http://www.visakanv.com/blog/2379/from-visa-to-mm-lee/
First of all, I’m disappointed with you, Harry Lee Kuan Yew. I’m disappointed because I always looked up to you as an astute politician- but it appears to me that you are quickly losing your game. It smells a lot like fear, or perhaps it is conceit, perhaps it is ignorance- all of which have no place in the heart of a firebrand politician such as yourself. I wish that you had quit while you were ahead.
By singling out the Worker’s Party team that is contesting Aljunied GRC, you unwittingly acknowledge them as a credible threat. Why aren’t you talking about the SPP instead, or the SDA? Why not talk about Nicole Seah or Chiam See Tong? Because those challenges don’t worry you as much- simple as that. You would not feel a need to speak about something that is not a threat.
The way I see it, there are two possible scenarios that could have led you down this path.
Hypothetical Scenario 1: You’re an ignorant, incompetent politician who doesn’t realise that talking about your fears and worries is the quickest way to draw public attention to them. I personally really, really hope this isn’t the case- you are far too intelligent, and has been through far too much to make such juvenile errors. But I cannot rule it out altogether.
Hypothetical Scenario 2: You’re arrogant, conceited and full of yourself, convinced by past history that Singaporeans are an electorate who will gladly swallow your load without complaint or scrutiny. This, I believe, is the likelier scenario. I dare say it might be possible that you are the only man in Singapore who can comfortably say absolutely anything you like, perhaps confident that your “track record” renders you invincible. I’m pretty certain that if anybody else- opposition party members, especially- had made the same comments that you made about our Malay community, they would have been arrested for sedition, for undermining racial harmony, and been detained without trial by the ISA. Am I wrong? I mean, looking at your track record, it seems pretty likely.
Conceit has dethroned kings and empires since the beginning of recorded history. Seriously, Kuan Yew- we love you for all that you have accomplished for us, and we will remember you fondly long after you’re gone. No sarcasm there. We owe you a debt that we could never possibly repay. But lose the arrogance and the conceit. It looks bad on you. Really.
Track records mean very little. Specifically, they mean very little in any dynamic situation where there is change- change in your party, change in the opposition, change in the electorate, change in the world. The only thing your track records tell us is that you and your party (or at least, your party during its golden era) are capable of achieving a very specific set of goals in a very specific context. Even the British had a pretty good record until the war! An analogy- you have gold medals in the 100 metre sprints, and they are really bloody commendable- but we’re running a different race now. Your track record is no good when we’re looking at a future that is completely different from the past. How do you think Michael Jordan did at baseball, and how’s Michael Schumacher doing on the racing bikes? Times have changed, the rules of the game have changed, and you and your party are obsolete and had better bloody well adapt or perish.
I would expect you to be fully aware of this, so why are you preaching what history, political theory and common sense have proven to be untrue? Stock markets are always doing great until right before they collapse. People will treat you with utmost kindness before they betray you and stab you in the back. A turkey will adore its farmer for feeding it- until Thanksgiving. If we’re talking about track records- Liverpool has the best track record in the English Premier League- and it has counted for absolutely nothing the past 20 years.
You’ve mentioned before that evidence trumps theory any day. Observe as your track record as an unparalleled visionary and statesman fail to protect you when you make insensitive remarks and throw your weight around. Observe as the predictable, fickle-minded and PAP-fearing electorate morphs before your very eyes into a force that you never anticipated. After all, Singaporeans have a track record of being docile and compliant, right?
And one more thing- you say that Zainul Abidin Rasheed is a potential Speaker of Parliament, and Ong Ye Kng is a potential office holder- but who measures this potential? You? The PAP? The state-controlled media? I find it odd that you seem to expect Singaporeans to accept someone else’s potentially biased assessment of their caliber. It is up for Singaporeans to decide. After all, Chen Show Mao and Sylvia Lim could very well be potential President and Prime Minister! How would you describe them if they were PAP candidates rather than Worker’s Party candidates? Very differently, I imagine. I’m insulted Kuan Yew, by what I perceive to be intellectual fraud on your part. I wish you didn’t have to resort to this.
I expected better from you. I never wanted to see you, a Singaporean hero of mythical proportions, morph into a common, fear-mongering heckler. You’re better than this.
Vote for the Worker’s Party, constituents of Aljunied GRC. MM Lee has unwittingly given them his seal of approval.
Yours truly,
Visakan Veerasamy
