For 10 years, one of a handful of civil servants who helped Lee Kuan Yew build today’s Singapore had been speaking bluntly about major issues that bothered him – and probably other Singaporeans.
In his latest round, Ngiam Tong Dow – whose government career spanned 40 years – criticised elitism in high places and ultra-high ministerial wages which apparently struck some raw nerves.
The unprecedented frankness of the former government insider, one of a growing number who turned critics, was believed to be a tad too much even in a more relaxed post-Lee political era. Full story
