<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Oct 22, 2009
REACTION TO MM LEE'S REMARKS
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>S'pore youth may yet surprise the world
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I WAS among the National University of Singapore (NUS) undergraduates who attended the Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum at NUS on Monday, with Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew as the guest of honour, and I would like to share my thoughts.
This is the first time I have seen Mr Lee in person. And I must say he is not as stern and unfunny as I had initially thought - he shared several light-hearted and humorous moments with the audience during the forum.
Second, he mentioned that Singapore's youth nowadays lead a much better life than our forefathers, and hence we do not know what it is like to be poor. We may thus not be driven to work as hard as our forefathers. I have to agree on this point.
However, I also believe my generation will be able to make up for this shortcoming by demonstrating other new positive traits which are essential and relevant in today's society: such as being more worldly, well-versed in information technology, more educated and smart at work.
So, while our forefathers demonstrated their crucial hard-working attitude to lead Singapore through the work-based and industrial economy of the past, I am sure our current batch of youth will possess these essential new traits - and, of course, not forgetting hard work - that will guide us through the knowledge-based economy of the present and future.
After all, years ago, many in the world did not expect much from our forefathers' generation, and yet they achieved much. Similarly today, many Singaporeans do not have high hopes of our youth, but I will not be surprised should we manage to match, or even better, the achievements of our forefathers.
Lastly, I was rather disappointed that questions directed at Mr Lee by the students were pre-selected and 'politically correct'. This was despite the forum's project director calling for 'active participation from the audience' in his opening address. I hope future Kent Ridge Ministerial Forums will allow more participation from the floor, which is what a forum is supposed to be.
Calvin Ng
REACTION TO MM LEE'S REMARKS
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>S'pore youth may yet surprise the world
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I WAS among the National University of Singapore (NUS) undergraduates who attended the Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum at NUS on Monday, with Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew as the guest of honour, and I would like to share my thoughts.
This is the first time I have seen Mr Lee in person. And I must say he is not as stern and unfunny as I had initially thought - he shared several light-hearted and humorous moments with the audience during the forum.
Second, he mentioned that Singapore's youth nowadays lead a much better life than our forefathers, and hence we do not know what it is like to be poor. We may thus not be driven to work as hard as our forefathers. I have to agree on this point.
However, I also believe my generation will be able to make up for this shortcoming by demonstrating other new positive traits which are essential and relevant in today's society: such as being more worldly, well-versed in information technology, more educated and smart at work.
So, while our forefathers demonstrated their crucial hard-working attitude to lead Singapore through the work-based and industrial economy of the past, I am sure our current batch of youth will possess these essential new traits - and, of course, not forgetting hard work - that will guide us through the knowledge-based economy of the present and future.
After all, years ago, many in the world did not expect much from our forefathers' generation, and yet they achieved much. Similarly today, many Singaporeans do not have high hopes of our youth, but I will not be surprised should we manage to match, or even better, the achievements of our forefathers.
Lastly, I was rather disappointed that questions directed at Mr Lee by the students were pre-selected and 'politically correct'. This was despite the forum's project director calling for 'active participation from the audience' in his opening address. I hope future Kent Ridge Ministerial Forums will allow more participation from the floor, which is what a forum is supposed to be.
Calvin Ng
