According to the International Herald Tribune, the man who created Singapore in his own severe image, Lee Kuan Yew, had an unsettling glimpse into what could be the future of his country, and he did not like it.
The three years from 2001 to 2003 were difficult times for Singapore. The economy was in recession; and September 11 dashed the hope for a quick recovery. Moreover SARS in 2002 cost Singapore $1 billion in tourism and pushed unemployment to a record high of 5.5 percent. The economic downturn deeply traumatized the nation. After decades of growth, and the constant extolling by the long ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) government that anything is achievable if people work harder and smarter, the economic woe is like a fall from grace. Despite the return to growth, the ruling party seems to be losing its appeal. Even though securing an overwhelming victory in the recent election, PAP votes in fact fell from 75.3 percent in 2001 to 66.6 percent.
As Singapore economy re-invents, moving from high technology manufacturing to ‘knowledge-based’ industries of computer-aided design and bio-technology, Lee’s strong guiding hand was both a blessing and hindrance. What is the future of Singapore after Lee? Are decades of economic prosperity re-shaping Singapore’s political and social future?
You are invited to attend the Young Professionals Project Asia Dialogue.
The speaker: Dr Yao Souchou teaches social anthropology at the University of Sydney. The talk is based on his forthcoming book Singapore: The State and the Culture of Excess, to be published by Routledge end of 2006. Yao has written extensively on the culture and politics of Southeast Asia. His research on Chinese business behaviour is recounted in Confucian Capitalism: Discourse, Practice and Myth of Chinese Enterprise (2002).
Date: Wednesday 16 August 2006
Time: 5.30pm for 6.00pm start
Venue: Harbour Room, The American Club, Level 15, 131 Macquarie Street, Sydney
RSVP essential.
Please RSVP by 14 August to Eugene Sebastian on 02 9351 8567 or esebastian@riap.usyd.edu.au. Please advice your name, contact number and organisation when responding.
Dress code: Smart casual / business attire
Drinks can be purchased at the American Club’s Manhattan Bar.
Interview with Dr Yao about his book on Confucian capitalism.
Other research on Singapore:
- Garry Rodan, Singapore ‘Exceptionalism’? Authoritarian Rule and State Transformation, Working Paper No.131, May 2006
- Terence Lee and Lars Willnat, Media Research and Political Communication in Singapore, Working Paper No.130, April 2006
Lee Kuan Yew is a remorseless and cunning politician who has had put his political opponents behind bars. Even now, as so-called Minister Mentor, his influence over the new and younger leaders is strong. I hope more people will expose his past misdeeds in the future.
Posted by: David Chua | July 19, 2007 at 01:46 PM