Interview with Singapore’s Lee Kwan Yew

Canadians often wonder what it would be like to have an articulate and intelligent head of government. Via Steve Sailer, Infoproc has translated a recent Der Spiegel interview with Lee Kwan Yew, Singapore’s first prime minister and the one responsible for turning it into a modern state after WW2.

It’s a wide-ranging interview that covers a lot of topics related to Asian affairs, including China-US relations, North Korea, and international economics. Two items stand out. The first is his thoughts on Europe:

SPIEGEL: When you look to Western Europe, do you see a possible collapse of the society because of the overwhelming forces of globalization?

Mr. Lee: No. I see ten bitter years. In the end, the workers, whether they like it or not, will realize, that the cosy European world which they created after the war has come to an end.

SPIEGEL: How so?

Mr. Lee: The social contract that led to workers sitting on the boards of companies and everybody being happy rested on this condition: I work hard, I restore Germany’s prosperity, and you, the state, you have to look after me. I’m entitled to go to Baden Baden for spa recuperation one month every year. This old system was gone in the blink of an eye when two to three billion people joined the race — one billion in China, one billion in India and over half-a-billion in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

In other words, get off your lazy Hans and Franz butt and get back to work.

The second item is his thoughts on democracy and multiethnic states:

In multiracial societies, you don’t vote in accordance with your economic interests and social interests, you vote in accordance with race and religion. Supposing I’d run their system here, Malays would vote for Muslims, Indians would vote for Indians, Chinese would vote for Chinese. I would have a constant clash in my Parliament which cannot be resolved because the Chinese majority would always overrule them. So I found a formula that changes that…

Sailer draws a comparison with the machine politics of large US cities like Chicago. One can also point to the Liberal Party of Canada, which understands the politics of ethnicity. The problem is, it’s not terribly democratic.

See Daniel Drezner’s thoughts on Singaporean politics and prospects for democracy for a bit more academic context.

Crossposted to Civitatensis.