Părerile lui Lee Kuan Yew

The Belmont Club atrage atenţia asupra unui fantastic interviu acordat de fantasticul octogenar Lee Kuan Yew revistei Spiegel. Vizionar, total atipic faţă de liderii occidentali, aproape înspăimântător pe alocuri; una peste alta, o lectură absolut obligatorie, antologică, cu totul diferită de analizele obişnuite din mass-media:

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: But has China's success not become dangerous for Singapore?

MR. LEE: We have watched this transformation and the speed at which it is happening. As many of my people tell me, it's scary. They learn so fast. [...] So it is a very serious challenge for us to move aside and not collide with them. We have to move to areas where they cannot move.

[...]

SPIEGEL: But the Chinese are moving too. They bought parts of IBM and are trying to take over the American oil company Unocal.

MR. LEE: They are learning. They have learnt takeovers and mergers from the Americans. They know that if they try to sell their computers with a Chinese brand it will take them decades in America, but if they buy IBM, they can inject their technology and low cost into IBM's brand name, and they will gain access to the market much faster.

[...]

MR. LEE: [...] If your workers were rational they would say, yes, this is going to happen anyway, let's do the necessary things in one go. Instead of one month at the spa, take one week at the spa, work harder and longer for the same pay, compete with the East Europeans, invent in new technology, put more money into your R&D, keep ahead of the Chinese and the Indians.

SPIEGEL: You have seen yourself how hard it is to implement such strategies.

MR. LEE: I faced this problem myself. Every year, our unions and the Labour Department subsidize trips to China and India. We tell the participants: Don't just look at the Great Wall but go to the factories and ask, "What are you paid?" What hours do you work?" And they come back shell-shocked.

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