Mr Lee's advice to other
governments is – to have a government that the people support and
have confidence in; to have a leadership that's above board, where
decisions are made not for personal gain but because it is
necessary for the country; and to have able men in
charge.
The above about gahmen's
decision not for personal gain, gahmen people support and have
confidence in, a leadership that is above board and able men in
charge - are these lies from LKY?
======================================
Robert Mugabe has also the
"keen support" of Zimbabwe's citizens and do not even claim any
million dollar wages despite the weath of natural resources in
Zimbabwe.
Kim Jong-il of the People's
Democratic Republic of Korea [a.k.a North Korea] also enjoy the
"unwavering" support of the North Koreans, who worship the birthday
of his father every year even in death; and they will similarly do
the same for him.
Will the same be said for the
founding fathers of Singapore ?
Should Singaporeans question
ourselves if we do not entertain similar levels of endearment
towards our own Elites - afterall it was legislations that were
passed by an Elected Parliament that approved the Elites to be
rewarded the MILLION DOLLAR wages for their personal gain - even if
it has to be seen as an over-reliance of it as a crutch to prevent
them from being corrupted ?
Afterall, Singoreans
did agree to the dependence of the Elite on their crutch,
and will accept their reason for not offering the same crutch to
the very poor in the Singaporean community.
Singapore's quest to be less dependent on Malaysia for water
started at separation
By Imelda Saad Aziz/Satish Cheney, Channel NewsAsia |
Posted: 25 June 2008 2312 hrs
Photos 1 of 1 
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew
Related Videos 
Singapore's quest to be less dependent on
Malaysia for water started at separation
SINGAPORE: Singapore's quest to be less dependent on
Malaysia for its water supply came about from day one when the
country separated from its neighbour in 1965, Minister Mentor Lee
Kuan Yew revealed on Wednesday.
Speaking at a dialogue session during the inaugural Lee Kuan Yew
Water Prize Award Ceremony, Mr Lee recounted what happened during
the early days of independence and explained why water is so
crucial to the survival of Singapore.
He said even then, he believed new technology would steer Singapore
towards eventual self-sufficiency.
"How do we retrieve water from unprotected catchments, so that the
first flush goes off to the sea and the second one is collected and
is usable?
"So, I set up a unit in my office and I had a very good engineer
who was head of the department and we set out systematically from
day one (in) 1965 (to) get every drop of water in Singapore
potable...
Why has MM LKY not given the
name of the "very good engineer" - whom he claimed to
have recruited so early in his Govenment in 1965 - as soon as
Singapore was kicked out of his own determined merger with Malaysia
?
In all the 43 years since being
out of Malaysia - not a word was ever breathed of the
existence of this great effort - not even in his memoirs, in which
he had taken pains to mention the names of those Sewage Department
engineers that tamed Rochor Canal, and was rewarded with 'Gold
Bars' as he had promised.
What would the trained mind
of a lawyer know about water planning, when he has left
the bulk of the strategic thinking of the economy to Dr Goh Keng
Swee ?
Was it not a fact that even Dr Toh
Chin Chye had mentioned that LKY was a devastated person during the
period after Singapore was kicked out of Malaysia, and it was a
tripartite efforts of Dr Toh, Dr Goh and Rajaratnam that held the
Government together, while LKY had to find solace and recover
himself ?
Is History being re-written by
vanity to leave behind some legacy amidst the chaotic foundations
that are carefully laid ?
"If every drop of the 96 inches of rain that Singapore gets a year
were collected and consumed, could we have enough for the
population of 2 million then?"
Today, Singapore has several water treatment plants which also
provide water to industries.
But globally, Mr Lee said the misuse of water in agriculture is a
problem, like switching on grass sprinklers in the day.
He said, "I just can't understand why we are doing this? Hasn't
somebody invented something that'll make sure that the water drips
onto the grass in the evenings when it's cool and the loss of
evaporation is minimal? But no, they work 9 to 5 and so they press
it on in the afternoon when evaporation is highest and then they
close (it) at 5."
He said countries could learn from the Israeli example of drip
irrigation - a method which minimises the use of water and
fertiliser by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of
plants.
Mr Lee added that he believes water reclamation and waste
management will be a huge industry because every society,
especially China and India, will have to cope with the problem of
water shortage.
MM LKY has been reputed to
have a huge propensity for data, and has prepared himself with the
information made available through the careful researches from a
retinue of personal secretaries with access to all the information
and data bank at the click of an email to all the Permanent
Secretaries of every Ministry.
It is MM LKY at his stellar best
in front of an international audience to put up his display of
facts and figures, and spoken with such authority as if he is the
fountain of knowledge of finance, investments, science and
bio-science, engineering, human traits, government and governance,
and a political know-all.
Have we not heard the old adage
that a 'Jack of all trade, is a master of none' ?
When asked if Singapore would be able to sustain the same level of
progress without its founding father, the minister mentor said the
city state's leaders are built on credibility.
He noted that the problem with a free election system is that when
the electorate gets bored, they may place their trust in the
opposition. Then, Mr Lee explained, all bets are off because in
just five years a country can be ruined.
Can an electorate get bored with
credible leadership ?
Will it not been a fact that it is
when the leadership is no longer credible that the electorate will
get bored with its incredulous reasons that are continuously
propagated that the trust will be given to the Opposition
?
It is obvious that MM LKY will
know that all bets are off that a country will be ruined in five
years - as his bets are already placed with his carefully planned
battle zones in the event that the Opposition is trusted by
Singaporeans.
"If you are Canada or Australia, (which are) resource-rich, the
swing of (the) commodity cycle will lift you back. But when you are
Singapore, and your system depends on performance... when that
performance disappears because the system which it is based (on) is
eroded, then you've lost everything."
Mr Lee said Singapore is too small a country to help change the
world, but it is willing to share its knowledge of purifying water
with others.
He said, "We did not do this by ourselves, we climbed on other
peoples' shoulders; we brought things together and built on them.
We're happy to have people climb on our shoulders - whether you're
from the Middle East, China, India... it's a collaborative
effort.
"The world will need this because what we have assumed was
limitless, endless supplies of water... we have found it not to be
so, and we (have) found a way out of it."
Mr Lee's advice to other governments
is – to have a government that the people support and have
confidence in; to have a leadership that's above board, where
decisions are made not for personal gain but because it is
necessary for the country; and to have able men in charge. -
CNA/ac
Maurizo13's response to this is
most apt - in his post concerning the manner in which other
government handle natural resources.
It clearly shows that by
exaggerating a given scenario, MM LKY will hope to strike fear
and anxiety in those who are wavering and sitting on the
fence.
Is life nothing more then in a
'bell jar' of a laboratory - in which only one fixed outcome is to
be expected ?
Surely, there is always
alternative possibilities in any cause and effects to life's events
- unless the Great Mentor Shepherd has already planned all the
booby-traps to prevent his herd from straying into other folds
?
Could this be an explanation for
his certainty of chaos for an Opposition governed Singapore - as he
and his appointed team that have been put in place will do their
"darnest best" to thwart and sabotage any successful begining of an
Opposition led Government ?