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Singapore Quotes

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Singapore Quotes

“You know, the cure for all this talk is really a good dose of incompetent government. You get that alternative and you'll never put Singapore together again: Humpty Dumpty cannot be put together again... my asset values will disappear, my apartments will be worth a fraction of what they were, my ministers' jobs will be in peril, their security will be at risk and their women will become maids in other people's countries, foreign workers.”

PeopleKnowsCountryGovernmentTogetherJobsValuesRiskSecurityWorkersDisappearCuresAlternativesAssetsApartmentPerilFractionsDoseMaidsSingaporeIncompetentTogether AgainHumpty Dumpty
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
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“If it is not totalitarian to arrest a man and detain him, when you cannot charge him with any offence against any written law – if that is not what we have always cried out against in Fascist states – then what is it?… If we are to survive as a free democracy, then we must be prepared, in principle, to concede to our enemies – even those who do not subscribe to our views – as much constitutional rights as you concede yourself.”

IfsMenStatesLawViewsEnemyPrinciplesDemocracyRightsWrittenPreparedCriedBe PreparedFascistsSingaporeOffenceConstitutional Rights
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
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“But we either believe in democracy or we don't. If we do, then, we must say categorically, without qualification, that no restraint from the any democratic processes, other than by the ordinary law of the land, should be allowed. If you believe in democracy, you must believe in it unconditionally. If you believe that men should be free, then, they should have the right of free association, of free speech, of free publication. Then, no law should permit those democratic processes to be set at nought.”

IfsMenShouldBelieveLawProcessDemocracyLandSpeechOrdinaryShould HaveDemocraticPermitAssociationFree SpeechRestraintIf You BelievePublicationSingaporeQualificationsDemocratic Process
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
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“We have over a hundred political detainees, men against whom we are unable to prove anything in a court of law. Nearly 50 of them are men who gave us a great deal of anxiety during the years of Confrontation because they were Malay extremists. Your life and this dinner would not be what it is if my colleagues and I had decided to play it according to the rules of the game.”

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Author:Lee Kuan Yew
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“My colleagues and I are of that generation of young men who went through the Second World War and the Japanese Occupation and emerged determined that no one–neither Japanese nor British–had the right to push and kick us around. We determined that we could govern ourselves and bring up our children in a country where we can be proud to be self-respecting people.”

PeopleMenWorldChildrenWarSelfCountryYoungGenerationsProudOur ChildrenBritishDeterminedYoung ManWar Of The WorldsKicksOccupationColleaguesBe ProudSecond World WarSingapore
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
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“The ideas of individual supremacy and the right of free expression, when carried to excess, have not worked. They have made it difficult to keep America society cohesive. Asia can see it is not working.. In America itself, there is widespread crime and violence, old people feel forgotten, families are falling apart. And the media attacks the integrity and character of your leaders with impunity, drags down all those in authority and blames everyone but itself.”

PeopleFeelsMadeIdeasCharacterAmericaFallIndividualDifficultLeaderViolenceMediaCrimeExpressionIntegrityAuthorityBlameForgottenMade ItExcessDragAsiaOld PeopleFalling ApartSingaporeSupremacyImpunityFree ExpressionIntegrity And Character
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
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“It is essential to rear a generation at the very top of society that has all the qualities needed to lead and give the people the inspiration and the drive to make it succeed. In short, the elite.. Every society tries to produce this type. The British have special schools for them: the gifted and talented are sent to Eton and Harrow.”

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Author:Lee Kuan Yew
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“We must encourage those who earn less than $200 per month and cannot afford to nurture and educate many children never to have more than two… We will regret the time lost if we do not now take the first tentative steps towards correcting a trend which can leave our society with a large number of the physically, intellectually and culturally anaemic.”

IfsFirstsChildrenTwoLostNumbersStepsRegretMonthsOur SocietyTrendsEducateNurtureLarge NumbersSingaporeCorrecting
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
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“Three women were brought to the Singapore General Hospital, each in the same condition and needing a blood transfusion. The first, a Southeast Asian was given the transfusion but died a few hours later. The second, a South Asian was also given a transfusion but died a few days later. The third, an East Asian, was given a transfusion and survived. That is the X factor in development.”

FirstsThreeGivenHoursBloodConditionsDevelopmentThirdsDiedSouthEastFactorsHospitalsSurvivedAsianSingaporeBlood TransfusionGeneral Hospital
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
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“I pointed to an article with bold headlines reporting that the police had refused to allow the PAP to hold a rally at Empress Place, and then to the last paragraph where in small type it added the meeting would take place where we were now. I compared this with a prominent report about an SPA rally. This was flagrant bias.”

LastsTypePoliceMeetingsReportsArticlesBiasHeadlinesParagraphSingaporeProminentSpasEmpresses
Book:The Singapore Story (Student Edition): Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew
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“I can only express the hope that faith in the judicial system will never be diminished, and I am sure it will not, so long as we allow a review of the judicial processes that takes place here in some other tribunal where obviously undue influence cannot be brought to bear. As long as governments are wise enough to leave alone the rights of appeal to some superior body outside Singapore, then there must be a higher degree of confidence in the integrity of our judicial process. This is most important.”

LongI CanImportantEnoughBodyGovernmentProcessWiseRightsInfluenceBearsHigherIntegrityDegreesSuperiorsAppealsReviewsJudicialSingaporeTribunalsJudicial System
Author:Lee Kuan Yew
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“Singapore shall cease to be a state of Malaysia and shall forever be an independent and sovereign state and nation separate from and independent of Malaysia, and that the government of Malaysia recognises the government of Singapore as an independent and sovereign government of Singapore and will always work in friendship and cooperation with it.”

StatesGovernmentNationsForeverIndependentCeaseCooperationSovereignRecogniseSingaporeMalaysia
Author:Tunku Abdul Rahman
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