Monday, January 30, 2006
Elections
I just visited Seah Chiang Nee's LittleSpeck.com website and found an article he wrote for the Sun 29th Jan Malaysian Star. The article is about Kee Kuan Yew announcing that he will stand for another term. The interesting part of the article is the ending quote by University of Maryland University College Asia Sociology Professor, Jon Huer:
“After Lee dies, Singaporean stability and dynamism may encounter turbulence, as Lee's larger-than-life dominance of Singapore may leave a void that no successor can fill. That means trouble. Voices demanding change may rise, and the harmony and peace among different ethnic groups that are so uniquely Singaporean may shatter.”
While I'm over the Causeway, I might as well note that Malaysian DPM Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu confirmed on Thursday 26th Jan that the replacement bridge for the Johor half of the Causeway will be built. This will be interesting because the new bridge will allow shipping to pass through. It also means that a current will flow through the Straits for the first time since 1942 (when the British blew a gap in the Causeway). Ever since the construction of the Causeway (1919-1923), the Straits of Johor have been two separate tidal inlets. A major opening in the Causeway will probably create strong currents through the Strait and reverse a hundred years of sedimentation.
“After Lee dies, Singaporean stability and dynamism may encounter turbulence, as Lee's larger-than-life dominance of Singapore may leave a void that no successor can fill. That means trouble. Voices demanding change may rise, and the harmony and peace among different ethnic groups that are so uniquely Singaporean may shatter.”
While I'm over the Causeway, I might as well note that Malaysian DPM Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu confirmed on Thursday 26th Jan that the replacement bridge for the Johor half of the Causeway will be built. This will be interesting because the new bridge will allow shipping to pass through. It also means that a current will flow through the Straits for the first time since 1942 (when the British blew a gap in the Causeway). Ever since the construction of the Causeway (1919-1923), the Straits of Johor have been two separate tidal inlets. A major opening in the Causeway will probably create strong currents through the Strait and reverse a hundred years of sedimentation.
