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27/03/2007
Singapore's Lee to face student protest
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The Age
March 27, 2007 - 7:29PM
Former Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew will face protests when he is awarded an honorary doctorate at Canberra's Australian National University on Wednesday.
Mr Lee's award has angered some ANU academics who accuse him of running an authoritarian regime.
He will be awarded the Honorary Doctorate of Laws at a ceremony on Wednesday morning.
ANU's branch of Young Labor Left is organising a protest against the award, saying it will draw members of all ANU colleges and a large number of staff, students and organisations on campus.
The rally is due to begin at University House at 10.30am (AEST).
A motion condemning the decision will be debated at the ANU Student's Association's ordinary general meeting on Thursday afternoon.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Monday acknowledged there had been international concern about human rights issues in Singapore but praised Mr Lee as a "great regional leader".
"The fact is in the overall sense, Singapore has been a spectacular success," Mr Downer said.
Mr Lee will receive the doctorate from ANU Chancellor Allan Hawke at 11am (AEST).
10:48 Posted by soci | Permalink | Comments (6) | Email this | Tags: Singapore, ANU, Lee
Comments
How dare these crocodile dundee compatriots show disrespect to our esteemed MM Lee.
Why do they accuse the PAP of human rights issue?
As long as your surname is not Chee or Jeyaratnum, you should be alright.
Posted by: Lucky Tan | 27/03/2007
lol. it does seem disrespectful for students to do that, i wonder whether they really know how singapore is like, apart from the negative media. but at least it was only a small group of about 150+. maybe they were going mad from exam-assignment deadline stress.
Posted by: Verso | 28/03/2007
It is more disrespectful of a state to deny its citizens human rights. Singapore rarely gets anything in the international press than negative media while inside you are fed a diet of positive media.
Imagine 150 students protesting outside the NUS?
Didn't think so.
Posted by: soci | 28/03/2007
Verso: it would be wise to not lump the state and the country (the people) together as one. The student protest was directed at chief social engineer and supreme puppet-master *Dr* Lee Kuan Yew, not at Singapore's people and *their* country.
The global press often make this error (careless) as well. When they criticise Singapore, it usually means that the STATE of Singapore, (the government) is being lambasted.
When the Thais protested about Temasek's purchase of Shin Corp, they burnt pictures of Singapore's PM and Temasek's boss. They did not burn the FLAG of Singapore. In other words, they directed their anger at the leaders of Singapore (political leader and the head of the government's main business entity) *not* at the people.
Whenever Lee Snr visits Australia, he frequently crosses swords with Australia's media, and has run ins with protesters — usually students. I remember a really funny one back in the 1980's when (then Prime Minister) Singapore students turned up to protest wearing paper bags over their heads—so they wouldn't be recognised. Now, how wimpy is that?
Anyway the dude must be jammin'—he's now got the letters "Dr" before his name and is going to get a massive pay rise. Do you think he really cares about a protest in a country where (whatever is left of) freedom of speech is held sacrosanct by the people?
I don't think so.
Posted by: Matilah_Singapura | 28/03/2007
LKY has been awarded other honorary degrees before; if he
wanted to call himself Dr Lee he could have done so long ago
the fact that ANU could award a Doctor of Law Hon to someone without the approval of the Law college shows that
in universities today academic staff have little power versus
admin, just as in many democratic countries, citizens have little
power vesus the government; it is a matter of degree
the main difference in singapore is the effectivenss of the
control system because of ownership of economic resources;
sweeping statements about authoritarianism and human
rights are not useful without a clear understanding of the
mechanics; most of the attacks of the foreign press are not
effective because of the absence of common forms of
repression
Posted by: asiayouthmedia | 29/03/2007
I agree—I doubt if Lee will use the letters he's been awarded. But that's ok—I can, just to be a smart arse.
ANU is a public university, funded by the Australian state. Therein lies the problem: government in education. I totally reject the idea of any kind of government involvement in education. Even private institutions are not totally immune from government interference because they have to be "approved" by government before they are allowed to operate—however they do have a greater degree of autonomy.
Ultimately, the people are responsible for their rights, and it comes down to the individual level of personal responsibility. There is no escaping that.
The social compact in Singapore goes something like this:
"We are the PAP, and we specialise in nation-building and social engineering. All we need form you is your vote. To make it easier for you to choose, we will—to the best of our abilities—remove or disempower any political opposition. And if you don't vote us in, we won't be handing out the goodies".
Hey dude, it works!
Posted by: Matilah_Singapura | 29/03/2007