An example of such a person is Singaporean Minister Mentor and former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Hailed as the Father of Modern Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew and his People’s Action Party were able to craft appropriate solutions for the issues and problems that were hounding Singapore early on in its history as a newly-independent Third World country with no natural resources, a huge number of uneducated people, security problems resulting from the initial hostility of its neighbors towards it, and a deeply divided society according to race, religion, language, & social-class, among many other problems and managed to turn it into Southeast Asia’s oasis of prosperity and development and a First World hub within a region of what were then known as “Third World” countries.
The following excerpt which features Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s observations on the Philippines and of Filipinos should at least entice the readers of www.antipinoy.com to immediately pay a visit to the local Bookstore (those which specialize in real books – not school supplies!) and ask around for copies of the book from whence it came - “From Third World to First.”
Far from just being a book about Lee Kuan Yew or Singapore’s history of development, “From Third World to First” is also a collection of invaluable lessons in economic development, policy-making, international diplomacy, statecraft, domestic politics, history & culture, behavioural and cultural reform, meritocracy, the principles of pragmatic idealism, and examples of ingenious out-of-the-box thinking. In it, Lee Kuan Yew himself also describes how he and his team of technocrats were able to reform the culture, mindset, and behavior of a people who in the 1950’s were still predisposed to spitting in public and other unhygienic behavior as a result of carefully-planned behavioural-modification policies and systems which have turned Singapore into one of the cleanest and most orderly societies in Asia as well as well as the World.
This book can no doubt serve as a helpful handbook for any would-be leader of any Third World country looking to move into the First World.
I truly encourage all Filipinos who work in government, have an interest in government, or are looking for lessons on how to craft solutions to the problems of the Philippines to please buy a copy of this book. I assure everyone that “From Third World to First” will not just be eye-opening and enlightening, it will also enable Filipinos to understand that finding solutions to our problems is very possible if only we adopted a can-do attitude, a bias for intense learning and analysis, a solid framework for critical analysis and big-picture thinking, as well as a grounding in practical & creative out-of-the-box problem-solving.
If Singapore with Lee Kuan Yew and the People’s Action Party could do it, why can’t we?
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(The following excerpt is taken from pages 299 – 305 from Lee Kuan Yew’s book “From Third World to First”, Chapter 18 “Building Ties with Thailand, the Philippines, and Brunei”)
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The Philippines was a world apart from us, running a different style of politics and government under an American military umbrella. It was not until January 1974 that I visited President Marcos in Manila. When my Singapore Airlines plane flew into Philippine airspace, a small squadron of Philippine Air Force jet fighters escorted it to Manila Airport. There Marcos received me in great style – the Filipino way. I was put up at the guest wing of Malacañang Palace in lavishly furnished rooms, valuable objects of art bought in Europe strewn all over. Our hosts were gracious, extravagant in hospitality, flamboyant. Over a thousand miles of water separated us. There was no friction and little trade. We played golf, talked about the future of ASEAN, and promised to keep in touch.
His foreign minister, Carlos P. Romulo, was a small man of about five feet some 20 years my senior, with a ready wit and a self-deprecating manner about his size and other limitations. Romulo had a good sense of humor, an eloquent tongue, and a sharp pen, and was an excellent dinner companion because he was a wonderful raconteur, with a vast repertoire of anecdotes and witticisms. He did not hide his great admiration for the Americans. One of his favourite stories was about his return to the Philippines with General MacArthur. As MacArthur waded ashore at Leyte, the water reached his knees but came up to Romulo’s chest and he had to swim ashore. His good standing with ASEAN leaders and with Americans increased the prestige of the Marcos administration. Marcos had in Romulo a man of honor and integrity who helped give a gloss of respectability to his regime as it fell into disrepute in the 1980s.
In Bali in 1976, at the first ASEAN summit held after the fall of Saigon, I found Marcos keen to push for greater economic cooperation in ASEAN. But we could not go faster than the others. To set the pace, Marcos and I agreed to implement a bilateral Philippines-Singapore across-the-board 10 percent reduction of existing tariffs on all products and to promote intra-ASEAN trade. We also agreed to lay a Philippines-Singapore submarine cable. I was to discover that for him, the communiqué was the accomplishment itself; its implementation was secondary, an extra to be discussed at another conference.
We met every two to three years. He once took me on a tour of his library at Malacañang, its shelves filled with bound volumes of newspapers reporting his activities over the years since he first stood for elections. There were encyclopedia-size volumes on the history and culture of the Philippines with his name as the author. His campaign medals as an anti-Japanese guerrilla leader were displayed in glass cupboards. He was the undisputed boss of all Filipinos. Imelda, his wife, had a penchant for luxury and opulence. When they visited Singapore before the Bali summit they came in stye in two DC8’s, his and hers.
Marcos did not consider China a threat for the immediate future, unlike Japan. He did not rule out the possibility of an aggressive Japan, if circumstances changed. He had memories of the horrors the Imperial Army had inflicted on Manila. We had strongly divergent views on the Vietnamese invasion and occupation of Cambodia. While he, pro forma, condemned the Vietnamese occupation, he did not consider it a danger to the Philippines. There was the South China Sea separating them and the American navy guaranteed their security. As a result, Marcos was not active on the Cambodian question. Moreover, he was to become preoccupied with the deteriorating security in his country.
Marcos, ruling under martial law, had detained opposition leader Benigno (Ninoy) Aquino, reputed to be as charismatic and powerful a campaigner as he was. He freed Aquino and allowed him to go to the United States. As the economic situation in the Philippines deteriorated, Aquino announced his decision to return. Mrs. Marcos issued several veiled warnings. When the plane arrived at Manila Airport from Taipei in August 1983, he was shot as he descended from the aircraft. A whole posse of foreign correspondents with television camera crews accompanying him on the aircraft was not enough protection.
International outrage over the killing resulted in foreign banks stopping all loans to the Philippines, which owed over US$25 billion and could not pay the interest due. This brought Marcos to the crunch. He sent his minister for trade and industry, Bobby Ongpin, to ask me for a loan of US$300-500 million to meet the interest payments. I looked him straight in the eye and said, “We will never see that money back.” Moreover, I added, everyone knew that Marcos was seriously ill and under constant medication for a wasting disease. What was needed was a strong, healthy leader, not more loans.
Shortly afterward, in February 1984, Marcos met me in Brunei at the sultanate’s independence celebrations. He had undergone a dramatic physical change. Although less puffy than he had appeared on television, his complexion was dark as if he had been out in the sun. He was breathing hard as he spoke, his voice was soft, eyes bleary, and hair thinning. He looked most unhealthy. An ambulance with all the necessary equipment and a team of Filipino doctors were on standby outside his guest bungalow. Marcos spent much of the time giving me a most improbable story of how Aquino had been shot.
As soon as all our aides left, I went straight to the point, that no bank was going to lend him any money. They wanted to know who was going to succeed him if anything were to happen to him; all the bankers could see that he no longer looked healthy. Singapore banks had lent US$8 billion of the US$25 billion owing. The hard fact was they were not likely to get repayment for some 20 years. He countered that it would be only eight years. I said the bankers wanted to see a strong leader in the Philippines who could restore stability, and the Americans hoped the election in May would throw up someone who could be such a leader. I asked whom he would nominate for the election. He said Prime Minister Cesar Virata. I was blunt. Virata was a nonstarter, a first-class administrator but no political leader; further, his most politically astute colleague, defense minister Juan Ponce Enrile, was out of favour. Marcos was silent, then he admitted that succession was the nub of the problem. If he could find a successor, there would be a solution. As I left, he said, “You are a true friend.” I did not understand him. It was a strange meeting.
With medical care, Marcos dragged on. Cesar Virata met me in Singapore in January the following year. He was completely guileless, a political innocent. He said that Mrs. Imelda Marcos was likely to be nominated as the presidential candidate. I asked how that could be when there were other weighty candidates, including Juan Ponce Enrile and Blas Ople, the labor minister. Virata replied it had to do with “flow of money; she would have more money than other candidates to pay for the votes needed for nomination by the party and to win the election. He added that if she were the candidate, the opposition would put up Mrs. Cory Aquino and work up the people’s feelings. He said the economy was going down with no political stability.
The denouement came in February 1986 when Marcos held presidential elections which he claimed he won. Cory Aquino, the opposition candidate, disputed this and launched a civil disobedience campaign. Defense Minister Juan Enrile defected and admitted election fraud had taken place, and the head of the Philippine constabulary, Lieutenant General Fidel Ramos, joined him. A massive show of “people power” in the streets of Manila led to a spectacular overthrow of a dictatorship. The final indignity was on 25 February 1986, when Marcos and his wife fled in U.S. Air Force helicopters from Malacañang Palace to Clark Air Base and were flown to Hawaii. This Hollywood-style melodrama could only have happened in the Philippines.
Mrs. Aquino was sworn in as president amid jubilation. I had hopes that this honest, God-fearing woman would help regain confidence for the Philippines and get the country back on track. I visited her that June, three months after the event. She was a sincere, devout Catholic who wanted to do her best for her country by carrying out what she believed her husband would have done had he been alive, namely, restore democracy to the Philippines. Democracy would then solve their economic and social problems. At dinner, Mrs. Aquino seated the chairman of the constitutional commission, Chief Justice Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, next to me. I asked the learned lady what lessons her commission had learned from the experience of the last 40 years since independence in 1946 would guide her in drafting the constitution. She answered without hesitation, “We will not have any reservations or limitations on our democracy. We must make sure that no dictator can ever emerge to subvert the constitution.” Was there no incompatibility of the American-type separation of powers with the culture and habits of the Filipino people that had caused problems for the presidents before Marcos? Apparently none.
Endless attempted coups added to Mrs. Aquino’s problems. The army and the constabulary had been politicized. Before the ASEAN summit in December 1987, a coup was threatened. Without President Suharto’s firm support the summit would have been postponed and confidence in Aquino’s government undermined. The Philippine government agreed that the responsibility for security should be shared between them and the other ASEAN governments, in particular the Indonesian government. General Benny Moerdani, President Suharto’s trusted aide, took charge. He positioned an Indonesian warship in the middle of Manila Bay with helicopters and a commando team ready to rescue the ASEAN heads of government if there should be a coup attempt during the summit. I was included in their rescue plans. I wondered if such a rescue could work but decided to go along with the arrangements, hoping that the show of force would scare off the coup leaders. We were all confined to the Philippine Plaza Hotel by the seafront facing Manila Bay where we could see the Indonesian warship at anchor. The hotel was completely sealed off and guarded. The summit went off without any mishap. We all hoped that this show of united support for Mrs. Aquino’s government at a time when there were many attempts to destabilize it would calm the situation.
It made no difference. There were more coup attempts, discouraging investments badly needed to create jobs. This was a pity because they had so many able people, educated in the Philippines and the United States. Their workers were English-speaking, at least in Manila. There was no reason why the Philippines should not have been one of the more successful of the ASEAN countries. In the 1950s and 1960s, it was the most developed, because America had been generous in rehabilitating the country after the war. Something was missing, a gel to hold society together. The people at the top, the elite mestizos, had the same detached attitude to the native peasants as the mestizos in their haciendas in Latin America had toward their peons. They were two different societies: Those at the top lived a life of extreme luxury and comfort while the peasants scraped a living, and in the Philippines it was a hard living. They had no land but worked on sugar and coconut plantations. They had many children because the church discouraged birth control. The result was increasing poverty.
It was obvious that the Philippines would never take off unless there was substantial aid from the United States. George Shultz, the secretary of state, was sympathetic and wanted to help but made clear to me that the United States would be better able to do something if ASEAN showed support by making its contribution. The United States was reluctant to go it alone and adopt the Philippines as its special problem. Shultz wanted ASEAN to play a more prominent role to make it easier for the president to get the necessary votes in Congress. I persuaded Shultz to get the aid project off the ground in 1988, before President Reagan’s second term of office ended. He did. There were two meetings for a Multilateral Assistance Initiative (Philippines Assistance Programme): The first in Tokyo in 1989 brought US$3.5 billion in pledges, and the second in Hong Kong in 1991, under the Bush administration, yielded US$14 billion in pledges. But instability in the Philippines did not abate. This made donors hesitant and delayed the implementation of projects.
Mrs. Aquino’s successor, Fidel Ramos, whom she had backed, was more practical and established greater stability. In November 1992, I visited him. In a speech to the 18th Philippine Business Conference, I said, “I do not believe democracy necessarily leads to development. I believe what a country needs to develop is discipline more than democracy.” In private, President Ramos said he agreed with me that British parliamentary-type constitutions worked better because the majority party in the legislature was also the government. Publicly, Ramos had to differ.
He knew well the difficulties of trying to govern with strict American-style separation of powers. The senate had already defeated Mrs. Aquino’s proposal to retain the American bases. The Philippines had a rambunctious press but it did not check corruption. Individual press reporters could be bought, as could many judges. Something had gone seriously wrong. Millions of Filipino men and women had to leave their country for jobs abroad beneath their level of education. Filipino professionals whom we recruited to work in Singapore are as good as our own. Indeed, their architects, artists, and musicians are more artistic and creative than ours. Hundreds of thousands of them have left for Hawaii and for the American mainland. It is a problem the solution to which has not been made easier by the workings of a Philippine version of the American constitution.
The difference lies in the culture of the Filipino people. It is a soft, forgiving culture. Only in the Philippines could a leader like Ferdinand Marcos, who pillaged his country for over 20 years, still be considered for a national burial. Insignificant amounts of the loot have been recovered, yet his wife and children were allowed to return and engage in politics. They supported the winning presidential and congressional candidates with their considerable resources and reappeared in the political and social limelight after the 1998 election that returned President Joseph Estrada. General Fabian Ver, Marcos’s commander-in-chief who had been in charge of security when Aquino was assassinated, had fled the Philippines together with Marcos in 1986. When he died in Bangkok, the Estrada government gave the general military honors at his burial. One Filipino newspaper, Today, wrote on 22 November 1998, “Ver, Marcos and the rest of the official family plunged the country into two decades of lies, torture, and plunder. Over the next decade, Marcos’s cronies and immediate family would tiptoe back into the country, one by one – always to the public’s revulsion and disgust, though they showed that there was nothing that hidden money and thick hides could not withstand.” Some Filipinos write and speak with passion. If they could get their elite to share their sentiments and act, what could they not have achieved?
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President Noynoy Aquino and everyone in his cabinet and staff (all secretaries down to the director level) should all get copies of “From Third World to First” and read the book at least twice.
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Lee Kuan Yew’s Profile:
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew (Hakka for李光耀 – Lî Guang Yào in Mandarin) born “Harry Lee Kuan Yew” and known simply as “Harry” to close friends, family, and his late wife, was born in Singapore on September 16, 1923, a third-generation descendant of immigrants from the Hakka dialect-group hailing from China’s Guangdong Province. He finished law at Cambridge University, England. In 1954, he formed the People’s Action Party, which won the first Singapore general election five years later. Though dominantly English-speaking and fluent in Malay, but originally unable to competently converse in Mandarin or other Chinese dialects, he decided at an advanced age to exert intense effort to learn Mandarin and later Hokkien, because he needed both for political campaigns at the grassroots level. He also changed his public persona from being a British-educated British-accented upper-class Anglophile named “Harry Lee” to being known in public and in the papers as “Lee Kuan Yew.”
Lee Kuan Yew became Singapore’s first prime minister in 1959, at the age of thirty-five and quickly developed Singapore’s economy through the aggressive invitation of foreign Multinational Corporations by avoiding economic protectionism and creating a business-friendly environment in order to concentrate on the immediate task of job creation for the ordinary citizens. In November 1990, he resigned the office to assume the advisory post of Senior Minister in the Singapore Cabinet and in 2004, took on the title of the “emeritus” role of Minister Mentor when his successor as Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟)became Senior Minister after Goh resigned the premiership.
PM Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Kuan Yew’s son, Lee Hsien-Loong (李顯龍) now serves as Singapore’s Prime Minister after so many years of being given the most difficult and challenging of job assignments, proving himself academically superior to his peers at school, and needing to prove his worth purely through merit by rising up through the ranks in both the military and the civil service (he became a Brigadier-General), and not because he is the son of Lee Kuan Yew.
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Here’s an interview on CNN with Dr. Fareed Zakaria
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If you liked this, you might also like these articles by Orion Pérez Dumdum:
1. Philippine Progress: Shift in Sports, Shift in System
2. Senator Pangilinan and the Parliamentary System
3. The Parliamentary System Fits the Philippines
4. Two Filipinos: A Football Legend & A Spanish Prime Minister
5. Eight Points in Enlightening the Élite
6. The Parable of the Mountain Bike
7. F to A: What P-Noy Needs to do in order to Succeed
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Why is this site called antipinoy.com? Click here!
About the Author
Orion has written 8 stories on this site.
Orion Pérez Dumdum comes from an IT background and analyzes systems the way they should be: logically and objectively.
Being Cebuano (half-Cebuano, half-Tagalog), and having lived in Cebu, he is a staunch supporter of Federalism.
Having lived in progressive countries which use parliamentary systems, Orion has seen first hand the difference in the quality of discussions and debates of both systems, finding that while discussions in the Philippines are mostly filled with polemical sophistry often focused on trivial and petty concerns, discussions and debates in the Parliamentary-based countries he's lived in have often focused on the most practical and most important points.
Having experienced OFW-life himself, he has seen firsthand how the dearth of investment - both local and foreign - is the cause of the high unemployment and underemployment that exists in the Philippines as well as the low salaries earned by people who do have jobs.
He is one of the founding members of Get Real Philippines and hosts the Sentro ng Katotohanan political commentary show which airs on Tuesdays and Thursday on DWBL 1242kHz from 8:30pm to 9:30pm.
If you think Orion looks familiar... He most probably is. ;)
It was a good information. However, it will require superhuman effort and superhuman intelligence to solve our problems…
Lee Kwan Yew did not touch our “Datuism” mentality. We depend too much on politics and on winning candidates. If they win: supporters are assured of government jobs; opportunities to make money ( legal or illegal); and pride of being in power. Ampatuan case is the good example.
Public Offices are treated as Cash Cows, by winning candidates.
This is the reason our elections are violent and bitterly fought. Once the President wins. Six years of “kurakot” is assured… The best example is the Jueteng Bribe Taker: Sec. Puno. He confessed, he is receiving bribes. Yet, the President protects him…
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UP nn grad Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 6:42 pm
The best example is the Jueteng Bribe Taker: Sec. Puno. He confessed, he is receiving bribes. (….Yet) the President protects him… and many Filipinos like Manuel Buencamino say it is the president’s prerogative. Many Filipinos accept the President allowing UsecPuno who already has damaged Pilipinas to still be in government service.
Lee Kuan Yew says : “The difference lies in the culture of the Filipino people. It is a soft, forgiving culture. Only in the Philippines could a leader like Ferdinand Marcos, who pillaged his country for over 20 years, still be considered for a national burial. Insignificant amounts of the loot have been recovered, yet his wife and children were allowed to return and engage in politics. ”
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Subliminal Messenger Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 9:04 pm
HA!HA!HA!HA!HA! Like what Renato Pacifico ‘s political axiom #69 “WHAT GOOT IS A GOOT LEE KUAN YEW IF 99.99% OF FILIPINOS ARE NOT GOOT” If Lee Kuan Yew were the president of the PHilippines who will implement the changes when all Filipinos are corrupt? Hmmm….. MAKES SENSE ….
No need of Filipinos taking back their government as one blogger has said in this site, Because these are the very same Filipinos who resurrected the Aquinos in the first place …. HA!HA!HA1Ha! extremely LOGICAL!!!!!!!
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Lookit, The Filipinos wanted a ready-made progressive country run by foreigners than by fellow brown-skin-punk’d-nose Filipinos. WHY DO YOU THINK CORRUPT-LOW-IQ FILIPINOS became law-0abiding citizen abroad? TELL ME? PLEASE PRAY, TELL ME ….. Of course, they become law-abidizing citizen but pleeeez, do not put them in one comunity.
EJEMPLO: Jollibee will always be trashed by Filiupinos. Filipinos do not respect Jollibee employees because acording to degenerate stuck-up Filipinos, they wouldn’t be working in Jollibee in America if they had papers. HUH? REALLY? Are they out of their mind. ASSUMING IF THEY DO NOT HAVE PAPERS coujldn’t they just give them respect????? YOU FRIGGIN FILIPINO DOGS ….. WHERE IS SATAN? WHY SATAN ALLOW THESE FILIPINOS TO BREATH? THEY SHOULD BE ZAPPED AND SENT TO HEAVEN @!@!!!!!!
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Hyden Toro Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
Satan the Devil, allows the Filipinos to become OFW slaves here on Earth. This is their Punishments. Satan also send them corrupt and incompetent leaders to rule over them.
Lastly, he also has : Priests, Bishops, religious leaders, etc…to tantalize them, seduce them with their own interpretations of their Holy Books. To make them confused and become docile and stupid as Sheep. Remember, how the Iglesia Ni Kristo brainwash its people to vote for certain candidate; in exchange for money? Not bad , for a religious evangelist; living in a Mansion; with Filipino Politicians ; kowtowing to him, during elections. I believe the Filipinos are now living Hell on Earth…
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LOOKIT, for the nth time, FILIPINOS ONLY RESPECT NON-FILIPINOS!!!! OK? non-negotiable.
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It is indeed sad that we are in this sorry state. But it is truly sadder when you hear other people virtually give up. Anyway before we give up altogether, please note that only about 15million of the registered 50++million voters reportedly voted for Noynoy Aquino. And that’s according to the Comelec-Smartmatic pcos count, which various anti-election fraud advocates are now trying to audit. I’m not saying that there was indeed massive election fraud, because there’s no confirmed proof just yet. However, I’m also not prepared to accept as absolute truth the pcos count. In 1986, the yellows accused Marcos of cheating. However, they failed to say what was the real count. In 2004, the yellows again made an accusation of cheating, this time against GMA. However, they again failed to say what was the real count. For 2010 where the yellows won, well let’s wait for the outcome of the pcos audit. This is not the random manual audit (RMA) which itself is being questioned. This is a total audit…
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ChinoF Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 7:54 am
15 million out of 50 million. Damn, that’s a minority president. Even our election system is defective because it allows this to happen. We need to reform even the election system. Was it Indonesia that ran runoff elections? It’s like our election system was already rigged to favor a certain party.
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Hyden Toro Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
@Dadong aka Ka Kiko
An eleven years old Hacker can Hack easily the PCOS of the SMARTMATIC…it’s computer hardware is obsolete – 20 years old; compared to the recent advances of Computer Technology..
THE BEAUTY OF SMARTMATIC!!! …Ah Pobre Pilipinas…so near to the Papa sa Roma…so far from God!!!
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i have the utmost respect for this man. still can’t believe ANVIL compared PNoy to him. insulto yun.
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Brilliant idea to post this excerpt from LKY’s great book, Orion! We take it for granted that material and accounts like these are so readily available for all to learn from but forget (1) how books are prohibitively expensive to most Filipinos and (2) how most Filipinos lack any inclination to read books to begin with.
One of my key takeaways from this account is how even men who are ten times the man that Noynoy Aquino is (Bobby Ongpin, Cesar Virata, and even Marcos himself) look so pathetically small when standing before the great Singaporean Elder Statesman. Imagine then how SMALL Noynoy looks before the sort of leaders who can engage in a dialogue with their peers in world leadership on an equal footing.
Noynoy indeed so mirrors the people who selected him as their leader.
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Orion Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 1:11 am
Thanks, man!
I figured that out in the real world, I always keep mentioning LKY to fellow Filipinos in all casual conversations that deal with “how to improve the Philippines.” In contrast to the misguided hatred that some Pinoys used to have against him as they – almost at cue – used to lambast the great statesman for being “Dictatorial” or “Authoritarian”, these days more and more (if not most) Filipinos increasingly look up to him and his legacy.
However, too many Filipinos still remain clueless as to what exactly he did, or more importantly, what kind of underlying and/or underpinning philosophy and intellectual methodology or system of analysis he used in order to arrive at his often spot-on assessment on things, resulting in well-crafted policies. (Hint: He’s a “Get Realist”)
I’ve recently taken to bringing my copy of “From Third World to First” every time I meet up with people who want to talk about policy, and usually get them reading several excerpts. Then I realized “Hmmm… Why I don’t I entice more and more Filipinos to actually buy Lee Kuan Yew’s book by presenting an excerpt on how he observed Filipinos and the Philippines?” After all, this book is a must-read for anyone who is interested in policy making, government, and even on general methods of “how to think and analyze.”
The book does not in any way tell people that they should do exactly what Lee Kuan Yew did. It presents what the conditions were as well as the facts that were relevant at the time that certain issues popped up and hounded Singapore. LKY himself explains the behind-the-scenes thinking process that went on. LKY even placed in a clear caveat in his foreword that readers should not expect to follow exactly what Singapore did and instead emphasizes that Singapore did what it did because it made sense given their particular situation and the prevailing conditions. So indeed, the thinking process – painstakingly explained and documented in the book – is what he truly emphasizes.
I sure hope all the guys at Malacañang get themselves copies of the book, read it at least twice, and hopefully apply the lessons in it. There really is no excuse for cluelessness in this day and age when books on any given topic are available out there and worse, the internet is around to make them (or at least excerpts) available for ordinary “schmoes” to read said excerpts for free.
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benign0 Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 3:24 am
I recall it was you who recommended that book to me something like nine years ago. It should be made into required reading for Filipino students side by side with Rizal’s works. Indeed, it is the thinking process that is the highlight of the book. Imparting of an appreciation of such type of thinking on Filipinos should be foremost as it is on them that the job — and responsibility — of selecting, engaging, and evaluating politicians falls upon.
Again, this is a brilliant idea making a key excerpt from the book readily available to as many Filipinos as we can reach!
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nymphetamine Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 7:12 am
It’s been 9 years since it was printed? How the heck I didn’t know that when I was at school?
Instead of having to report about silly magazine clippings, I could have used some REAL information. This is such a good article. I will tell this to my friends! But oh well.. then again, my friends don’t read materials such as this. They’d rather watch ‘ LOBO’ I don’t have any idea what that is.. O_O
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benign0 Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 8:26 am
Yup. Nine years. And I checked my book shelf and happily noted that I bought the hardbound edition back then.
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Birdigator Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 10:35 pm
… WANT!
I’m not a fan of paperbacks.
Orion Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 10:27 pm
Yeah, that’s right… I remember I recommended the book to you some 9 and a half years ago.
Re: hardbound, I also have my copy of Noli Me Tangere (the Soledad Lacson-Locsin English translation) in hardbound as well. To quote the Spanish lines (when need be), I access the Spanish original online. (Yet another example of how so many ”classics” are actually available on the internet for free!)
I’m currently doing a subtle “campaign” to get as many Filipinos who are based in Singapore buying copies of “From Third World to First” and reading it because Pinoys-in-Singapore are in direct contact with Singaporeans themselves and have access to the museums, old cab drivers who talk about the 60′s and 70′s, and perhaps Singaporean friends whose parents and/or grandparents can talk about the challenges and how life was in the old days and describe how things improved as well as the hard word that went into it. Nothing beats “first hand I’ve-been-there” or “I’ve talked to the old-timers” accounts in making sure the ideas stick.
Filipinos-in-Singapore can serve as active evangelists of the LKY-”way of thinking” (Pragmatic Idealism, rigorous analysis/bias for information-based policy-making, out-of-the-box solutioneering) which is really nothing but *drumroll* …the underpinning principles of Get Real Philippines and AP!
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I have the answer to Lee Kuan Yew’s perplexed statement above: Most Filipinos are obsessed with having a good time.
Please click on the link below and read:
Filipinos and happiness: why we need to be serious about it
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Weizz Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 11:51 pm
Guilty as charged! But then what happens when your work becomes play?
It so much interesting that way. I like to have fun too. Haha.
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ChinoF Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 1:33 am
Exactly. Weizz, it’s not really having fun at work. Filipinos love to have fun, not work.
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Lorenz Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 2:54 am
Wrong. What is missing is national unity. Simple as that. The root of all our problems isn’t corruption, instant gratification, poverty, or even protectionism. It is “apathy”. If most of the citizens and politicians are enthusiastic and active in pursuing a greater Philippines, then Philippines would have been a 1st world country a long time ago. It may be an idealistic view but the only way to solve this is to instill the love of country into the hearts of citizens and it will start a chain of reaction for search of knowledge and wisdom that could benefit and progress the country then everything will start to change little by little.
This at least is what i believe.
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Weizz Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 3:18 am
But people got used to mediocrity. They do not want to demand a better alternative. Can I cite the fertilizer quality of services provided by the utilities? Indifference plus incompetence, a lethal combination, makes everything worse. Though I agree with you Lorenz that it takes unity to get things done. But there must also be discipline to keep back on track if things get messy or hit a bump. W/c sad to say, due to ningas cogon, the enthusiasm burns out. I have been a dreamer, but dreamer can only dream dreams when one does nothing about it. I dream for a wonderful Philippines. The one that I can be truly proud of. I think theres not one single solution but a series of solutions to answer our many problems.
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Lorenz Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 4:14 am
People got used to mediocrity hence the apathy. I agree that there’s not one single solution. Read this:
http://www.iias.nl/nl/37/IIAS_NL37_13.pdf
If Philippines ever want to become progressive, the people from various islands and ethnic groups need to be united.
ChinoF Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 7:41 am
You can’t cure apathy though without addressing the poverty. It’s impossible to make properly thinking nationalists out of poor people. That’s why it was the upper class and not the masses who had the idea of rising up in arms during the Spanish Era. The corruption and media circus today helps prevent this unity we need as well. There’s lots of areas to target. Apathy and lack of unity for me is more of an effect rather than the cause when you look at the masses. But the apathy of the leaders (and their backers) is perhaps the real apathy that causes damage.
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ChinoF Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 7:46 am
Hmm, I also now believe you can put the two factors together. Many Filipinos want to have a good time and are also apathetic about the state of our country. Either way, they’ve been desensitized. Media content effect? :-S
ilda Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 8:40 am
There is also a culture of impunity in our society, which is why most Filipinos especially our public officials have no qualms about doing illegal or unconstitutional acts. Rebel soldiers like Trillanes get pardoned even when they are not asking for pardon. Our public officials do not have a sense of shame or guilt when they fail to deliver on their promise.
Please click and read this article:
Filipinos need to develop a sense of shame or guilt
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Jay Reply:
January 11th, 2011 at 12:47 am
It may be an idealistic view but the only way to solve this is to instill the love of country into the hearts of citizens and it will start a chain of reaction for search of knowledge and wisdom that could benefit and progress the country then everything will start to change little by little.
Thing is we’ve already seen false nationalism happen. One where its blatantly manufactured for the sake to make the egos of the mediocre pinoys seem elated and that they are part of something that they never had to work hard for. The kind of nationalism you want to occur has to happen with something that is made by the people and something they will genuinely care about. And you can instill that through small things that can work, such as promoting competition through competency (protectionism laws) or creating a more transparent government (FOIA, Charter change). Hell people complain about the tax yet they don’t realize the crap social services they get for paying with it. It is one of the main ways they contribute to society but they take it for granted.
I do agree however that the people should get over their regionalism and what it MEANS to nationalism. Everyone is an askal at some point in their bloodlines going way back.
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Filipinos are shameless and have no sense of honor and dignity. Partner this with a happy go lucky attitude and you breed mediocrity. What’s more is that most of our citizens are apathetic to our own country. Self, family, and relatives over country. Why else do Filipinos spit and throw garbage everywhere and do not follow rules, laws, and regulations even the simplest ones? There’s no hint of any genuine nationalism and patriotism.
What needs to be done is to reshape the bad parts of our culture and way of living into something efficient like those of the Japanese. But it’s impossible for it to be done. I think the only way it could be done is if we are governed by non-Filipinos. Prove me otherwise.
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James Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 6:12 am
The whole non-Filipino governing the Filipino part, I think has already been done (Spaniards? Americans? Japanese?) We all know how that turned out. The thing about it is, no one really can care for the Filipino people other than they themselves.
And, how come you said in your first statement that ‘Filipinos are shameless’, but in the succeeding statements, such as ‘our own country’? You imply that you are part of these shameless Filipinos, therefore. Wouldn’t you be insulting yourself in that manner?
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Lorenz Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Those are times of imperialism. If we are governed by non-Filipinos NOW it would be a totally different situation. I’m pretty sure there are foreigners interested in a greater Philippines without protectionism for more trade and investment. Heck they will be happy to exploit the resources of the country! Most Filipinos don’t care about Philippines at all so why should they care about the citizenry and legitimacy of the country? The Philippines as a nation/country should just crumble if its citizens don’t care at all. I care but sadly many don’t.
Hmmmm…. I should have said “most” Filipinos because frankly I’m not shameless. Mostly everything about Filipinos reek of mediocrity and shamelessness. Paying more money to get what you need faster like a driver’s license. Outdated and inefficient technology and systems in accessing and updating databases for NBI, PNP, SOCO, and other important organizations. Filipinos are not punctual and are always late in starting/joining events and activities hence why i don’t trust going before the designated time anymore because i’m tired of waiting like hell. Chaotic and disorganized traffic. The Japanese commit suicide if they did something wrong in their positions and standing whereas the Filipino doesn’t care at all and continue to do the wrong. And many more.
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Hyden Toro Reply:
January 11th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
You point at the Filipinos; but not on the Filipino Political leadership? Do our leaders care? Hell No!!!
They want to perpetuate their own class. Look at those political family dynasties; political warlords;oligarchs in bed with politicians, who control the Philippine economy like a vise…while Filipino OFW slaves work with all kinds of abuses and indignities by their slave masters abroad…
“Filipino culture is a SOFT and FORGIVING culture”
Filipinos are tolerant of corruption and greed because they secretly wish that one day, when they are on top, people below them will become tolerant of their own corruption and greediness.
Its similar to Michael Moore’s Capitalism statement: Poor americans will never rise up against the rich elites because they wish someday they will become a part of that society.
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Yeah, dont you just hate it when they throw garbage anywhere with impunity. When these garbages accumulate, clog the sewerage system and displaces water on rivers, massive flooding will ensue and thousands of people will get affected..
And in the name of nationalism and patriotism, Pinoys will suddenly rise up and help each other kuno. Why cant they just throw their trash properly in the first place? Pinoys dont have foresight!
But of course, the rich will benefit from these situations. All you need is a Sagip-Kapamilya type foundation to supersede Philippine National Red Cross and youll get tax breaks for your company for your altruistic efforts!
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What Lee Kuan Yew does not tell you about is the money laundering Singapore is famous for, an illegal activity that makes rich unethical people (Singaporeans) richer, and poor hard-working people (Filipinos) poorer.
Or do you believe for a moment that all they talked about during those meetings was about “state affairs”?
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ChinoF Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 10:57 am
The thing is, this has yet to be proven, and proof has to be presented and the connection made that this illegal activity in Singapore is actually affecting the Philippines the way you say it. Perhaps this is something that Dan Brown thought up?
I think though that the proof is overwhelming that protectionism is what makes Filipinos poor.
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Jay Reply:
January 11th, 2011 at 12:54 am
@Francisco Drake
LOL perpetual victim mentality?
I mean accuse the man all you want, but he also wanted things to be ran efficiently. So even if we DO believe your story, he still worked hard to create a society that bases things out of efficiency.
Meanwhile the pinoys continue to mire themselves in their own failed culture and lack of foresight and efficiency and dig themselves even DEEPER from exploitation. I mean the ONLY WAY to break the spell is do exactly what singapore was doing; be efficient. Do that and then they too would have to second guess trying to victimize someone who is catching up on their act.
Either scenario, the pinoys still lose as victims of their OWN WILL and another person’s WILL. So much for destiny eh?
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LKY was right that its nuts that the money from marcos wasnt recovered in the time of cory aquino is a major problem. the fact that the money hasnt been recovered is a reason for imelda and the marcos kids’ political comeback.
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Jay Reply:
January 11th, 2011 at 12:56 am
Or the complete ineptitude of Aquino but that is also a contributing factor anyway, besides pinoy politics that hinge on familial ties.
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Another great book going on my wishlist. I know LKY but I didn’t really have any idea if such a book written by him is sold here in our country. Guess I got too busy with schoolwork.
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Orion Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 1:16 am
Hi Concerned Citizen,
I’ve seen it on shelves at Power Books, Fully-Booked, and “A Different Bookstore.”
FYI, there’s a “prequel” to it, though… The first memoir-book LKY wrote was called “The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew” which concentrates on his background growing up and his early years as a lawyer and a budding politician.
Here’s the link to it: http://www.amazon.com/Singapore-Story-Memoirs-Lee-Kuan/dp/0130208035
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Hyden Toro Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
Has anybody know the amount of the National Debt? How much we owe to Foreign Countries? How about our Total National Revenue or Income? How about the Yearly Interests, we pay on our National Debt? What percentage do our National Debts in ratio of our National Income? 80% ratio? 90%? or 95%?
I think, we are all “Nabubuhay na sa Utang”. When our Lenders demand payments of these debts; will we default? Or just declare National Bankruptcy? No wonder, we are sending our people as OFW slaves thruout the world…just to pay the interests of these debts…
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Hyden Toro Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
Hey Dudes,,.the Christian Bible states clearly: ” The Borrower is the SLAVE of the Lender.”
Daniel Ong Reply:
January 11th, 2011 at 6:41 am
For the debt, check http://www.bsp.gov.ph/statistics/sdds/extdebt.htm and http://www.treasury.gov.ph/Statdata/sdds/sdds_ngdebt.pdf
Hyden Toro Reply:
January 11th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
@Danel Ong
Thanks. We would like to know the Total Revenue of the Philippine Government. Including its Yearly Operating Budget, as of, to date…we will see how deep we are in the HOLE…
They are selling Camp Crame….soon they will be selling Filipino OFW slaves in the Auctioning Blocks…why not sell Hacienda Luisita?
Let me repeat something I’ve said about LKY and Singapore before. Filipinos have the misconception that it was an authoritarian country and could not be considered a democracy. Far from the truth.
For Singaporeans, democracy is enforcing the rule of law. For Filipinos, enforcing the rule of law is cruel, and not punishing someone for their crimes is democracy. For Singaporeans, you prosper when you work for your own keep. For Filipinos, working for your own keep is slavery, and receiving dole outs is democracy. That’s the problem.
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Here’s a slipcased set of his books.
http://www.kinokuniya.com.sg/bestsellers/weekly/non-fiction/535/lee_kuan_yew_lee_kuan_yew_slipcased_set_2010
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truly inspiring! It advocates a can-do attitude, critical analysis and out-of-the-box problem-solving… it stresses the importance of cultural & behavioral reforms and pragmatism… but i think our real challenge is to be able to reform the culture, mindset and behavior of the Filipino people as what Lee Kuan Yew did to spur progress, transforming Singapore into Southeast Asia’s oasis of prosperity and development and a First World hub at that! I guess I ought to get a copy of that book!
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This is a must-read for all Filipinos whether they intend to serve their government or just remain plain citizens but with the best intentions of helping their government succeed so that progress from third world to first could be achieved.
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i think the students must read this book. They will be the next leaders of our country. Then, it should be teachers, the educators of our future leaders.If these two were informed and guided properly, we will never see corrupt leaders in our government. This task may take 25 years or more, that’s why we need to start planting NOW!
very intelligent site.thanks
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Instead of Lee Kuan Yew, what we have right now in our gov’t is “Lee Kum Kee” = toyo.
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ang totoo… Wala kasing pakialam ang mga pinoy… Ikaw pag may nakita ka sa gobyerno kumikilos ka ba??? Hindi diba? Puro tayo satsat… Lahat tayo hanggang satsat lang… Nakotongan, mga illegal na bagay, politikong nangungurakot and so on… Ano ginagawa natin? Wala diba? Sasabihin natin wag makiaalam baka mapahamak. Ayos lang yan lahat naman ganyan. Ok lang yan filipino tayo…. Hayyyyyy… Wala sa libro na yan ang solusyon… At walang saysay kahit ipabasa yan kung ang punot dulo ng mga pangyayari eh sa pamilya naman nangsimula… Bakit? Sino ba humuhubog sa mag kabataan? Mga magulang diba? Kung ang mga magulang natin lahat ay may tamang pagiisip kahit sa simpleng pagbabayad nga ng buwis ang utak ng pinoy sasabihin nila eh sino ba nagbabayad ng tama ng buwis??? Bakit ako magbabayad ng tama??? Diba? Lahat tau ay bukok dahil ang nasa paligid natin ay bulok. Ilan sa inyo ang nagisip na gumawa ng tama kahit na sa kaunting mali ay mga kunsintidor tayo? Diba wala… Kung gusto niyo ng pagbabago simulan niyo sa sarili niyo… Wag mandaya… Wag manlamang ng kapwa at wag mangunsinte sa maliliit na kamalian sa gobyerno at sa mga nagsisilbi sa gobyerno. Yun lang yun!
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ChinoF Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 9:08 am
Problema nga lang, ikaw nga ang kikilos tama, pero ang nasa paligid mo korap… baka biglang pipilitin kang maging korap para makisama ka sa kanila, at tututukan ka pa. Saka yung kilos nila, talagang aapektuhin ang buhay niyo, magigiging masakit at mahirap ang buhay mo. At yung “wala kang magagawa,” yan ang ang gusto nilang mangyari, na wala ka nang gagawin at tatahimik nalang kahit hirap. Ang nangyari, nagpatalo ka sa kanila. Hindi, dapat lumaban pa rin.
Ang sanhi din ng problema ay ang mali sa mga batas natin, nasa Saligang-Batas. Kung ito ay aayusin, eh di babawasan ang mga korap, at di na ganito,
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Weizz Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 5:09 pm
“People with vested interests gain something from keeping things broken” a quote I got from a website that publishes stories on IT horror stories.
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ulong pare Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 11:06 am
daaaang! sugar naman naman namannnn… kanino mo ire-report ang mga magnanakaw? sa kapwa magnanakaw?… kanino mo ire-report ang mamamatay-tao? sa kapwa mamamatay-tao?… alllah eh, wala namang mangyayari… pag-nagpunta ako sa munisipyo para kumuha ng sedula, ang mga impakto doon eh naghihintay ng kotong… allah eh, sa akin, maghihintay sila sa wala… kapag walang lagay, tatagal daw ng ‘sang linggo…. allah eh, di balik ako sa susunod na linggo… pa-balik balik lang ang labanan… for the mean time, diretso lang ang takbo ng aking basura bisnes, kahit walang papeles…. kung ako’y guguluhin ng mga taga munisipyo, allah eh, ipapakita ko ang resibo at sasabihing kong ang papel eh kapending sa inbox ni bossing nila sa munisipyo… naghihintay ng kotong… ganyan lang ang buhay flip… play the game para tuloy ang iyutan…
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Lorenz Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 4:19 pm
Kaya dapat mga dayuhan nalang ang nasa pwesto ng ;ahat ng posisyon ng gobyerno at lahat ng mga organisasyon nito, diba? Gusto ko Hapon o Singaporean ang mamumuno dito sa Pilipinas. Sang ayon ka ba?
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ulong pare Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 5:11 pm
daaaang!… @lorenz: may pag-asa pa rin sa lahing unggoy… dapat lang eh, flips have to set an example… itumba/salvage a couple of notorious high end flip traposakals… parang ‘merka… ‘merkans assassinate their prez if they don’t play the part… one time lang, siguradong titino ang mga demonyo… or most of them will ‘bakwet to ‘merka to enjoy the rest of their loot…
Jay Reply:
January 11th, 2011 at 1:05 am
Hindi diba? Puro tayo satsat… Lahat tayo hanggang satsat lang…
Eh sino kasi naglagay ng kolokoy na iyon sa politiko? Takte ang dami mga tao eh kay sa makinig sa isang tao na marunong mag plano at magpatakbo ng maayos, ipa upo ung mahilig mag pa fiesta. KITAMS?
Wag manlamang ng kapwa at wag mangunsinte sa maliliit na kamalian sa gobyerno at sa mga nagsisilbi sa gobyerno.
So pahiwatig mo na kahit gaano kabulok at ka kurakot ng gobyerno natin ngyaon, sila pa rin ang may tama at sagot? Sa bagay, dahil mga katulad mo nga ang hindi kayang mag isip na kung sino dapat ang mga tamang o sistema na magpapatakbo na maayos na bansa natin. Pag sa iyo, sadyang deserving ka ng gobyerno mo. Eh ganun. Sawa ka na mg complain sa bulok na gobyerno so di mu na aawayin dahil inakala mo lang na wala ng kayang gawin na matino.
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balita ko may limit ang magagawa ng ordinaryong mamamayan.
Nga pala, di ko binoto si Noynoy.
Wala lang.
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Unless corruption is halted in the government, this country will continue to suffer. There is a need to clean the bureaucracy here, and the only way to do it is to make a good example in the justice system. Don’t just prosecute those who needs to be prosecuted…there has to be convictions too. I had yet to see a day when there has been a high ranking government official, currupt to the bone, whose been sent to jail (Estrada , of-course is an exemption because of the circus that has been made of his trial. We know he is guilty but because of political accomodation, he was set free).
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ArticleRequest Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 10:43 am
Actually corruption is not the main problem in the Philippines faces. I am not saying don’t stop corruption but RAMPANT corruption which the Philippines experiences is already a sign that the country’s solution to poverty and human upliftment of its people go beyond monetary things and right into the heart of how its citizens think and the mentality of people. Philippine media is so quick to point out corruption as the Philippines main problem but rampant corruption is, in the final analysis, a symptom of things gone terribly wrong in Philippine culture.
As LKY writes: “The Philippines had a rambunctious press but it did not check corruption. Individual press reporters could be bought, as could many judges. Something had gone seriously wrong. Millions of Filipino men and women had to leave their country for jobs abroad beneath their level of education. Filipino professionals whom we recruited to work in Singapore are as good as our own. Indeed, their architects, artists, and musicians are more artistic and creative than ours. Hundreds of thousands of them have left for Hawaii and for the American mainland. It is a problem the solution to which has not been made easier by the workings of a Philippine version of the American constitution.
The difference lies in the culture of the Filipino people. It is a soft, forgiving culture. Only in the Philippines could a leader like Ferdinand Marcos, who pillaged his country for over 20 years, still be considered for a national burial. Insignificant amounts of the loot have been recovered, yet his wife and children were allowed to return and engage in politics. They supported the winning presidential and congressional candidates with their considerable resources and reappeared in the political and social limelight after the 1998 election that returned President Joseph Estrada.”
Yes its a culture of softees with no sense of shame. A culture of impunity. A lot of people would disagree with me if I say Philippine culture is broken. A lot of nationalists shun anything foreign in favor of something seen as “Pinoy” but this comes from a broken view of seeing our culture as faultless. The truth is we stand to gain a lot from learning from foreigners and opneing our markets to them not shunning them and blame colonial mentality for the country’s blight (which I believe in the end is nothing more than an empty excuse for Filipino medicocrity).
The difference between a rich man and a poor man is not in the amount of money for rich men can go broke. The real difference lies in the way of thinking of our people.
More than corruption, a society that allows people like Erap, Trillanes, Jalosjos, Senate absentees and non performers Lapid, Noynoy Aquino, Bong Revilla, Mr. Enteng Kabisote etc back in politics under the vacuous idea of giving them a chance is a society where its wounds run deeper that corruption. At the end of it all Philippine culture needs to be revised.
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ChinoF Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 11:51 am
“The Philippines had a rambunctious press but it did not check corruption. Individual press reporters could be bought, as could many judges.”
This should be a slap in the face of the fans of mass media. LKY was saying the local mass media was itself corrupt… and still is.
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ChinoF Reply:
January 10th, 2011 at 11:07 am
Corruption can be addressed when the right system changes have been made. Constitutional reform remains an essential part of addressing corruption by addressing the more likely causes of it, such as poverty and loopholes in the rules.
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Jay Reply:
January 11th, 2011 at 1:20 am
see, even in absolute interpretations of government, given a proper lawyer you can still get away with something. Of course the issue is who benefits from it.
Problem with posters like Sugarbabes who believes in the whole sila ang gobyerno, at dahil doon sila ang magaling, so dapat lang di na kelangan mag magaling is they do exactly what Benjamin Franklin has warned about: give up a bit of liberty for a bit of security, will deserve neither and you lose both. They don’t want to address the aspects of checks and balances in the system and they will constantly be screwed of the same system that they support through taxation which they get low class benefits from.
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daaang!… besides flips being bunch of gung gongs, consider this: “I KNOW YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND – THAT WHICH YOU THINK I SAID; BUT I AM NOT SURE YOU REALIZE THAT, WHAT YOU THOUGHT I SAID WAS NOT REALLY WHAT I UNDERSTAND THAT WHICH I BELIEVE I REALLY MEANT TO SAY. IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN”… L Dicker… this is exactly how flips explain themselves… express this in 1000 dialects across flipland and see what y’all come up with… y’all can import all geniuses/philiosphers of the modern world to teach flips how to plant camote, but if flips do not want to do it, it’s all USELESS…
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“Lee Kuan Yew’s son, Lee Hsien-Loong (李顯龍) now serves as Singapore’s Prime Minister after so many years of being given the most difficult and challenging of job assignments, proving himself academically superior to his peers at school, and needing to prove his worth purely through merit by rising up through the ranks in both the military and the civil service (he became a Brigadier-General), and NOT BECAUSE HE IS THE SON of Lee Kuan Yew.”
^^^
Compare the reasons given here vs brain dead reasons Yellows give to support Noynoy Aquino.
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Weizz Reply:
January 11th, 2011 at 1:44 am
The reasoning is what a lot of my friends want to avoid- to be famous because of their parent’s shadow. For me, there’s nothing less of a satisfaction to reap the benefits of my own doing. At the same time, I know I will receive bad harvests, but its the sign of growing up. This leads to maturity.
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daaaang! when flips fail (which is the norm), flips search and scrutinize foreign leaders’ accomplishment/autobiography for reasons… then, try to impose the “new ideas/knowledge” (kunyari) to flip gung gongs… the “new learned fault free ideas” will be presented in such a way to look well organized and authoritative…. DAT’S IMPRESSIVE!… flip gung gongs’ culture is unique… y’all cannot pound a ton of knowledge to a itty-bitty shrunken head…
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I totally agree that it is not democracy that will change this country but discipline. Thanks Orion for the article.
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What strikes me most is when former Pres. Marcos told Lee Kuan Yew he is a “true friend”. Obviously, the former said this because the latter is telling him the truth, so hard to find among his supposed real friends. LKY did not understand, because to him, telling the truth as it is or as one thought it to be is the only way to do.
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ChinoF Reply:
January 11th, 2011 at 12:05 am
That also meant that Filipinos around Marcos were mostly liars. It’s as if LKY was saying, “your society is full of liars.”
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One solution is improving the quality of education of primary and secondary level students. When these kids grow up, they will be more inclined to changing the nation compared to current generations. Well have more critical-thinkers.
Corruption is deeply rooted in our society right now that when we change our constitution, people will only find another loophole around it. Another system to corrupt. The very core of each filipino is our problem.
Filipino masa is like a ghostly being. They live but they only live on the verge. Believing on magic and wonderment, hoping one they aasenso din sila. This huge mass of ghostly being who believes in magic need one magical leader to lead them all.
An Aragorn to lead the army of ghost…OMG, no wonder CDQ referred to Pnoy as an Aragorn…..
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nymphetamine Reply:
January 11th, 2011 at 6:07 am
PNoy? Aragon? Hoy manigas siya! At least si Aragon eh decisive. Eh yung mokong? Naku , ewan ko na lang.. tsk tsk tsk… LOL
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Let us not forget how LKY enforced discipline in Singapore. Severe fines, flogging, and death penalty is the norm. I do believe this is the ONLY way to instill discipline in pinas. But the big question is… are we ready to accept it? I, for one am ready for a totalitarian government. But how about the rest of you guys?
As ulong pare says above, as long as pinoys won’t do it, there’s no point in sound policies/laws. We need to push it down people’s throat, and exact heavy penalties on those who resist.
I visited Beijing last month, and I saw how progressive and orderly things are, just like in Singapore. If this is what communism is, then I’d trade Philippine “democracy” in a heartbeat.
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Jay Reply:
January 11th, 2011 at 3:08 am
But of course. You make it sound like a nation like Japan that may have eccentric views on death and social responsibility don’t share some aspects to how Singapore runs their government. There is always a price to pay for some form of liberty and security. You should ask the certain oligarchs if they are willing to do the same to show examples to those in under them in society.
There are some nice model cities in the Philippines based on discipline. AP has cited Dick Gordon’s projects certainly as model cities that embraced discipline and other areas that can benefit from it. Hell, even more so if the country was running a different government system.
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kusinero Reply:
January 11th, 2011 at 4:10 am
Japan and Singapore do share a lot of things. Japan does implement heavy fines, and also has the death penalty. The only thing missing is there’s no caning/flogging here, although it used to be implemented here as well.
The reason I’m asking is that most people in pinas would comment about discipline, discipline discipline.. but would not swallow the bitter pill if it is handed to them. They would instead clamor for “democracy”.
Look at how ridiculous our media is with all their perceived freedom of expression. And look at how laughable our “leaders” are, the products of democracy, and the ever so expensive elections. I would rather have one party system, and have a leader rise based on meritocracy, than to choose from bozos and criminals every six years. No more elections! That way I won’t have to spend a dime of my tax money just to vote for somebody who would eventually rip me off.
Forget the oligarchs, their heads are too high up on their asses and they do not care. I am throwing this question to all average schmoes. Are you ready to be stripped of your “rights”?
Ever wonder why Dick Gordon did not get elected for president? People are afraid that he will be a dictator, so they did not vote for him even though he is the one we need. If every pinoy will allow himself to be under an iron fist rule, then I can say that we have hope.
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Jay Reply:
January 11th, 2011 at 1:32 pm
that was partly the reason, but as AP have already said Dick Gordon’s style of politics to them is disparaging and totally not Filipino compared to the top 2 candidates who as ironic as it may be, relates to the mainstream pinoy more than anything. And hilariously, Dick is not as a benevolent draconian as LKY, focusing more on short term goals to create a cause (discipline) and effect (achievements through effort).
When you say that pinoys would clamor for democracy, they only know what is ran and how it has been introduced to them in their family. They only know the pinoy values associated with it that despite having great intentions, also promote a hefty negative value with it as well. They claim they ‘know it’ yet its like claiming they know the ocean but have only sank their knees to the water by the shore.
ChinoF Reply:
January 11th, 2011 at 1:35 pm
Media helped confuse the real definitions of “rule of law,” “discipline” and “democracy.” So Filipinos hate it when someone enforces the law on them. Everyone wants to be exempted from it.
I already had this book which I bought ironically in Kuala Lumpur last 2004. It was on sale at a small bookstore, located on a pile that included romance and school books. Now I know Mahathir and LKY have no love lost for each other (you will clearly see this in the book), so maybe I expected that the memoirs of LKY won’t be considered important in KL. But I really enjoyed it, especially his thoughts on the leaders he encountered and had contact with (Reagan, Thatcher, Tunku Abdul Razak, Sukarno, Mao, Chou en lai, etc, and of course FMarcos). Sadly that book got lost when Ondoy flooded our house.
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Thanks Orion, this is yet another strong exposition of why we need to shift to a parliamentary form of government. I fault the mass media for not educating our citizens of the merits of this form of government. The center as always of this debate in restructuring our government is a personality, be it either FVR or GMA. When can the talking heads in media finally serve the cause of the greater good in our land? If we were to advance into the first world in a democracy, we need a functioning mass media, especially broadcast media. We need to educate the masses and discuss the merits of a parliamentary form of government in rational terms. I know Sentro ng Katotohanan is doing its share, but it is a small media outlet that doesn’t have a far reach yet. Hope it will evolve to be the norm in broadcast media.
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Curious. This article has one of the most FB shares I’ve ever seen.
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Lee Kuan Yew is no doubt a great leader. But Singapore is a tiny nation of five million relatively acquiescent and disciplined people. Yet he used a dictatorial style of leadership to lead his country out of the pits.
The Philippines is a vast archipelago of over ninety million fractious and intractable people, plus an oligarchy that will do anything to destroy any challenge to its parochial interests hovering over…
But we have a “democracy” and we love it even as it elects a leader who a colleague say played Ragnarok, device hid under his desk, while in session in Congress
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Don’t they know that if they are actually efficient and the people rich. They can even get richer? Or the lack of innovations in their parts made them…mediocre.
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gimme that pirate version of the book
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You guys must have read a scientific discovery that Jews has above normal IQs yet laden with an incurable disease. There are races that have high IQ and there are races that have low-IQ. Chinese are naturally above brown-skins, then, white skins, and there are jews.
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Hyden Toro Reply:
January 11th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
Hey…the Extra Terrestrials Annunakis, compromised our genes and genomes, when they Cloned the first Filipinos. Look at our choices of political leaders. We don’t have an I.Q. We have one, but with a Wowoowee ratings.
The Smart Filipinos are just products of Mutated Evolution…Genetic Engineers may had been not in the mood of working, the time we were Cloned…
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