A letter to Dr Lee Wei Ling

By The Patriot

1. I refer to the article ‘My house is shabby, but it is comfortable’ in the Straits Times dated 4 Jan 2009 which was written by Ms Lee Wei Ling. I believe Ms Lee is the daughter of Lee Kuan Yew.

2. In Ms Lee’s article, she had stated:

a. Quote:”Decades of the good life have made us soft” unquote.

I would think that it is rather the decades of suppressed and incarcerated life by the ruling party have made S’poreans soft. If every dissenting view, voice and non-violent action against the ruling party by the citizens is reciprocated by govt’s intimidation of imprisonment and bankruptcy, how do you expect S’poreans to be tough, courageous and independent-minded.

This global economic meltdown has proven that the smartest and the brightest may not be that smart and bright after all. The worst thing is that the smartest and the brightest are not only unable to see the economic problems coming and solve them but in fact they are the ones who cause them, resulting in worldwide suffering.

Therefore, listening and accepting different views may not be a bad thing. After all, even Lee Kuan Yew had been wrong many times. Just recently, he proclaimed that Singapore was having a golden period and immediately thereafter we have one of the worst recessions in all times. He said Barack Obama was just ‘a flash in the pan’ but he is now elected as the 44th President of the US and the whole world endorses him.

b. Ms Lee said that “I am reminded of what my mother once told me: Suffering and deprivation is good for the soul” unquote.

Her mother was borne with a silver spoon. She is the daughter of a banker. She was already living in a big house and chauffeured around in those early days when only the colonial masters can afford to. So, who is she kidding? What moral authority does your mother have to talk about suffering and deprivation. Her sense of suffering and deprivation, to others may just be utopia and materialism.

c. She said her house is big and shabby.

Her father, MM Lee Kuan Yew is a political animal. He knows that every Singaporean knows that he is the most powerful man in S’pore. I believe most people would also believe the Lee family is very wealthy. So, is it necessary for him to flaunt his power and wealth by having a big mountain-top palace and a collection of Ferrari, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, etc in the garage. As a calculative politician, this is a conscious and certainly NOT CONSCIENTIOUS effort by Lee Kuan Yew to have a simple house and a simple car. Of course he yearns for opulence. I remembered he once said that he would rather be a business tycoon or CEO of a big company than a politician if he had to live his life all over again after visiting the opulent office of a CEO of a oil major in Texas.

Eg, President George Bush restrained himself from playing golf because he did not want the Americans to think that he was enjoying his life while his American soldiers were fighting and dying in Iraq. He did not stop playing golf out of genuine concern for his American soldiers but it was more of a conscious effort by him to make himself looks good and compassionate.

These are just political acts.

d. Ms Lee continued to state “if one is blinded by materialism, there would be no end to wanting and hankering. After the Ferrari, what next? An Aston Martin? After the Hermes Birkin handbag, what can one upgrade to?. Unquote.

I think Ms Lee just have to ask his father, Lee Kuan Yew to understand why one’s wanting and hankering of whether wealth, materialism, power, etc is no end. After being a PM for decades, then SM, then MM, what next? After placing himself as the Chairman of GIC, his son Lee Hsien Loong as the Deputy Chairman and his daughter-in-law Ho Ching as the CEO of Temasek Holding, what next?

e. Ms Lee concluded by saying “When the end approaches and we look back on our lives, will we regret the lastest mobile phone or luxury car that we did not acquire? Or would we prefer to die at peace with ourselves, knowing that we have lived lives filled with love, friendship and goodwill.” Unquote.

With all due respects, a person like Ms Lee who does not particularly believe in spiritual things and does not think she has a soul that will survive her death; and who has seen first hand how his father treated his political opponents will certainly not care how her end approaches

Source : http://wayangparty.com/?p=6181

Written by Lee Wei Ling, for the Sunday Times, 04 Jan 2009
ST link

In 2007, in an end-of-year message to the staff of the National Neuroscience Institute, I wrote: ‘Whilst boom time in the public sector is never as booming as in the private sector, let us not forget that boom time is eventually followed by slump time. Slump time in the public sector is always less painful compared to the private sector.’

Slump time has arrived with a bang.

While I worry about the poorer Singaporeans who will be hit hard, perhaps this recession has come at an opportune time for many of us. It will give us an incentive to reconsider our priorities in life.

Decades of the good life have made us soft. The wealthy especially, but also the middle class in Singapore, have had it so good for so long, what they once considered luxuries, they now think of as necessities.

A mobile phone, for instance, is now a statement about who you are, not just a piece of equipment for communication. Hence many people buy the latest model though their existing mobile phones are still in perfect working order.

A Mercedes-Benz is no longer adequate as a status symbol. For millionaires who wish to show the world they have taste, a Ferrari or a Porsche is deemed more appropriate.

The same attitude influences the choice of attire and accessories. I still find it hard to believe that there are people carrying handbags that cost more than thrice the monthly income of a bus driver, and many more times that of the foreign worker labouring in the hot sun, risking his life to construct luxury condominiums he will never have a chance to live in.

The media encourages and amplifies this ostentatious consumption. Perhaps it is good to encourage people to spend more because this will prevent the recession from getting worse. I am not an economist, but wasn’t that the root cause of the current crisis - Americans spending more than they could afford to?

I am not a particularly spiritual person. I don’t believe in the supernatural and I don’t think I have a soul that will survive my death. But as I view the crass materialism around me, I am reminded of what my mother once told me: ‘Suffering and deprivation is good for the soul.’

My family is not poor, but we have been brought up to be frugal. My parents and I live in the same house that my paternal grandparents and their children moved into after World War II in 1945. It is a big house by today’s standards, but it is simple - in fact, almost to the point of being shabby.

Those who see it for the first time are astonished that Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s home is so humble. But it is a comfortable house, a home we have got used to. Though it does look shabby compared to the new mansions on our street, we are not bothered by the comparison.

Most of the world and much of Singapore will lament the economic downturn. We have been told to tighten our belts. There will undoubtedly be suffering, which we must try our best to ameliorate.

But I personally think the hard times will hold a timely lesson for many Singaporeans, especially those born after 1970 who have never lived through difficult times.

No matter how poor you are in Singapore, the authorities and social groups do try to ensure you have shelter and food. Nobody starves in Singapore.

Many of those who are currently living in mansions and enjoying a luxurious lifestyle will probably still be able to do so, even if they might have to downgrade from wines costing $20,000 a bottle to $10,000 a bottle. They would hardly notice the difference.

Being wealthy is not a sin. It cannot be in a capitalist market economy. Enjoying the fruits of one’s own labour is one’s prerogative and I have no right to chastise those who choose to live luxuriously.

But if one is blinded by materialism, there would be no end to wanting and hankering. After the Ferrari, what next? An Aston Martin? After the Hermes Birkin handbag, what can one upgrade to?

Neither an Aston Martin nor an Hermes Birkin can make us truly happy or contented. They are like dust, a fog obscuring the true meaning of life, and can be blown away in the twinkling of an eye.

When the end approaches and we look back on our lives, will we regret the latest mobile phone or luxury car that we did not acquire? Or would we prefer to die at peace with ourselves, knowing that we have lived lives filled with love, friendship and goodwill, that we have helped some of our fellow voyagers along the way and that we have tried our best to leave this world a slightly better place than how we found it?

We know which is the correct choice - and it is within our power to make that choice.

In this new year, burdened as it is with the problems of the year that has just ended, let us again try to choose wisely.

To a considerable degree, our happiness is within our own control, and we should not follow the herd blindly.

The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute.


Source : http://chemgen.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/who-is-lee-wei-ling/