The end justifies the means

[Rum]

I know both having lived in Hong Kong for eighteen years and passed through and stayed for a couple of weeks in Singapore. This is way back of course. I preferred Hong Kong as a place, but the real killer was the climate. It is over 90F all year round and so humid the sweat doesn't evaporate off your skin in S'pore. Your get that in the summer in HK, but there is some respite!

[klr]

From what I've read, his style of ruling was supported by a solid majority of Singaporeans. Not that that gives some form of moral absolution, but it is none the less significant.

Sounds a bit like dear Vlad ...

With at least somewhat less of a tendency for territorial expansion...

Well, let's face it. There isn't anywhere for Singapore to expand into. unless they want to advance up the Malay Peninsula. Maybe they can do it on bicycles, mirroring the Japanese advance in WW II?

[Brian Peacock]

I've been listening to endless eulogies for Lee Kuan Yew since he croaked yesterday. How he transformed Singapore from a third world country into one of the wealthiest in the world, and how he developed an education system that is the envy of the world. Fair enough, but in order to do that, he jailed those who disagreed with him without trial, clamped down on the media and had those guilty of minor offences flogged. And this supposedly advanced country retains the death penalty. Never mind, the end justifies the means.

The principle of Double Effect, in principle, and effect.

[JimC]

klr wrote:

Well, let's face it. There isn't anywhere for Singapore to expand into. unless they want to advance up the Malay Peninsula. Maybe they can do it on bicycles, mirroring the Japanese advance in WW II?

Yes, I suppose the temptation isn't quite the same.

"Sarawak, once ceded to us, will be our last territorial demand in Asia..."