Without a person like him, an ex-colony like Hong Kong has also come this far, and even exceeded Singapore in various aspects. By saying that you are thankful for Lee Kuan Yew and that doubting that Singapore would have come this far without him, you have also shown that you have a one-sided view of history.

But no one can blame you, since our history textbooks will never tell you the whole truth and you may not have read the other books that are available. I suggest you go read up more.

And if you cannot comment on the ‘means’ – which means you cannot even take a position on whether supporting the murderous Burmese military is a good or bad thing – please don’t bother bringing up to us the humanitarian work you’ve been exposed to. It really doesn’t say much when you support such a regime which directly supports the Burmese military regime.

Julian’s reply: Hi R, I am not here to argue with you, because at the end of the day i am truly appreciative of your views. My parents taught me to be thankful and appreciative of what I have and not take things for granted (: I am truly impressed that you would scroll through all the comments to engage my views. In fact, i believe you are doing so because you, like another person i met elsewhere are truly concerned at where this country is heading and are not happy with the present state of things. Positive change takes time, and it can start with how we make a difference in the lives of our friends and families I look forward to your continued support!

Hi Julian, you respect a man who allows detention and torture of Singaporeans? Wow, you might as well express your open support for the Burmese Military Junta (who, by the way PAP openly supports).

And we don’t need to talk about the colonial independence era. As recent as 1987 local catholics, social workers, lawyers and other professionals were detained without trial and tortured as part of a ‘Marxist conspiracy’ fabricated by the PAP government.

Those 22 Singaporean men and women were stripped naked, made to sit on blocks of ice in freezing rooms, slapped, beaten and humiliated repeatedly to sign forced confessions.

There are a whole series of articles on this online, you can read quite a number here: http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/05/operation-spectrum-was-political-rape/

Julian’s reply: Hi again R, thank you for your fervency in engaging my posts, appreciate it! I am in no position to comment on the means Mr Lee may have adopted because no one but him knows the full facts, but one thing i have learnt is to be thankful. Without him, i highly doubt that Singapore would have come this far. I qualify this not based on what has been taught to me in schools, but through my first hand witnessing of how difficult nation building is through the humanitarian work i’ve been exposed to.

Oh yes. Lee Kuan Yew needs to be held accountable for all the nonsense he has spewed all these years.

Nice try to use a quote from a movie to blanket-reply everything the other person wrote though. Why don’t you try and disprove any of the claims made by the poster?

Julian’s reply: Hi there annon, Thank you for following up with the backdated comments though! Appreciate your engagement (: I respect our founding father Lee Kuan Yew. You cannot deny the good work he has done for Singapore. Were the means justified ? I do not think any of us would have known better unless we were from the colonial independence era.

Is this a threat?

////One cannot simply say the earth is square without any concrete evidence////

To my understanding of history, it is mostly the people that proclaim the earth is round that get to be executed. Please do not distort history.

P65, change the soup but don’t change the ingredients. Band the truth to suit it needs. Thanks but no thanks!

Julian’s reply: Hi RED-man, Why is that quote from spiderman threatening? I actually think it is a meaningful quote you know. I understand you may be upset or angry especially with our gahment, but i am not the gahment! these are just my views as a student! Thank you for taking time to read and reply though

Maybe it should be along these lines..(add as you wish)

*We will NOT continue to treat our readers with contempt, but with empathy.
*We will NOT continue to only publish what WE like. But what our readers should read and want to read.
*We will print the whole news and nothing but the news. We promise that Singaporeans should NOT have to read news about Singapore in other newspapers or on other websites.
*We will NOT bin the letters we receive that WE do not want to print. We will publish them.
*We will give any reasons or answers for our doing. That as you can understand is new to us, to be answerable, but we will try.
*We promise to listen to our readers views (if it makes you happy to hear it) and NOT to just to listen.
*We understand fully we have a license to print money but that means we have to give back even MORE to the community. Not just lip service but real money.. even more to the ST Money Box and a car a year (no doubt bought at a knock-down price in exchange for press ads)
*We remain a monoply, (thank goodness) but we have to act as if we are not. But you know, really thats how we survived so successfully and profitaby these last 164 years. So, one small step at a time, please.
*We understand that Singaporeans have no choice of any other newspaper. That’s it. No argument.
*We remain committed to our advertisers who by the way have absolutely no other newspaper publication choice.
*We will endeavour to provide value for money to our advertisers so long as it suits us, first. After all, they have no where else to go. And we do have shareholders and highly paid Editorial executives.
*We must be seen to be concerned about the social..oops..we mean..municipal issues of Singaporeans. Our writers must be trained to write about them. Not easy, but we will try, hard. Maybe we should read the AsiaOne forums to feel the pulse of what our readers are crying about.
*Our writers must learn to blog about the social…oops..we mean…municipal issues confronting Singaporeans. But, in the first place, we have to learn and listen from our readers. Forgive us, we have since 1845, been so mindset that changes are difficult.
*We will employ and encourage more Singaporeans to join the ST as writers (heaven help us) and not be too dependent on foreign staff.
*We must NOT be hesitant in apologising to our readers. Saying sorry, you can understand, is the hardest word.
*We will re-train our writers NOT write what WE want them to write and say, within fair reason. You will agree,its a new beginning for us. Because for as long as we have been, our writers are taught to only write what we tell them to write. But, we realise change happens but please dont expect any changes to happen overnight, or at all.
*We will continue to add to this pledge, as we see fit.
Lest you forget, after all, WE are The Straits Times.
ALL THIS WE PLEDGE AND PROMISE.

NOW, hands up….anyone….who believes that the ST should NOT give us this pledge?

In fact, those who expressed their own views were arrested and jailed, or detained without trial and tortured by ISD, or sued till bankruptcy.

If everyone is entitled to their own views, why was every single independent newspaper in Singapore forcibly shut down by 1990?

Julian’s reply: Hi there again Pang, I like this quote from the spiderman movie: with great power comes great responsibility. With what you are willing to say, you must be willing to take responsibility as well. One cannot simply say the earth is square without any concrete evidence

Julian’s reply: I agree! We are part of that change as well whether we like it or not, and i reckon we can positively contribute to this change and shape the futures for ourselves and our children

Julian’s reply:
Hi Pang, glad to have you join us! Everyone is entitled to their own views, what is most important as you can see is that these views belong to us young Singaporeans (or young at heart!)

David: As i was mentioning to Alexis, the western model is good, but it cannot be fully applied to the Singapore context, it has to be tweaked. Literacy is of utmost importance for any population. The ability to read and write is something i take as a given, but in Timor, the ability to read and write gives them food on the table. Sexuality education is something that every government is slowly grappling with, with the effects of globalisation, i guess there is no one size fits all.