<TABLE id=msgUN cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top>
Coffee Shop Talk - MM Lee to meet Clinton </TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">opinmind <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">4:53 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 2) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>14841.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>
Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has to be admired for his spirit even at the age of 85. Less than 48 hours after having a pacemaker implanted to remedy an irregular heart rhythm, he plans to go to Hong Kong tomorrow to meet former US president Bill Clinton. This isn’t the first time he hasn’t allowed health problems to upset his calendar. He addressed a global forum by videolink while recovering in hospital from an earlier heart rhythm problem in September.
Bill Clinton isn’t his favourite person, however, writes Paul Theroux. In his latest book, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Theroux writes about his trip to Singapore two years ago. Theroux, who taught English at the former University of Singapore from 1968 to 1971, met up with old friends and writes what his friends said about MM Lee.
“He’s a frank admirer of President Bush,” one of my friends said. “But he disliked Clinton for his private life.”
Talking about Michael Fay, the American teenager who was caned for spray-painting graffiti on cars, Theroux’s friend said: “Fay wouldn’t have been caned if Reagan had been in power. Lee was trying to teach Clinton a lesson, showing Singapore disapproved of him by whipping the American boy.”
Theroux adds:
The American reaction to Fay’s punishment provoked Lee to reveal in an outburst what he really thought of America and how he viewed Singapore. “The US government, the US Senate, and the US media took the opportunity to ridicule us, saying the sentence was too severe,” he said in a television interview. The United States “does not punish individuals, forgiving them for whatever they have done. That is why the whole country is in chaos: drugs, violence, unemployment, and homelessness.”
All that’s water under the bridge now.
Singapore’s economy depends on the US economy, says his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and let’s all pray for a swift mutual recovery.
A prayer goes out for MM Lee, too, to bounce right back and keep his date with Clinton. No offence meant. I admire MM Lee and am a great fan of Clinton’s. May they get on like a house on fire when they meet for the Clinton Global Initiative. MM Lee will be accompanied by doctors, say reports. They had better take good care of the old man.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has to be admired for his spirit even at the age of 85. Less than 48 hours after having a pacemaker implanted to remedy an irregular heart rhythm, he plans to go to Hong Kong tomorrow to meet former US president Bill Clinton. This isn’t the first time he hasn’t allowed health problems to upset his calendar. He addressed a global forum by videolink while recovering in hospital from an earlier heart rhythm problem in September.
Bill Clinton isn’t his favourite person, however, writes Paul Theroux. In his latest book, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Theroux writes about his trip to Singapore two years ago. Theroux, who taught English at the former University of Singapore from 1968 to 1971, met up with old friends and writes what his friends said about MM Lee.
“He’s a frank admirer of President Bush,” one of my friends said. “But he disliked Clinton for his private life.”
Talking about Michael Fay, the American teenager who was caned for spray-painting graffiti on cars, Theroux’s friend said: “Fay wouldn’t have been caned if Reagan had been in power. Lee was trying to teach Clinton a lesson, showing Singapore disapproved of him by whipping the American boy.”
Theroux adds:
The American reaction to Fay’s punishment provoked Lee to reveal in an outburst what he really thought of America and how he viewed Singapore. “The US government, the US Senate, and the US media took the opportunity to ridicule us, saying the sentence was too severe,” he said in a television interview. The United States “does not punish individuals, forgiving them for whatever they have done. That is why the whole country is in chaos: drugs, violence, unemployment, and homelessness.”
All that’s water under the bridge now.
Singapore’s economy depends on the US economy, says his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and let’s all pray for a swift mutual recovery.
A prayer goes out for MM Lee, too, to bounce right back and keep his date with Clinton. No offence meant. I admire MM Lee and am a great fan of Clinton’s. May they get on like a house on fire when they meet for the Clinton Global Initiative. MM Lee will be accompanied by doctors, say reports. They had better take good care of the old man.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
