Quick Lesson from LKY's Passing

With the passing of Lee Kuan Yew, the world has been extra critical in debating his legacy. No one disputes Singapore’s economic progress achieved under his 31 years of PM rule. However, many also see him as a ruthless autocrat who cracked down on free speech and political opposition senselessly. Lee Kuan Yew is well aware of these criticisms. He believes there is no freedom without order and people value economic freedom more than political freedom.

Seeing himself as Singapore’s father who knows what people need best, he says “you take a poll of any people. What is it they want? The right to write an editorial as you like? They want homes, medicine, jobs, schools.” As a result, he has made his utmost effort in building Singapore’s prosperity, not democracy.

Now, I am not here to debate whether Lee Kuan Yew is right. I am here to talk about cultural understanding. For the most part, Westerners are more critical of the political repression while Easterners are more forgiving of such human costs. Having grown up in the East and West, I understand the historical vestiges, the government agendas, and the family upbringing that contribute to this different interpretation of Lee. However, for most of the world, people grow up with one dominant value system. As a result, cultural misunderstandings are bound to happen right? I disagree.

The pace of globalization post the fall of the Iron Curtain has caught the world by surprise. It seemed like just yesterday when people still used point cards to dial internationally. (I vividly remember my parents dialing a million digits just to have a ten minute conversation with family abroad.) Now, internet, smartphones, apps have bridged all gaps, except cultural ones. Now on to the final frontier, how do we overcome cultural differences? I believe replacing heuristics with common sense is all we need.

When one uses heuristics, judgement shortcuts, to approach another culture, one is bound to pigeonhole the said culture to either end of the extreme. Cultures are never inherently exotic or common; it all depends on the frame of reference. Just because another culture’s food seems exotic does not make the said culture’s values alien. Just because another culture’s life style is western does not make the said culture’s beliefs western. Heuristics that simplify a culture’s complexity down to a simple transitive equation are inadequate for today’s society. The walls have come down, but the neighborhoods are still divided. Cultural sensitivity issues, most analogous to the left over barb wires from the torn down walls, scare people away. However, there is nothing to be afraid of. Common sense over heuristics is all one needs to understand other cultures. Like most things in the world, the truth is always somewhere in the middle so book that flight, sign up for that exchange program, follow that blog, and explore all that the world has to offer.