LKY has with the help of men like Dr. Goh Keng Swee, Dr. Toh
Chin Chye and Hon Sui Sen succeeded in building the nation's
industrialization, and its necessary infrastructure and public
housing from the early 1960s to about the beginning or mid
1970s.
However since 1970s, he had accumulated power through the people
and become arrogant about his own invincibility and refused to
accept alternative views. He had engaged in too much rhetorics and
self-indulged in his own brand of talents, leadership, pragmatism
and meritocracy which had produced a top-heavy elitist
administration which do not blend with the people.
He had neglected broad-based education successfully practised by
advanced countries like Finland and Switzerland which had
maintained high standards of living without all the dropping wages
and job losses as has happened for many years since 1997s.
Singapore was going downhill lagging behind other developing Asian
tigers.
As a result of practising too much conceptual governance based on
rhetorics and assumptions, Singapore has lost its shine and its
economy and social progress nose-dived, Hundreds of thousands have
since lost their jobs and domestic sector of the economy was
ailing.
Throughout the prolonged recessions from the 1997s to 2002, LKY was
seen as helpless and unable to turn around the economy except by
blaming the poor economy on the external forces and had failed to
produce benefits in job creations or upgrading of the low-based
economy.
He practised tight controls and regulations to snuff out political
alternative voices and gerrymandered the election processes to hold
himself and his party to perpetual power regardless of the greater
good of the nation.
He had practised high fees and taxes charging some of the highest
prices for housing and transportation in the world.
Despite the major mistakes of his many past policies as posted in
the 20 major problems in another thread, he did not do anything
concrete to solve problems or was passionate about fighting for the
people. Clearly he had retrogressed and was no longer effective in
producing results as he did in the 1960s. He charging of the
highest full market prices for HDB flats has caused many citizens'
losing their retirement CPFs worsen by his charging the highest
costs for all basic and essential government services.
Tried as he did from the 1980s, he was slow in upgrading the
economic competitiveness except by persistent taxing and charging
for the highest housing and transportation costs etc.
He had forgotten that leaders should possess the passion to serve
for the greatest good of the greatest numbers. He was seen as
practising the narrow policies of ensuring his own continuing
election successes.
He seems to be interested only in securing high rewards regardless
of the sufering of the people many of whom remain unemployed for
long periods despite high educations.
The domestic sector of the economy has been in the doldrums due to
lack of success in restructuring the initial industrialisation
model to value-adding and high techology model as other Asian
tigers are achieveing.
Despite the constant feedbacks of the people the leaders are found
during recessions to keep increasing all the fees and recovering
full costs to create reserves for unessential purposes like the 7
wonders.
Singapore economy was the last the recover from the last two deep
rececessions with property dropping by 40 %. He had lost sight of
working for the people and work for them as servants to bring about
greatest benefits to the greatest number of citizens who as a
result was trapped in serving the world's highest mortgage debts.
Despite the prolonged recessions reserves were not put to use
except for the government own narrow purposes of spending on image
like the 7 wonders.
The above-stated major mistakes of LKY in his leadership has dented
his initial achievements. The biggest mistake is that he had
forgotten that it is leader's duty to fight for the greatest
number.
