Thursday, June 11, 2009

Media abuzz over Kuan Yew's multi-state visit- The Straits Times

Two veteran politicians, Menteri Besar Kelantan Dato Nik Aziz gave thumbs up on his meeting with Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew in Kota Bharu, Kelantan

Chief Minister of Penang Lim Guan Eng who is also DAP secretary general welcomed Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew who is also PAP founder to his office in Komtar building in Penang.


KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has set the Malaysian media abuzz, especially in the Chinese press and blogosphere, since his arrival for his first visit to the country in four years. Chinese papers such as the mass-selling Sin Chew Daily have given him substantial coverage daily, since he arrived on Monday to attend a dialogue and receive an award at the International Air Transport Association's annual general meeting here.
The next day, Sin Chew placed a picture of him meeting MCA leaders prominently on its front page.

The Chinese media has been tracking the calls he has made to different national leaders, and devoted significant column space to his visit. The Malay and English media, however, have been more muted. There was no coverage in the English daily New Straits Times, or in Malay papers Berita Harian and Utusan on Lee's first day in Malaysia. Subsequent coverage was also less extensive than that in the Chinese papers.

Lee has not made a multi-state Malaysian visit in years, and part of the Chinese media's enthusiasm stems from this fact. They pointed out that the last time he visited states outside of Kuala Lumpur was in 1989, when he was still Singapore's prime minister. That time, he went to Penang and Kedah. One Sin Chew Daily commentator felt that Lee had chosen this time to visit Malaysia because the country was going through drastic political change. Praising Lee's intelligence and experience in leading Singapore, he wrote: “Malaysia's leaders should learn from him how to manoeuvre out of the current political crisis.”

But another commentary in the Oriental Daily noted that Lee's visit also evoked unhappy memories of the spats between Malaysia and Singapore when he and former Prime MinisterTun Dr Mahathir Mohamad were leading their respective countries. Such historical baggage did not escape the attention of Malaysia's influential blogosphere too, which viewed Lee's visit with less fervour. While some netizens praised Lee's leadership of Singapore, others viewed his arrival with suspicion.

Former New Straits Times editor Datuk Kadir Jasin questioned the special treatment that Lee has been getting, likening it to that of a “Chinese emperor”. Kadir and other bloggers were clearly unhappy with the fact that Lee was meeting many Malaysian leaders.
“Why should Lee Kuan Yew visit Malaysia? And why is he allowed to meet so many leaders? Will a senior politician from Malaysia be allowed to meet Malay leaders, opposition and so on when he visits Singapore?” wrote one blogger. — The Straits Times

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