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The
Straits Times, 3 Dec 04
Casino in young leaders' hands
MM Lee: With casinos just a short flight away, you can't stop gamblers
HAVING a casino here was a policy Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew was
once dead set against. But in a globalised world, Mr Lee said the
decision is something for the new generation of leaders to look at.
Mr Lee shared his thoughts on the much debated casino issue at the
Business Week CEO Dialogue in Bangkok. In the Thai capital for a four-day
visit as a guest of the Thai government, he delivered the closing
keynote address and engaged in a wide-ranging question-and-answer
session for more than an hour. The forum was attended by over 300
decision makers and senior executives from the region.
Said Mr Lee: "In the 1970s, Stanley Ho of Hong Kong said have a casino
— he had a casino in Macao. So I said no, over my dead body." But
today, gambling centres are just a few hours' flight away.
He said: "I believe the Chinese are congenital gamblers. It is a game
of chance. If you believe putting in an extra dollar or even a million
can garner you a windfall, I say god bless." So, the new leaders will
have to decide what to do.
Mr Lee also took questions on terrorism. He estimated that half a
per cent of the world's GDP is now spent on security. Asked about
the presence of armed guards in Singapore, he said Singapore had to
make itself a hard target. This is especially important as terrorist
groups try to outdo each other in the barbarity of their attacks.
But Mr Lee stressed he did not subscribe to the common view that poverty
is the root cause of terrorism. "You say it is poverty. I don't think
so. I think it is a desire to get even. The West has put them down.
Now is the time. We have the oil, the money ... But (enforcing security)
has to be done." The key — a point he has often made — is that moderate
Muslims must realise that they themselves are at risk from terrorism.
An issue that cropped up repeatedly at the forum was China's political,
social and economic transformation. As this new player takes a bigger
piece of the foreign direct investment pie, Singapore can stay in
the game by going into areas where China will lag behind such as intellectual
property rights, Mr Lee said. However, China's political transformation
will be gradual and controlled, he added. One key is urbanisation.
And as more Chinese get connected with IT and the world, the way of
ruling them will have to change.
Referring to Singapore's recent troubles with China over a Taiwan
visit, he noted a lot of the discussion on the topic took place on
the Internet. Transformation is already taking place — with elections
for village chiefs — big cities may be next, Mr Lee said. A China-Taiwan
conflict is a high-risk situation, he said. If it happens, East Asia's
development would be set back five to 10 years.
Asked about Myanmar, he said: "Supposing somebody proposes that Myanmar
be expelled unless it releases Aung San Suu Kyi, will that solve the
problem? Would the generals in Myanmar decide rather than being expelled,
let us release Aung San? I don't think so. . "By the time you are
in the positions of the Myanmarese generals, they have done their
calculations and they are in a box but it's not an uncomfortable box
... Of course, we would make ourselves more agreeable to the West
if we made some noises in that respect (but) it's going to have absolutely
zero effect on Myanmarese generals."
Mr Lee will meet Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra before leaving
Bangkok. — Channel NewsAsia . |
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