The one big mistake Lee Kuan Yew made.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For all Lee Kuan Yew's talk of how smart he is, and how he has "a radar in his head that can see over the horizon" and all that bombast, one thing is very clear. He could not see that his greatest error was appointing his son Prime Minister.

Lee should know that Singapore has for the last 40 years been not only a one party state but more importantly a pure and classic dictatorship. Every order, every policy, every law, every program is decided by one man alone, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew.

You have ministers, that is true. But we all know that every Minister takes his decision only after having received the nod of the supremo, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. Comical Vivian (Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan) as I like to call him can make as many speeches as he likes. The moment he speaks beyond Mr. Lee Kuan Yew's liking, comical Vivian becomes history. Same with every other Minister. I only mentioned Comical Vivian especially since he has provided amusement in the past, like when he told schoolchildren to speak up and not be afraid. That they should speak until either "they turn into jars" or their "mouths become ajar" I do not know which but equally ridiculous as we can see! You see, none of these Ministers are permitted to have a mind of their own. They can exist as nothing more than the mere mouthpieces of one man, or else they become history.

In these circumstances let us look at the long awaited demise of this man, Lee Kuan Yew. Now please keep in mind that the entire Singapore knows only one type of government, that is, taking orders from one man. With his demise; can we expect that suddenly every one will begin to take orders and comply to the dictates of Lee Kuan Yew's son? We have read various reports that his son does not appear to instill confidence even among his own political party! Will he be able to gain the confidence of the Singaporean public?

This is where Lee Kuan Yew went terribly wrong. In his mistake in appointing his son, Prime Minister. He could have done much better in appointing someone more senior and with more experience in that position; that way perhaps, I say perhaps, the fear that they had for him would also transcend to his successor. But his son was the worst possible choice of appointment for Prime Minister. That is quite clear, in this system where all orders emanate from one man at the top.

This is what I see, if I can humbly predict the scene after his impending certain demise. The news is good. There will be crisis in the political scene. With the crisis, those Ministers would be the first to cash out the Singapore dollars into better positioned hard currencies. I think the first man to pack and leave would probably be Comical Vivian himself. With a small country, small population like Singapore, it is enough that one dishonest Comical Vivian cashes out. There will be a run on the currency. There will be a run on the people. There will be a run on the banks. There will be exodus. There will be another perestroika and instability.

But the good news is, out of the chaos will rise a phoenix of democracy free speech and expression and betterment for all.

Lee Kuan Yew will unwittingly be the cause of the fall of his son and the fall of his party which has held an illegal stranglehold on power over his people for 40 years.

To that extent, we have to thank Mr. Lee Kuan Yew.

Gopalan Nair
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