After arresting and detaining hundreds of his political
opponents in the 1960s and 1970s on the flimsy charge of being
‘communist sympathizers’, PAP supreme leader Lee Kuan Yew now made
a shocking U-turn by publicly proclaiming and endorsing the
‘fraternal ties’ between the PAP and the Chinese Communist Party
(CCP).
In an interview with China’s CCTV, Lee lashed out at Western
criticisms of the repressive systems of government in Singapore and
China and ‘advised’ the Chinese to ignore them:
‘If I were the Chinese I would ignore (their criticisms)
and carry on with what I have been doing and make progress,
maintain peace and stability and discipline and improve the lives
of my people,’ he said.
Confirming the suspicions of many that he is still in charge of
Singapore, Lee added that the West’s criticism of Singapore does
not carry weight so long he is around:
‘I just let the critics say what they like. I do what I
know I have to do and I have every day proved to them their
criticism does not carry weight, that I am still here, the system
is still working and the people are thriving. That’s the answer to
them.’
Lee then made the shocking
statement that the PAP and CCP have ‘comparable cultural
backgrounds’ and both countries work on the basis of pragmatism,
not dogmatism.
Though the CCP is a communist party, it has more intra-party
politics and democracy than the PAP which is controlled by a single
man for more than 50 years.
There are a few competing factions within the CCP such as those
from the Communist Youth League and the ‘Princeling’ faction which
help to provide a sort of checks and balances on one another.
The CCP renews its senior leadership every two terms and has no
leaders above the age of 70 on its highest decision-making body –
the Politburo.
In China and even within the CCP itself, there is increasing
talk on democractization to make the government more accountable
and transparent to the people.
At 88 years of age, Lee Kuan Yew is the world’s oldest living
MP. Though he does not hold any official positions in the Cabinet,
he still has five full-time and part-time private and personal
secretaries working under him from the Prime Minister’s Office.
