From Straits Times
Accepting the award, MM Lee, 85, thanked the Rotary International president and added a wry remark of his own.
He quoted a Chinese proverb which says that ‘when the coffin is closed, then you have the final verdict’, and explained that it served as a ‘reality check’ for him.
‘When I am praised on occasions such as for honorary degrees, I try to keep my sense of proportion by recalling this proverb,’ he said to laughter from the audience. ‘After I have left the scene, the biographers, historians and editors will track my career and pronounce their verdicts.‘
EDITORS’ NOTE:
When he is still alive, MM Lee is able to control what Singaporeans say of him. The sycopantic and subservient state media worship him like God who cannot commit a single mistake. Even articles written by the foreign media had to be censored of critical remarks about him before they are allowed to be republished for local readers.
Like Mao Zedong before him, the cult of Lee Kuan Yew will eventually fade away into oblivion and before his real achievements and failures can be objectively studied and assessed on their individual merits by future generations of Singaporeans.
Read rest of article here:
http://wayangparty.com/?p=6064
Accepting the award, MM Lee, 85, thanked the Rotary International president and added a wry remark of his own.
He quoted a Chinese proverb which says that ‘when the coffin is closed, then you have the final verdict’, and explained that it served as a ‘reality check’ for him.
‘When I am praised on occasions such as for honorary degrees, I try to keep my sense of proportion by recalling this proverb,’ he said to laughter from the audience. ‘After I have left the scene, the biographers, historians and editors will track my career and pronounce their verdicts.‘
EDITORS’ NOTE:
When he is still alive, MM Lee is able to control what Singaporeans say of him. The sycopantic and subservient state media worship him like God who cannot commit a single mistake. Even articles written by the foreign media had to be censored of critical remarks about him before they are allowed to be republished for local readers.
Like Mao Zedong before him, the cult of Lee Kuan Yew will eventually fade away into oblivion and before his real achievements and failures can be objectively studied and assessed on their individual merits by future generations of Singaporeans.
Read rest of article here:
http://wayangparty.com/?p=6064