http://www.iiss.org/recent-key-addresses/lee-kuan-yew-address/
In fact I think everyone shd read it, even though the way he reply is rather "this is how I see it, so this is how it is".
Here's some juicy bits extracts of the interview ,which when taken alone might appear to be out of context , but u can easily guess the questions posed to him (or just read the whole article).
Now we have arrived, why do we not run a liberal democracy? Why should we? I got a clear mandate. The lowest turnout we had was 60% of the electorate. Nobody alleged chicanery or malpractice.Is that a clear mandate? A 60% turnout, but 98% of the parliamentary seats?
What is $1.5 million dollars to our law minister when he gave up a practice worth $4 million? Look at whose wives are dripping with gold and diamonds. We are the poorest ministers of any ASEAN country. Do you want that to change? Am I not worth $1 million? I can earn $100,000-200,000 by giving a talk to a group of bankers who have brought their clients together. This is the reality. At every election, it is an issue, but we do not dodge it – we justify it. As long as we have clean, honest and effective government, it will hold. The day we become dishonest, ineffective or incapable, we are out.Really, the poorest? Then Obama must be worth dirt for US$500,000 pay with a trillion dollar economy.
Is he worth $1 million? In fact, he is not getting $1million, he is getting $2.1million from tax payers, as well as any other directorship, pension, medical care and any other sidelines... I hardly think that is "$1million". Are their pay really justified in the era of flooding, security lapses, prisoners escapee, uncontrolled public housing prices, billion dollar losses, "honest mistakes"? Seems like this is the era of "ineffective and incapable", and only themselves know right now whether there is any "dishonest"...
If you believe that there is going to be a revolution of some sort in China for democracy, you are wrong. Where are the students of Tiananmen now? They are irrelevant. The Chinese people want a revived China. We have a coherent Singapore. Do we want an incoherent Singapore and have the whole thing fall apart?Actually they are not irrelevant, they are suppressed, and censored by the chinese govt, but an ideal does not die that easily.
As for Singapore, so what he is saying is, democracy is just a highfalutin idea that is only worth aspiring for and not worth realizing.
Another thing to note in his "speeches" and "answers". If you are familar with the concept of critical thinking, you will understand the various types of fallacies he used extensively in his reply. Strawman, Red herring, Scare tactic are just some of the very common type of reasoning that is being used to intentionally lead the audience in one direction... and with the interviewer playing along, this is the type of reports we get...
this is why we need more critical thinkers in parliamentary debates and as journalists...
take for example the reasoning for "Are we worth $1 million". He "justifies it by saying that they can easily earn $100-200k doing something else. But is that really a good and logical reasoning?
An example is, would u pay a hotel head chef , who makes very good dishes, $5000 to repair your car, if his reasoning was "I can earn $500 per hour cooking fantastic meals, so i def deserve more to repair your car". and that, my friend, is the Red Herring
Its almost malicious in its leading, to make u think that just becos a person can earn $100,000 , means he is a good minister, and u'll see this kind of deductive fallacies in almost all their "justification" and "announcements".
Perharps thats why pple say, politicians and lawyers are the lowest life forms on earth. And here we have a lawyer-turned-politician. Hmmm, that saying much? :P
Extra:
Rational Wiki - Logical Fallacy
How thinking goes wrong: Twenty-five Fallacies That Lead Us to Believe Weird Things
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