tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8081742307252789733.post4592195387947463101..comments2024-02-14T04:53:18.295-08:00Comments on Singapore Dissident: Singapore. Living in fear stunts achievementGopalan Nairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15399145588654603667noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8081742307252789733.post-88214097772289747622011-07-20T11:15:00.693-07:002011-07-20T11:15:00.693-07:00Rupert Murdoch is known to steal competitors' ...Rupert Murdoch is known to steal competitors' data through phone hacking, etc, even in the USA. One of News Corp culture is to "Bury your mistakes".<br /><br />Lesson for Lee Kuan Yew. No mistakes stays buried for long, even for opaque secretive corporation like News Corp.<br /><br />And for Mr Nair, all it took was a Guardian newspaper blog post to set of a chain of events leading to Murdoch's scandals revealed. That is the power of a blog.<br /><br />Also, it is a pity that Murdoch has to face this sort of questioning at his age, just a pity that the Murdochs are not under oaths in the Commons Select Committee hearing - so they were able to do some acting. Humble man? My foot.<br /><br />Lee Kuan Yew is not too old for his public image to be tarnish either. Nothing is implausible anymore in this age.Jnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8081742307252789733.post-20573556055420930712011-07-19T19:19:42.032-07:002011-07-19T19:19:42.032-07:00Rupert Murdoch, octogenarian, feared media mogul, ...Rupert Murdoch, octogenarian, feared media mogul, today appeared before the Commons Select Committee investigating alleged criminal behaviour in the UK phone hacking scandal. There was a striking feeling of déjà vu vis-a-vis that other octogenarian oblivious to his fading faculties, Lee Kuan Yew, during his grilling by Dr Chee Soon Juan before Judge Belinda Ang.<br /><br />Shorn of his protective ring of minders and spin doctors, Murdoch looked exactly like what he was - an elderly man, hard of hearing, occasionally querulous and often lost for words as his once-sharp mind struggled to form a coherent response to pointed questions from the Committee. As we saw with LKY, the myth of fearsome invincibility bears little resemblance to the reality in the harsh glare of public scrutiny. <br /><br />Murdoch (presumably bringing up the MP's expenses debacle in mitigation): "Singapore is the cleanest society in the world, as every minister is paid at least one million dollars a year and has no temptation to transgress". <br /><br />How the audience laughed! That alone should tell you that plenty of people understand exactly what legalised corruption is all about in a one-party state and don't buy Lee's naïve doctrine of paying a thief not to steal.<br /><br />"Good luck in selling that one," Committee member and MP Damian Collins replied, tartly.<br /><br />And just a little later, a protester whacked old Rupert full in the face with a shaving-foam pie.mycroftnoreply@blogger.com