Lee Kuan Yeo goes back on his words

"If we had an English-educated middle class to begin with in 1960 -- querulous, arguing, writing letters to the press, nit-picking, chattering away -- we would have failed."

MM Lee has sent his grandson (unruly Lee Hsien Yang's unruly son) to the Singapore American School (SAS) -- something Singaporeans cannot do, as they must attend only Singapore schools.

Addressing the Singapore American School (SAS), MM Lee said: "I also had a grandson who could not fit into our schools. He had an IQ of 140, so he is not a stupid boy. But he was having trouble. His brother was scoring and he was not because he was dyslexic and he had to learn two languages - English and Chinese.

"So, the Education Ministry allowed him to opt out of the system. We did not have the specialist teachers to cater for people like him. He joined the SAS and at your school, your teachers helped him cope with his dyslexia and in the process restored his self esteem and confidence, and he's done well. Your staff support the American community and they have brought benefits to Singaporeans. Thank you."

The SAS students include (59%) US passport holders, Koreans (10%), Indians (3.6%), Japanese (3.4%), Canadians (3.2%), and Indonesians (2.6%), and Singaporeans (4.4%).

What? 4.4% Singaporeans - this shows that LKY's grandson was not the only Singapore elite kid to go to SAS. Remember, SAS is the school that had Michael Fay as a student. Regarding Michael Fay and his caning by Singapore, Lee Kuan Yeo said, "[The U.S.] does not restrain or punish individuals, forgiving them for whatever they have done. That's why the whole country is in chaos: drugs, violence, unemployment and homelessness. The American society is the richest and most prosperous in the world but it is hardly safe and peaceful."

OK Grandpa Lee, we hope your gradson enjoys his stay at SAS, where he can become another American. Hopefully the rough Americans will beat the shit out of him.

I, the co-author of Escape from Paradise, am Singaporean. As a native English speaker, our son could not have made it in the Singapore school system. Unfortunately, our son could not opt out, because Singaporeans have to go to Singapore schools. We tried, but our children were denied permission to go to United World College. Only Lee Kuan Yew's family members and "friends" have the right to attend foreign schools in Singapore.

By opting out of the Singapore school system, Lee Kuan Yew shows he believes in the superiority of the education given to FTs.

From our book, Escape from Paradise:

In the draconian Singapore public school system, Chinese is the most important and heavily weighted subject. This was a major disadvantage for Marc, as our native language, and the language spoken at home, was English.

At the time, only 23 percent of Singapore families spoke English at home; we were in the minority.

Students who did not succeed in the Singapore school system by the end of the sixth grade, would be streamed to a lower level of courses, and had little chance for a university or even secondary education in Singapore.

Many of these children would drop out of school, and end up working at McDonald's, Burger King, or doing doorman duty at your fancy hotel. I did not want Marc or Warren to be one of these unfortunate children.

I arranged for extra tutoring, and made it a point to be with Marc every day to help him with his studies when he came home.

The pressure was on.

The hard work paid off, and, at the end of November 1993, Marc passed his exams with top grades. He received an A in every subject, except for Chinese, where his grade was a D. This was a giant step forward.

The grades were good enough for Geelong College, but the D in Chinese would cause Marc to be streamed to second-rate schools in Singapore, with no hope of being accepted to Singapore's university.

So, why didn't I send Marc to one of Singapore's private English speaking schools, like the American School? Simple, as a Singaporean, he was bared from attending any private schools located in Singapore.

Our great leader, Lee Kuan Yew had figured out how to have a slavish docile population, saying, "If we had an English-educated middle class to begin with in 1960 -- querulous, arguing, writing letters to the press, nit-picking, chattering away -- we would have failed."

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