LKY: through the eyes of an Outsider

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Jonathan Brice is a junior in Economics and Political Science at the University of North Carolina. He is also a Business Adminstration Minor from the Kenan-Flagler Business School. He is currently on an exchange program at The National University of Singapore.

Through a series of peculiar occurrences, I ended up in a Chinese tutorial with Lester Lim.  Lester is a Singaporean Senior who had studied abroad at the University of Illinois.  As a former exchange student, Lester knew how hard it is to get acclimated to a new environment, and sought to cure my confusion and friendlessness.  

In an attempt to make my experience memorable, Lester got me a press pass to the NUS Kent ridge Ministerial Forum to hear Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.   As an honorary member of The Kent Ridge Common staff, I ventured to have one of my most memorable Singaporean experiences.  As I was told by my fellow classmates before the event, “This is like getting to see Obama!”

So what makes MM Lee so special? “In the 1960s, Singapore was a third world country with a GNP per capita of less than US$320. Infrastructure was poor, there was little capital; the handful of industries produced only for domestic consumption. Low-end commerce was the mainstay of the economy, and there was little or no direct foreign investment.” (Economics and Development Board of Singapore, 2009)  After MM Lee gained power in 1968, he led Singapore to great heights, making it a model for economic and infrastructure development.   Currently, Singapore has one of the highest GNP per capita in the world, and was recently named the most innovative country in the world.  Because of the way MM Lee helped develop modern Singapore, he is still widely recognized as the most powerful man in the country, despite the fact that he holds no direct political power. 

The grandeur of the situation didn’t really hit me until the day before, as I was contacted by an anonymous figure in order to verify my identification information.  Moreover, when I got to the event, we had to go through two levels of security that reminded me of an airport during the holiday season. 

Once we got inside the venue, the light refreshments and soft classical music helped put the mood at ease.  Once the music stopped, everything seemed to cease as the room went silence.  Seconds later, the side door to the auditorium opened and all eyes were on the 86 year old Lee Kuan Yew

As he made his way to the stage, he was nothing like I expected.   Instead of an uptight dignitary, what I saw before me was a regularly dressed guy with a coy smile and an inviting aura.

As he raised his hands to greet the audience, the room erupted in applause and a sort of excitement seemed to fill the room.  Over the next hour, MM Lee went on to answer nine handpicked questions from the crowd of students, teachers, and dignitaries. Although his answers were rehearsed and covered somewhat mundane topics, he still said them in a way that served to draw you in. 

The questions asked covered topics such as American hegemony, the Kyoto protocol, minimum wage, and the LKY legacy.  On the question concerning American hegemony, MM Lee expressed the general idea that America is in decline.  He believed that in 20 to 30 years, China would have a GDP equal to that of the US; furthermore, he expressed the idea that the current/past (depending on who you are) financial crisis has only shortened that time frame.  Perhaps the most controversial topic discussed was the lack of a minimum wage in Singapore, and how that has led to increased income inequality.  Nevertheless, to call that question controversial would be equivalent to calling Duke Basketball a good team.  His answer only served to solidify his very laissez-faire view of government, as he made it clear that in the end, it is better to have a low paying job then not have one at all. 

Despite his age, MM Lee was a great orator; through his linguistic charm, one could easily see how he handily won over a country.  Almost every answer was answered with a joke, and his laid back manner made it very easy to relate.  MM Lee is one of the few people with the rare ability to turn any conversation topic into something interesting, and being able to experience that firsthand made the evening worthwhile.