In the coming weeks, former Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (
Let us therefore take a look at Lee, his background and views.
Lee was born into a wealthy Chinese family in Singapore in 1923. He studied law in England in the late 1940s and was admitted to the English bar in 1950. After his return from England he became a leader in nationalist political circles, and in 1954 formed the People's Action Party. Lee was a member of the delegation that negotiated Singapore's independence from the British in 1956-58. Following his party's victory in the subsequent elections, he became prime minister in 1959, a post he held until 1990.
The fact that he led Singapore for more than 30 years presents two alternative propositions. First, the people of Singapore liked him so much that they elected him again and again; or second he was repressive and didn't allow opposition to surface.
As anyone familiar with Singapore's history will confirm, proposition number 2 is the correct one: for a while there was a mere one-man opposition in Singapore's parliament, and Lee found it necessary to frame that person and imprison him.
Perhaps Lee's Singapore is thus not a great showcase for democracy. Lee coined a phrase for his approach: "Asian values," meaning that individual human rights are less important than the government deciding what is best for its people. Lee and other small-time dictators such as Hong Kong's Tung Chee-hwa (
So, what kind of advice is Lee going to bring us? Presumably that unification with China is "inevitable," as he stated in an interview with the Far Eastern Economic Review on June 8. But, wait a minute, if "unification" is so good for Taiwan, why doesn't Singapore "unify" with China? Aren't they all Chinese? We haven't seen any indication that Lee intends Singapore to do that.
In the same interview, Lee stated that it is wrong for Taiwan to emphasize its own separate identity. Yet, isn't that what he has been doing in Singapore himself? Lee, isn't it a bit hypocritical to tell others they can't have their own identity, when you have been asserting Singapore's identity yourself all your life?
As Taiwanese we have the same right as all the peoples of the world to our own identity, culture, and history. We have the same right as all the peoples of the world to be accepted as full and equal members of the international community.
Lee would do best, therefore, to stay at home and mind his own business. We Taiwanese will determine our own future.
Chen Mei-chin is the editor of Taiwan Communique.
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