Singapore Democrats, 11 Feb 2009, Chee Soon Juan
In Part I of this essay, I drew attention to the fact that Mr Lee Kuan Yew was negligent when he, in a speech he delivered in July 2007, called on Singaporeans to “maximise our opportunities in this golden period.” This happened at a time when the world's economy was already teetering on the brink.
But some argue that Mr Lee is no longer the prime minister and hasn't been one for nearly two decades. Why should he be the one to take the blame? Take a look at what he wrote in his memoir:
"Singapore's financial centre was considered over-regulated compared to Hong Kong's. Critics wrote: "in Hong Kong, what is not expressly forbidden is permitted; in Singapore, what is not expressly permitted is forbidden”...Only after the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) had demonstrated the strength of its system to weather the financial crisis of 1987 and 1997-98 did I feel confident enough to move closer to a position where what is not expressly forbidden is permitted."
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