Saturday, January 7, 2017

A Truly Great Leader

I was deeply touched by this Facebook posting by PM Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore...

Many of my friends speak scornfully of him - for his "apparent" lack of China's stand on South China Sea, or his failure to act deeper on the thieves across the Causeway. On the latter, the verdict is "he catches small fry only lah". On the former, it is "how can he toady up to the Americans?" When Singapore's military vehicles were detained in Hong Kong en-route back from Taiwain, of course, it was "he deserves it lah!"

Having been living in Singapore for the last couple of months, I have learned to respect this man. His head-of-government visits are conducted most exemplarily. He and his wife do not travel in executive jets. His wife does not flash designer handbags, watches or diamonds. This exemplarines, even to the most skeptical eyes, was largely genuine. When I heard his speeches in a rally to celebrate Singapore's last National Day, you know he was not reading from a script that was written by any ghost writer. It was full of visions and foresight. He did succumb to fatigue his three-part speech, but he continued after the scare.

Everything works in Singapore. He says Singaporeans are NOT China Chinese, or Taiwan Chinese, or overseas Chinese. They are Chinese Singaporeans, or Singaporean Chinese, which way I put it, readers will understand what I mean!

This is PM Lee's Facebook post:

Picture in PM Lee's Facebook page
Walking along Changi Beach on the New Year weekend, I saw this man sitting under a tree, alone yet not alone. He looked like a foreign worker, calling home on his cellphone.

As we enjoy the festive days with friends and family, let us spare a thought for the foreign workers who have left their families behind to work in a distant land. They build our HDB flats and MRT lines, keep our roads clean and parks green, and take care of our young and elderly. They slog and save to support loved ones, but at least with the internet and cellphones they can keep in touch, and feel not quite so far away. – LHL

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