Speaking late Wednesday, Lee, 84, warned Singapore voters
against putting the opposition at the helm of government "in a
moment of fickleness or just sheer madness" when they get "bored"
at some point in the future.
Should this happen, "I think all bets are off because in five
years they (opposition) can ruin this place," he told hundreds of
delegates.
He stressed that, unlike many other countries, Singapore does
not have natural resources such as oil, gas, forests, timber and
aluminium.
"When you are Singapore and your existence depends on
performance -- extraordinary performance, better than your
competitors -- but that performance disappears because the system
on which it is based is eroded, then you've lost everything."
Lee, widely credited for shepherding the underdeveloped port
into one of Asia's wealthiest nations in one generation, said
younger Singaporeans often tell him he is "playing the
same old record" when he delivers his message.
Singapore's small opposition has only two seats in a parliament
dominated by the People's Action Party which has been elected since
1959.
Despite its economic success, local and international civil
rights groups have criticised the government for cracking down hard
on dissenters and political activists.
Street protests are rare and public gatherings of five people or
more are banned without a police permit.
Lee has maintained that Western-style liberal democracy is not
the right model for Singapore.
He said one ingredient for a country's success is putting able
leaders in government, but that this could be difficult under a
more freewheeling US-style democracy.
Lee holds the cabinet rank of Minister Mentor in the government
of his son, Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080626/wl_asia_afp/singaporepoliticsoppositionlee_080626022729
It's very common for people to trust himself/herself
more than other people isn't it? I guess LKY
trusts himself more than he thinks he can trust the opposition? But
only he himself knows whether he himself can be trusted or not. Any
single one of us can guess or deduce as to who is more trustworthy,
LKY or opposition. But no one can be absolutely certain, unless
we're worms in their brain.
Hence, PAP and the oppositions can do/say whatever is needed to
grab votes, and we can choose whoever we think is more trustworthy.
In the future then we will know whether we made the right choice or
not. It's how this world works isn't it? We can be confident we
know something about someone or something, but we can never be sure
until the very last moment.. *sigh*