To Every Chinese Privilege Chauvinist/Supremacist Out There, Lee Kuan Yew Was A Racist & Traitor To The Community

Since Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew’s passing, some have attempted to examine his legacy, and came to the conclusion that his racial views have influenced Singapore’s government institutions and policies. Lee definitely held racial prejudices typical of his generation who grew up in a colonial society, but to brand him as racist responsible for the “systemic racism” in Singapore would be overly simplistic. Lee’s policies were never intended to privilege or oppress any racial group.

Lee’s vision of Singapore, is a multi-racial society built on compromise and tolerance. It was influenced by his racial views, pragmatism and realist outlook. If Lee was a Chinese chauvinist, why did he engineer the greatest compromise from the Chinese community at the expense of creating a “lost generation” of Chinese Singaporeans? He would lose support from the majority, and no politician in the right mind will engage in political suicide.

Desinicisation of Singaporean Chinese

Switching the medium of instruction from Mandarin to English has caused many Chinese Singaporeans to be disadvantaged. Many who were educated in Mandarin found it difficult to cope with the abrupt switch to English, chose to dropout of school and joined the workforce instead. Some might argue that the Malay and Indians educated in vernacular schools also suffered a similar fate; or that English was chosen as the official language for pragmatic reasons; and that the Chinese are not indigenous, and therefore have no legitimacy to push for Mandarin as the official language. But these reasons do not discount the fact that no majority race in any country would willingly disadvantaged themselves by using a foreign language as their official language.

The Europeans in Australia and United States used English instead of their respective indigenous languages. Malaysia being a Malay country chose Malay as their official language. There were pressure from Chinese language chauvinists who wanted Chinese to be the preeminent language in Singapore. Lee could have gave in to majority sentiments and foistered the use of Mandarin on the minorities. But that would be antithetical to his vision of a multi-racial society where every race has an equal stake.

Suppressing Chinese Education

Lee finally closed down all the Chinese medium schools and Nanyang University (Nantah) during the 1980s. Nantah was the first Chinese medium university outside of China, built on the land donated by Tan Lark Sye, a prominent Chinese businessman. The university was established painstakingly with the donations from Chinese from all walks of life. Thus, the biggest sacrifice from the Chinese community is none other that of the closure of Nantah.

This move caused one generation of students “to feel anguished and lost”. Thousands of Chinese graduates found limited employment opportunities, due to the closure of Nantah which affected the standing of their degree in the eyes of the employers. Which majority race in a country would allow the government to ruin their cultural symbol and economic prospects without paying a heavy price?

Was Lee Kuan Yew a racist?

Unlike the U.S., Singapore is not a nation built on the systematic exclusion and suppression of other races. Every race has made compromises in Lee’s vision of a multi-racial state, however unpleasant it was. If Singaporeans were to argue which race made more sacrifices, there will never be a satisfactory answer.

However, it is clear that Lee did not design Singapore to be a Chinese-dominant state like what some Singaporeans are espousing. He was not an idealist who thought that Singapore would eventually become a post-racial state but yet he was also not a racist who oppresses the minorities in his policies. Unfortunately, racism still exists in Singapore but it was never systemic to begin with. There needs to be distinction between bigots who spread hate and the assumption that an entire system is rigged against the minorities.

For Chinese chauvinists, Lee Kuan Yew was definitely a racist and traitor to the community. He turned generations of Chinese into “bananas”, westernised Chinese who not only lost touch of their cultural roots, but also unable to speak proper Mandarin.