Lee Kuan Yew’s perception of racial equality is based on genetics hierarchy…
Where the Chinese are on top…and the Malays at the bottom.
During a speech at the University of Singapore in 1967, Lee Kuan Yew said:
“Three women were brought to the Singapore General Hospital, each in the same condition and needing a blood transfusion. The first, a Southeast Asian was given the transfusion but died a few hours later.
The second, a South Asian was also given a transfusion but died a few days later. The third, an East Asian, was given a transfusion and survived. That is the X factor in development. (145)
Lee revealed in this speech, as reported by Chandra Muzaffar a perception of a racial hierarchy of Asians, in which the Chinese and other East Asians are at the top,
Malays and other Southeast Asians are at the bottom, and Indians and other South Asians are in between. (149)
Singapore’s multiracialism…encourages a high consciousness of one’s race even as it insists on tolerance.
Further, it has been considered by many as a covert form of discrimination in favour of the majority Chinese
and against the minorities, especially the Malays. (145)
Reference:
Barr, Michael D. “Lee Kuan Yew: race, culture and genes.” Journal of Contemporary Asia 29.2 (1999): 145-166.
Source: Almakhazin SG
