tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13378665.post112390522048000183..comments2024-03-01T16:32:41.076+08:00Comments on Sun Bin: Lee Kuan Yew's wisdomSun Binhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08093210384069958083noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13378665.post-42027412245470060722007-03-19T00:16:00.000+09:002007-03-19T00:16:00.000+09:00Hey~ Awesome Argues!!!I'm hereby to read your post...Hey~ Awesome Argues!!!<BR/><BR/>I'm hereby to read your post by chance after googling "LKY" as keywords.<BR/><BR/> I'm a Chinese scholar in NTU and very much intereted in Economics & Politics esp. those issues on China. i'm in bridging course now and about to choose my faculty soon. I wannna do a double-degree of computing & business, yet i have to pass an interview mostly concerned with business issues. I think ur blog will be a great help for me to learn to handle those economical topics in English. Thanx a loooooooooooooooooooot to most dear Sunbin ><_><Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13378665.post-1141704069299481142006-03-07T13:01:00.000+09:002006-03-07T13:01:00.000+09:00It is not wise to make comment like "... but he(LK...It is not wise to make comment like "... but he(LKY) makes sure his and his family’s pockets are well lined." This can be defammatory and action taken against you. If you do not have the evidence (solid evidence to prove in court), please refrain from defaming anybody. <BR/><BR/>It is not wise. Whatever personal grudges, likes or dislikes, you should keep it private in your diary. A blog is a public diary and others can claim damages against you. Drink and dont drive. Write but dont drink the pen of intoxication.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13378665.post-1123952536863919912005-08-14T03:02:00.000+10:002005-08-14T03:02:00.000+10:00Sunbin,Your last link does reveal the paranoia of ...Sunbin,<BR/><BR/>Your last link does reveal the paranoia of the west. :) <BR/><BR/>Very good point.<BR/><BR/>StormyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13378665.post-1123952269151016182005-08-14T02:57:00.001+10:002005-08-14T02:57:00.001+10:00Oops that last post was mine.StormyOops that last post was mine.<BR/><BR/>StormyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13378665.post-1123952224424922662005-08-14T02:57:00.000+10:002005-08-14T02:57:00.000+10:00Sunbin,Well said and argued. You may well be righ...Sunbin,<BR/><BR/>Well said and argued. You may well be right about Lee. My remarks about nepotism in regards to him seem very wide of the mark. In which case, he is extraordinary man: someone of whom Plato would be proud. I mean that sincerely. If I have a chance, I will read his autobiography. <BR/><BR/>Yes, the capitalist world as presently fashion is at best amoral. It seems to have its philosophical roots in a rather simplistic form of Darwinism. But then each age has its paradigm of how it thinks the world works or should work. Much of what I am going to say has been said elsewhere and more forcefully.<BR/><BR/>We designed capitalism in the form it now takes, as if it were a law of nature. We can do better. We can grow up. Manmade systems are simply that: Made by man. They can be refashioned. A society—or an individual life--need not be based on this kind of competition. I personally think that a life based on this kind of competition is hollow at best.<BR/><BR/>Most people, even CEO’s, would not consider their personal life meaningful if they behaved as a corporation behaves. A corporation is a construct, an artifact. Consider the following:<BR/><BR/>A corporation treats any rival with suspicion. In today’s multinational world, you never quite know who your rivals might be since one firm can diversify into many areas. Paranoia rules.<BR/><BR/>A corporation seeks any advantage it can through any means at its disposal. These means including deregulation, tax cuts, industrial espionage, control of the media and the courts. In short, we have a very powerful citizen seeking to leverage every means to its personal advantage. Corporations now have some of the same legal status as individuals. The following link is interesting in this regard, in terms of past history and present realities.<BR/><BR/>http://yeoldeconsciousnessshoppe.com/art119.html<BR/><BR/>Narcissism and selfishness are paramount values. <BR/><BR/>A corporation must amass wealth and power—profit—for its owners and its stockholders. Greed is important.<BR/><BR/>A corporation must work to keep other forces from lessening its power and or increasing its responsibilities. Self-preservation no matter what the societal costs. <BR/><BR/>We now have very powerful “people” among us who are narcissistic, selfish, and greedy.<BR/><BR/>We do have the power to re-define what a corporation is, to expand its sense of responsibility and purpose. In short, to use it for the common good.<BR/><BR/>I came to Brad’s site because I found a lot of very decent and very bright people trying to solve a problem. Brad and Nouriel are among those very decent and very bright people. <BR/><BR/>I, too, was concerned about a problem, although we have not touched it yet—and we will not touch it for another 4 or 5 years or so. I saw their problem as a narrow but central piece of my own concern: Global warming and the environment. <BR/><BR/>How we do business is absolutely central to this larger issue.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13378665.post-1123917789508688642005-08-13T17:23:00.000+10:002005-08-13T17:23:00.000+10:00... and here is a view on China by stepping back...... and here is <A HREF="http://simonworld.mu.nu/archives/111769.php" REL="nofollow"> a view on China </A> by stepping back a few steps for the bigger pictureSun Binhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08093210384069958083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13378665.post-1123912963390558782005-08-13T16:02:00.000+10:002005-08-13T16:02:00.000+10:00I may be biased as I am a big fan of Lee KY, you k...I may be biased as I am a big fan of Lee KY, you know.<BR/><BR/>So let me try to defend him :)<BR/><BR/>1. "cozy european world". LKY is a capitalist and anti-communist. He is also a socialist, "paradoxically". But there is no real conflict if you understand what he has gone through (I read his autobiography - great book). I think his view is workers' benefit should be taken care of by a retirement fund and healthcare net, as he has done in Singapore. his view is that having workers on the board will distort the business efficiency and make large corporation less competitive against small companies without a board, or foreign companies. evenutally these companies will fail (like the airlines in US), and it is not good for the workers themselves. the essence of capitalism and free market is to let everybody focus on his own specialty. workers benefit should be protected, with laws and other means, not via a board seat.<BR/><BR/>2. His comments on china visit is to remind the children how hard working their grandparents were, and do not take anything for granted. the capitalist world is a cruel darwinistic world. you do not do the workers any good by concealing the cruel fact from them. in his view, the only way to save oneself in this cruel capitalistic world is to become more competitive, and fight under these rules.<BR/><BR/>3. I don't know if he did anything to help his family. no one has any evidence for such accusation. Singapore is the least corrupted country in this world. his stake is too high there. His son Lee Hsiang-Loong graduated at the top of his class in Cambridge mathematics. He might got better access to education and connection, without LKY's intervention.<BR/><BR/>4. Yes, it is easier to be said by someone who is well off (and from a well off family). But he did work hard to get to where he is today. We were not born equal. He did not pretend to say it is a fair world. What he meant by meritocracy is that is your are smart enough and hard-working enough, there is always a chance for you to move up the social ladder. You son may have the same opportunity as LEE KY had. Your grandson Lee Hsien-Loong's. But you and I are one generation behind. China is 2 generation behind US/EU/Japan.<BR/><BR/>I do agree with you that China should do more for the workers, esp. migrant workers and the peasants. I do not think minimun wage is the best solution though, because the law enforcement in China is a lot less effective than in the US. Chinese factory owner are a lot more ruthless and dishonest than thier counterparts in US. They would find their way round it. HK has minimum wage for foreign maids, HK$3270/month. Only the Philippino maid who speak good English get such wage. Many Indonesian maids only got $1000! Imagine what would be like in China.<BR/><BR/>China is going through the painful road to capitalism. the Dickens era in England. We would just hope that they can get through this as quickly as possible and that the poor workers do not have to suffer another 2 generations.<BR/><BR/>This world sucks. But LEE KY is giving a less evil to the Singaporeans, in fact, a much lesser evil than anywhere in Asia, or even the world, considering where they started in 1965.Sun Binhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08093210384069958083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13378665.post-1123910516295024812005-08-13T15:21:00.000+10:002005-08-13T15:21:00.000+10:00Sunbin,I found the interview excellent in many reg...Sunbin,<BR/><BR/>I found the interview excellent in many regards, but I do have a few negative responses that may be worth considering:<BR/><BR/>That “cozy European world” where “workers sit on boards,” asking for vacation time—that was not the world of my parents or their parents. The worldview of this statement does not do any justice to the experience of the average worker in the west. Remember, one generation back for me—two maybe for you—lie those who experienced the Great Depression. The labor movement of the west was born in this crucible. It looked to the east—and communism—and found ashes and lies. (Am sure you have read “Grapes of Wrath.”) Through their frugality and hard work, the west was reborn. Many of these people are still alive—my mother is. There were no vacations. And, yes, labor should sit on corporate boards. But I can see why Mr. Lee would not be too thrilled about that.<BR/><BR/>To tell them, their children or grandchildren to go to Chinese factories and to inquire how long Chinese work or for what salaries, while it may seem celebratory of Chinese hard work, is, if anything, too condescending and dismissive—arrogant is a better word, I think. <BR/><BR/>Furthermore, all this is being said by one who is quite, quite comfortable—and very well-off. His dismissal of his nepotism is hardly believable. He may glory in the hard work of the average Chinese, but he makes sure his and his family’s pockets are well lined. We are to trust him that this is a meritocracy! Yup. Yup. That’s what kings say about their sons, except kings used God’s imprimatur. Lee just took out the middle man, God, and decided for himself. Great move. <BR/><BR/> Personally, I think Chinese should amend and unify their labor laws. Set wages on an equal footing. This should be done throughout the world. Work is work and it should be honored. That is where the level playing field should be. <BR/><BR/>As the situation is now, the rich and connected will simply play on whatever playing field best suits their pockets. China, South America, India, and other undeveloped areas are the playing fields they like best. All they ask is that the government and conditions be stable—oh, and that labor be cheap. They have no morality beyond these simple requests. Glasnost is not their concern. In fact, they are not particularly happy with it. It causes problems for corporate heads. <BR/><BR/>I see China going through a “similar” experience that some in the west have traveled. Glasnost will be its undoing. Meanwhile, the rich will simply milk China. <BR/><BR/>StormyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com