Friday, 10 July 2009, 1:51 pm | 1,541 views
In a Straits Times report on 10 July, five out of the nine new
Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) list Minister Mentor Lee
Kuan Yew as their favourite politician. United States president,
Barack Obama, is second with two votes of confidence, with one each
for former South African president, Nelson Mandela and another US
president, Benjamin Franklin.
New NMP, Associate Professor Paulin Tay Straughan, who is also
vice dean of NUS’s Arts and Social Sciences faculty, gushes as she
says, “I never envisaged that I
would enter politics, but I had hoped that I would get to meet
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and tell him how much I admire him,”
she told the Straits Times. “I hope to do that
soon.”
To Mr Terry Lee Kok Hua, a
veteran unionist, MM Lee is the “Father of
Singapore”. “He has transformed Singapore
from a Third World to First World nation that now provides
Singaporeans with better jobs, better pay and a better life.”
MM Lee is admired for his “wisdom, vision and foresight” by Mr
Teo Siong Seng, managing director of shipping company Pacific
International Lines, for “transforming this tiny city with
virtually no natural resources into one of the most developed
countries in the world today.”
Indeed, MM Lee seems to be admired by the oldest and the
youngest of the new NMPs. Mr Laurence Wee, 63, related how he had
watched the debate between Mr Lee and Singapore’s first chief
minister, Mr David Marshall, in the 1950s and went away awed by Mr
Lee. “I was impressed with MM
Lee’s calmness and composure during the debate,” says Mr Wee, who
is Executive director of Presbyterian Community Services. “I
thought to myself then that Mr Lee held the future of
Singapore.”
To Ms Jocelyn Yeo, 30, winner of numerous medals for swimming
for Singapore, MM Lee “epitomizes leadership”. “His wisdom, strength and
courage in making decisions that shaped Singapore are greatly
admired,” she says. “He was and is truly a leader among
leaders.”
Nominated Members of Parliament are said to be selected because
they can provide alternative views. Hopefully, their seemingly deep
admiration for the Minister Mentor will not prevent them from doing
so.
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/07/5-out-of-9-new
