Lee Kuan Yew “trapped in old mindset,” says Anwar Ibrahim

(The Star) – Former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s views expressed in his new book, One Man’s View of the World, are “obsolete,” said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The views represented the Mahathir generation, he added.

“We should not always look at the dichotomy between rights and race, black and white.

“For example, he (Lee) talks about race-based policies, but there is very little understanding of the discourse in the last decade,” he said.

Anwar said Lee was still “trapped in the old mindset,” when he used to be in the opposition during Malaya before Singapore was established.
 
“His thoughts are not so relevant now in the context of the present day. That is what prompted him to make sweeping statements to generalise the situation in Malaysia,” Anwar told reporters at Machang Bubok assemblyman Lee Khai Loon’s Hari Raya open house.

On Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s book, The Awakenings, Anwar said the former prime minister encouraged a discourse in policy instead of the discussion on race.

“Abdullah’s policies are important and Umno should debate the issues that he has brought up particularly, when he asserted the failure to influence Umno in the major positions that he took,” he said.