bank technocrats.”

The article is full of "feel good" statements but which bear very little resemblance to the truth.

SA has never become a multiracial democracy. It has simply transformed itself from a nation divided by skin colour to a nation divided along tribal lines.

As for it's monetary policies all I can say it has done nothing for the country. Its currency has collapsed and businesses are leaving for good simply because it is impossible to operate in such lawless conditions.
 

Asterix

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The article is full of "feel good" statements but which bear very little resemblance to the truth.

Please take note of this:

Stop pretending that you don't understand. It is about how things have improved for the period when a leader is in charge taking into account where he started from.

What was achieved in 1964 with regards to what was left by the British to the Old Fart in 1959? Compare that with what was achieved at the end of Mandela's five year term with regards to what was left by the whites after decades of apartheid and exploitation.

You dumb or what? Give me 2013 statistics for fuck! This is not just airy fairy, it is STUPID. Don't have those statistics or afraid that such statistics will show Old Fart in a bad light just say so!

Since you never got round to providing any RELEVANT statistics even though it's always only a google away, let me do it for you. Compare with what Old Fart inherited from the Brits and what he achieved between 1959 and 1964.

From Wiki:

Mandela's administration inherited a country with a huge disparity in wealth and services between white and black communities. Of a population of 40 million, around 23 million lacked electricity or adequate sanitation, 12 million lacked clean water supplies, with 2 million children not in school and a third of the population illiterate. There was 33% unemployment, and just under half of the population lived below the poverty line. Government financial reserves were nearly depleted, with a fifth of the national budget being spent on debt repayment, meaning that the extent of the promised Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) was scaled back, with none of the proposed nationalisation or job creation. Instead, the government adopted liberal economic policies designed to promote foreign investment, adhering to the "Washington consensus" advocated by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Under Mandela's presidency [from 1994 to 1999], welfare spending increased by 13% in 1996/97, 13% in 1997/98, and 7% in 1998/99. The government introduced parity in grants for communities, including disability grants, child maintenance grants, and old-age pensions, which had previously been set at different levels for South Africa's different racial groups. In 1994, free healthcare was introduced for children under six and pregnant women, a provision extended to all those using primary level public sector health care services in 1996.By the 1999 election, the ANC could boast that due to their policies, 3 million people were connected to telephone lines, 1.5 million children were brought into the education system, 500 clinics were upgraded or constructed, 2 million people were connected to the electricity grid, water access was extended to 3 million people, and 750,000 houses were constructed, housing nearly 3 million people.

The Land Restitution Act of 1994 enabled people who had lost their property as a result of the Natives Land Act, 1913 to claim back their land, leading to the settlement of tens of thousands of land claims. The Land Reform Act 3 of 1996 safeguarded the rights of labour tenants who live and grow crops or graze livestock on farms. This legislation ensured that such tenants could not be evicted without a court order or if they were over the age of sixty-five. The Skills Development Act of 1998 provided for the establishment of mechanisms to finance and promote skills development at the workplace. The Labour Relations Act of 1995 promoted workplace democracy, orderly collective bargaining, and the effective resolution of labour disputes. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act of 1997 improved enforcement mechanisms while extending a "floor" of rights to all workers; the Employment Equity Act of 1998 was passed to put an end to unfair discrimination and ensure the implementation of affirmative action in the workplace.

Many domestic problems remained. Critics like Edwin Cameron accused Mandela's government of doing little to stem the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the country; by 1999, 10% of South Africa's population were HIV positive. Mandela later admitted that he had personally neglected the issue, leaving it for Mbeki to deal with. Mandela also received criticism for failing to sufficiently combat crime, South Africa having one of the world's highest crime rates; this was a key reason cited by the 750,000 whites who emigrated in the late 1990s. Mandela's administration was mired in corruption scandals, with Mandela being perceived as "soft" on corruption and greed.
 

Leongsam

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Many domestic problems remained. Critics like Edwin Cameron accused Mandela's government of doing little to stem the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the country; by 1999, 10% of South Africa's population were HIV positive. Mandela later admitted that he had personally neglected the issue, leaving it for Mbeki to deal with. Mandela also received criticism for failing to sufficiently combat crime, South Africa having one of the world's highest crime rates; this was a key reason cited by the 750,000 whites who emigrated in the late 1990s. Mandela's administration was mired in corruption scandals, with Mandela being perceived as "soft" on corruption and greed.

The Wiki article is need of an edit. I'll do later when I have the time.

Here's a more accurate description of the man.

[h=1]3 Things You Didn’t (Want To) Know About Nelson Mandela[/h] Lee Jenkins June 27, 2013 1,048

The hero of the anti-apartheid struggle was not the saint we want him to be.
The image of Nelson Mandela as a selfless, humble, freedom fighter turned cheerful, kindly old man, is well established in the West. If there is any international leader on whom we can universally heap praise it is surely he. But get past the halo we’ve placed on him without his permission, and Nelson Mandela had more than a few flaws which deserve attention.
He signed off on the deaths of innocent people, lots of them
Nelson Mandela was the head of UmKhonto we Sizwe, (MK), the terrorist wing of the ANC and South African Communist Party. At his trial, he had pleaded guilty to 156 acts of public violence including mobilising terrorist bombing campaigns, which planted bombs in public places, including the Johannesburg railway station. Many innocent people, including women and children, were killed by Nelson Mandela’s MK terrorists. Here are some highlights
-Church Street West, Pretoria, on the 20 May 1983
-Amanzimtoti Shopping complex KZN, 23 December 1985
-Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court, 17 March 1988
-Durban Pick ‘n Pay shopping complex, 1 September 1986
-Pretoria Sterland movie complex 16 April 1988 – limpet mine killed ANC terrorist M O Maponya instead
-Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court, 20 May 1987
-Roodepoort Standard Bank 3 June, 1988
Tellingly, not only did Mandela refuse to renounce violence, Amnesty refused to take his case stating “[the] movement recorded that it could not give the name of ‘Prisoner of Conscience’ to anyone associated with violence, even though as in ‘conventional warfare’ a degree of restraint may be exercised.”

As President he bought a lot of military hardware
Inheriting a country with criminally deep socio-ecnomic problems, one might expect resources to be poured into redressing the imbalances of apartheid. Yet once in office, even Mandela’s government slipped into the custom of putting national corporatism, power and prestige above its people. Deputy Minister of Defence Ronnie Kasrils said in 1995 that the government’s planned cuts in defence spending could also result in the loss of as many as 90,000 jobs in defence-related industries.
Mandela’s government announced in November 1998 that it intended to purchase 28 BAE/SAAB JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft from Sweden at a cost of R10.875 billion, i.e. R388 million (about US$65 million) per plane. Clearly, the all-powerful air armadas of Botswana weighed heavily on the minds of South African leaders…
Not content with jets, in 1999 a US$4.8 billion (R30 billion in 1999 rands) purchase of weaponry was finalised, which has been subject to allegations of corruption. The South African Department of Defence’s Strategic Defence Acquisition purchased a slew of shiny new weapons, including frigates, submarines, corvettes, light utility helicopters, fighter jet trainers and advanced light fighter aircraft.
Below are some of the purchases made, presumably to keep the expansionist intentions of Madagascar at bay…

Description
Original Qty
Illustrative total cost
Corvettes​
4​
R4 billion​
Maritime helicopter for corvettes​
5​
R1 billion​
New submarines to replace Daphne
4​
R5,5 billion​
Alouette helicopter replacement​
60​
R2 billion​
Advanced light fighter​
48​
R6-9 billion​
Main Battle Tank replacement of Olifant
154​
R6 billion​
Total cost in 1998 Rand​
R25-38 billion

<tbody>
</tbody>

Mandela was friendly with dictators
Despite being synonymous with freedom and democracy, Mandela was never afraid to glad hand the thugs and tyrants of the international arena.
General Sani Abacha seized power in Nigeria in a military coup in November 1993. From the start of his presidency, in May 1994, Nelson Mandela refrained from publicly condemning Abacha’s actions. Up until the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in November 1995 the ANC government vigorously opposed the imposition of sanctions against Nigeria. Shortly before the meeting Mandela’s spokesman, Parks Mankahlana, said that “quiet persuasion” would yield better results than coercion. Even after the Nigerian government announced the death sentences against Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists, during the summit, Mandela refused to condemn the Abacha regime or countenance the imposition of sanctions.
Two of the ANC’s biggest donors, in the 1990s, were Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya and President Suharto of Indonesia . Not only did Mandela refrain from criticising their lamentable human rights records but he interceded diplomatically on their behalf, and awarded them South Africa ‘s highest honour. Suharto was awarded a state visit, a 21-gun salute, and The Order of Good Hope (gold class).
In April 1999 Mandela acknowledged to an audience in Johannesburg that Suharto had given the ANC a total of 60 million dollars. An initial donation of 50 million dollars had been followed up by a further 10 million. The Telegraph ( London ) reported that Gaddafi was known to have given the ANC well over ten million dollars.

The apartheid regime was a crime against humanity; as illogical as it was cruel. It is tempting, therefore, to simplify the subject by declaring that all who opposed it were wholly and unswervingly good. It’s important to remember, however, that Mandela has been the first to hold his hands up to his shortcomings and mistakes. In books and speeches, he goes to great length to admit his errors. The real tragedy is that too many in the West can’t bring themselves to see what the great man himself has said all along; that he’s just as flawed as the rest of us, and should not be put on a pedestal.
 

hockbeng

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It's not that the Sing dollar has appreciated. It's the USD that has depreciated. Shows up how little you know and yet come here to puke. nI thank God for Asterix who shreds every one of your nonsensical point to pieces.

its the same thing.
Comparative advantage.
 

Dreamer1

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Mandela’s sharp statements rarely cited in mainstream media - MSM are the same all over the world,and Singapore's (ranked 156th) is the worst!
http://rt.com/news/mandela-sharp-quotes-media-860/

LKY has never been known as a humble man,but he as a brilliant lawyer,knows he cannot BS the whole world.God bless Nelson Mandela,he is by the side of our Creator now
Lee Kuan Yew pays tribute to Nelson Mandela - Xinhua | English ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/africa/2013-12/06/c_132947963.htm
 
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Asterix

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The apartheid regime was a crime against humanity; as illogical as it was cruel. It is tempting, therefore, to simplify the subject by declaring that all who opposed it were wholly and unswervingly good. It’s important to remember, however, that Mandela has been the first to hold his hands up to his shortcomings and mistakes. In books and speeches, he goes to great length to admit his errors. The real tragedy is that too many in the West can’t bring themselves to see what the great man himself has said all along; that he’s just as flawed as the rest of us, and should not be put on a pedestal.

The part in red and bold is crux of the matter
And differentiates the big boys from petty ones
No need to tell you which Old Fart city mayor
Claims to be perfect and never makes mistakes
 

Asterix

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He signed off on the deaths of innocent people, lots of them
Nelson Mandela was the head of UmKhonto we Sizwe, (MK), the terrorist wing of the ANC and South African Communist Party. At his trial, he had pleaded guilty to 156 acts of public violence including mobilising terrorist bombing campaigns, which planted bombs in public places, including the Johannesburg railway station. Many innocent people, including women and children, were killed by Nelson Mandela’s MK terrorists. ...........

A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.
— From Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan, Mao Tsetung

Would Apartheid have been abolished in a negotiated settlement with the whites if the cost of maintaining it is not expensive in terms of lives and other resources? Would the British have left Malaya if not for the Emergency which included similar acts?

Yitzak Shamir and Menachem Begin are given prominent places in this video as "terrorists". They went on to become Prime Ministers of Israel. Sinkies get the kind of Gahbrament that they deserve.

[video=youtube;04rKDq_1x5c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04rKDq_1x5c[/video]
 

jw5

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Someone should start a thread for Harry quotes so that we can all compare and LOL.
 

Leongsam

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Someone should start a thread for Harry quotes so that we can all compare and LOL.

Harry's quotes are blunt, realistic and reflect the hard truth about the way societies function.

Mandela's quotes are music to the ears. They inspire the ignorant masses and make them believe that they have more control over their destinies than is realistically possible.

At the end of the day, Mandela is a "Kong Hee" on a larger stage.. full of false promises while the ANC lines their pockets.
 

jw5

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Harry's quotes are blunt, realistic and reflect the hard truth about the way societies function.

Mandela's quotes are music to the ears. They inspire the ignorant masses and make them believe that they have more control over their destinies than is realistically possible.

At the end of the day, Mandela is a "Kong Hee" on a larger stage.. full of false promises while the ANC lines their pockets.

I'm looking forward to your posts on this new thread. :wink:
 

Asterix

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A Mandela lesson for Wong Yuk-man
Spoilt brat of Hongkie local politics
Says columnist me humbly thinks
Old Fart also needs same lesson


"Do you know who I am, little girl? I'm Wong Yuk-man. Would I take it back?"

A hapless female reporter provoked this arrogant response, broadcast on Cable TV, from the boisterous pan-democrat after she asked if he would retract his "petrol bomb" remark against Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. Bully boy Wong has been embroiled in a row with the government ever since he said in the legislature that people would start throwing petrol bombs and not eggs at officials like Lam.

Now he claims he wasn't making a threat, only sounding a warning about the direction the government's "fake consultation" on political reform was going. It was only the news media that were misreporting him and we all know the newspapers in Hong Kong are, to use his own word, "degenerate".

Let's accept Wong's self-justification for a moment despite all his screaming and shouting at Lam in Legco. At the very least, he shows complete contempt for Lam - and absolute moral certainty that he alone is right. A reader asked me to forward to Wong a speech by Ravi Zacharias, the evangelical speaker, on the death of Nelson Mandela. But why bother? Such sentiment is completely alien to someone as full of himself as Wong.

"I mourn the loss of not just a person, but an example for all politicians," Zacharias said.

"Where are the leaders like him today? Many of those who are eulogising him have evidently not learned from him. He bore no hatred towards his oppressors.

"When he acquired freedom he did not ask the oppressed to 'go and vote for revenge'. He did not use the microphone to whip up hostility, division and frenzy or go on diatribes blaming his predecessors for doing everything wrong. He did not use language that some in the media do, verbiage that is too vulgar to even repeat. He wanted to correct society, not penalise or pollute it. He won supporters to his side with grace and dignity, not by bullying."

The greatest strength that Mandela had, in my opinion, was his ability to show respect and courtesy even to his most implacable enemies. Mandela the statesman, according to a recent biographer, always got up when someone entered the room, even if it was just the tea lady. Does Wong shout at his domestic helper?

http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1378446/mandela-lesson-wong-yuk-man
 
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