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Lee Kuan Yew

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JR8
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Lee Kuan Yew

Post by JR8 » Wed, 18 Mar 2015 6:31 pm

The reporting of the poor man's health status has not been too clear recently IMHO. I understand he is on life-support in hospital.

So I was rather taken aback to read:

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'A full life and a good death
Bertha HarianBy berthahenson | Bertha Harian – 6 hours ago
My late father was one of those early PAP pioneers who went into the kampongs to see how electricity and water could be delivered to residents. To hear him talk, Singapore was a muddy place, a Tower of Babel – and poor. But the people had bright eyes. Sharp eyes. They weren’t beaten down or down cast. They just wanted someone to lead them.

For the majority, that man was Lee Kuan Yew and the first generation of PAP leaders. '
[conts]
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/full-life-goo ... 39880.html
-------------------------------------------

So does one infer from the use of the past tense that he has passed away earlier today? If so, I'm taken aback that it is not wall-to-wall news.


Update/clarification: The meaning of the article is rather 'lost in translation'. The writer is not talking about LKY, but rather her own father, who was also in the generation of 'pioneer' leaders...
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Re: Lee Kuan Yew

Post by JR8 » Wed, 18 Mar 2015 11:04 pm

Apparently so, but the news was immediately redacted, and PMs website down... suggestion it is the work of hackers.
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Re: Lee Kuan Yew

Post by nakatago » Thu, 19 Mar 2015 5:44 am

I'm not a Republican but I do think the way Reagan went was a good way to go for a famous person. Leading to the days of his death, he went away to a private place, away from the limelight and requested the press to leave them alone. I think Nancy said something to the effect that Ronald would have wanted to be remembered in his health and not as helpless as he was during his illness.
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Re: Lee Kuan Yew

Post by x9200 » Thu, 19 Mar 2015 7:07 am

Regan suffered from Alzheimer's disease, so it was sort of "natural" that at one point he got withdrawn from public activities.

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Re: Lee Kuan Yew

Post by nakatago » Thu, 19 Mar 2015 8:16 am

x9200 wrote:Regan suffered from Alzheimer's disease, so it was sort of "natural" that at one point he got withdrawn from public activities.
The US media would've wanted walls-to-balls coverage but Nancy said they they wouldn't have any of that.
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Re: Lee Kuan Yew

Post by x9200 » Thu, 19 Mar 2015 8:32 am

nakatago wrote:
x9200 wrote:Regan suffered from Alzheimer's disease, so it was sort of "natural" that at one point he got withdrawn from public activities.
The US media would've wanted walls-to-balls coverage but Nancy said they they wouldn't have any of that.
I thought this stage of withdrawal was because of the AD and happened already some time before his death - I mean, he disappeared because of AD, not because he was dying.

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Re: Lee Kuan Yew

Post by nakatago » Thu, 19 Mar 2015 8:44 am

x9200 wrote:
nakatago wrote:
x9200 wrote:Regan suffered from Alzheimer's disease, so it was sort of "natural" that at one point he got withdrawn from public activities.
The US media would've wanted walls-to-balls coverage but Nancy said they they wouldn't have any of that.
I thought this stage of withdrawal was because of the AD and happened already some time before his death - I mean, he disappeared because of AD, not because he was dying.
That could probably be it.

Anyway, LKY could have quit while he was ahead but he had to be named "chairman emeritus" and some people believed he was still pulling the strings even though his son held the seat.
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Re: Lee Kuan Yew

Post by x9200 » Thu, 19 Mar 2015 9:31 am

He is not that type of personality that quits. Giving his age and the length of the struggle with pneumonia many people would just prefer to stay at home and I don't think it would be any technical problem to arrange a home based ICU for him, but to me it looks he still fights and tries to maximize his chances.

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Re: Lee Kuan Yew

Post by Primrose Hill » Thu, 19 Mar 2015 9:40 am

wonder how SG will be post LKY? Will its search for its identity continue?

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Re: Lee Kuan Yew

Post by the lynx » Thu, 19 Mar 2015 9:43 am

Despite of some very unpopular policies he put in place, you gotta give credit to the man who (almost) single-handedly turned a backwater island into a thriving metropolitan hub of South East Asia.

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Re: Lee Kuan Yew

Post by nakatago » Thu, 19 Mar 2015 9:45 am

x9200 wrote:He is not that type of personality that quits. Giving his age and the length of the struggle with pneumonia many people would just prefer to stay at home and I don't think it would be any technical problem to arrange a home based ICU for him, but to me it looks he still fights and tries to maximize his chances.
I'd get why someone would want NOT to quit just because of old age. But maaaan, he could have at least done a better job with the transition.
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Re: Lee Kuan Yew

Post by x9200 » Thu, 19 Mar 2015 10:04 am

the lynx wrote:Despite of some very unpopular policies he put in place, you gotta give credit to the man who (almost) single-handedly turned a backwater island into a thriving metropolitan hub of South East Asia.
No doubts. Singapore owns him a lot if not everything. Seeing with my own eyes what the bad authoritarian ruling of a country could be I can truly appreciate the way Singapore was handled.

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Re: Lee Kuan Yew

Post by JR8 » Thu, 19 Mar 2015 10:11 am

the lynx wrote:Despite of some very unpopular policies he put in place, you gotta give credit to the man who (almost) single-handedly turned a backwater island into a thriving metropolitan hub of South East Asia.
It wasn't a 'back-water', despite that popular line, it was already a thriving and prosperous island, more so than perhaps all of the surrounding region. But this is in no way to denigrate from what he achieved. The cementing of it's economy within a fast changing global context, and good standard of living for most people is a towering achievement IMHO.
nakatago wrote:I'd get why someone would want NOT to quit just because of old age. But maaaan, he could have at least done a better job with the transition.
What surprises me is that despite the years (literally, certainly 10+) of preparation the government have carried out for this specific event, 'succession planning', that they do not seem to have made the best job of it. The news management seems to have been rather thin and reticent, and as one article I read somewhere observed, that is why a spoof last night so easily filled the void. I suppose that SG are not very practised in the openness and transparency that most other parts of the 'free world' media take as a given, and assume applies in SG too.

--- I was surprised, and yet perhaps not, to read that the government are going to '''hunt down''' who ever published that spoof. As I observed to my wife, there are times when it is just better, and more dignified, to rise above what you cannot control.
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Re: Lee Kuan Yew

Post by nakatago » Thu, 19 Mar 2015 10:19 am

JR8 wrote: there are times when it is just better, and more dignified, to rise above what you cannot control.
...just like commenting on internet message boards

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Re: Lee Kuan Yew

Post by maneo » Fri, 20 Mar 2015 8:06 am

nakatago wrote:
x9200 wrote:He is not that type of personality that quits. Giving his age and the length of the struggle with pneumonia many people would just prefer to stay at home and I don't think it would be any technical problem to arrange a home based ICU for him, but to me it looks he still fights and tries to maximize his chances.
I'd get why someone would want NOT to quit just because of old age. But maaaan, he could have at least done a better job with the transition.
Are you saying there was a problem with the 2nd PM?
He managed to lead the nation through some very tough times (1997 AFC, SARS, etc.).
:?

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