On Lee Kuan Yew: I Am Surprised At Ama Ata Aidoo

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Okatekyie. 10 years ago

This silly man is an apologetic to academics if he is actually one.Ama Ata Aidoo is an African icon and can see through the clutters of deceit weaved by idiots like you.She is too enlightened and too smart not to see and iden ...
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This silly man is an apologetic to academics if he is actually one.Ama Ata Aidoo is an African icon and can see through the clutters of deceit weaved by idiots like you.She is too enlightened and too smart not to see and identity and acknowledge a visionary leader.
Re:Okoampa's remarks 10 years ago

Some Ghanaian intellectuals are weird,
indeed!!!Hm!Some country!

Some Ghanaian intellectuals are weird,
indeed!!!Hm!Some country!
Prophet 10 years ago

There is no need to praise Yew. He was a dictator pure and simple. It is hypocritical to praise and Yew and berate others.

There is no need to praise Yew. He was a dictator pure and simple. It is hypocritical to praise and Yew and berate others.
Africana 10 years ago

Nkrumaism means tyranny, President for life without Vice, life imprisonment for political opponents, kankan nyame, one-party state, communism and anything evil in politicis.

Nkrumah started all our problems in Ghana. Youn ...
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Nkrumaism means tyranny, President for life without Vice, life imprisonment for political opponents, kankan nyame, one-party state, communism and anything evil in politicis.

Nkrumah started all our problems in Ghana. Young Pioneers were indoctrinated and Nkrumah poluted and poisoned thire brains.
Lee 10 years ago

In Yew"s Singapore, people were forced to cut their hair,no freedom of association,one party state. Those threw bombs were jailed without trial.He ruled for 30 years as a dictator.His son is now the prime minister.No oppositi ...
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In Yew"s Singapore, people were forced to cut their hair,no freedom of association,one party state. Those threw bombs were jailed without trial.He ruled for 30 years as a dictator.His son is now the prime minister.No opposition.
Nana Ansah 10 years ago

“Besides, his obituary and sporadic gleanings from the media in the recent past, I have not done much research on the man to qualify me to make any authoritative statements about what Singaporean life was like under Prime M ...
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“Besides, his obituary and sporadic gleanings from the media in the recent past, I have not done much research on the man to qualify me to make any authoritative statements about what Singaporean life was like under Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. “ Ahootan

Nana Ansah: Who gave birth to this redundant person with redundant words? The poor woman must have toiled and labored hard after delivery. Ahootan is one whose lips move before he thinks. Facts not views are what is required of anyone seeking the naked truth. I am here to demystify the many myths surrounding LKY. Like Nkrumah, he was a great Asian leader who had second thoughts about western democracy. Like Nkrumah, Lee Kuan Yew’s place in history is guaranteed and sitting in the pantheon of world leaders. Your Danquah, Busia and Dombos would not be even mention as footnotes in history. So deal with it!

LKY's Singapore was by proxy a single party state until Lee retired in 1990. He was virtually president for life when he was overtaken by events and realities of the late 80 are e.g. the breakdown of USSR which ended with ideological cold war conflict.

LKY had no opposition although elections were held he won massively like Nkrumah. Up until 1984 there was no single opposition member in Singapore's parliament. In 1984 only a single opposition member could make the cut to parliament. He was the only opposition member until 2006 when the number increased to 2. As of now, there are only 7 plus two nominated opposition members in a chamber of 99 MPs.

This is what the Washington Post had to say on LKY -

But there will always be one shadow hanging over Lee's incredible legacy: that of his views on democracy, and the draconian methods his government sometimes deployed to stifle it. Under Lee, Singapore was governed as a virtual one-party state. Freedom of speech, despite slow reforms, was strictly curtailed. Intense libel laws led to the bankrupting and marginalization of opposition politicians.

Lee, erudite and articulate, was outspoken in his ambivalence toward democracy as a political system. "The exuberance of democracy leads to undisciplined and disorderly conditions which are inimical to development," he is quoted as saying, with trademark pragmatism. "The ultimate test of the value of a political system is whether it helps that society to establish conditions which improve the standard of living for the majority of its people."

Nevertheless, it well appears to me that the recently deceased former Singaporean premier, however dictatorial he might have been as ruler, had not resorted to the sort of constitution-tinkering megalomania that characterized the better part of the Nkrumah-led Convention People's Party regime. Mr. Lee also does not appear to have recklessly and visionlessly wasted the capital resources of his tiny island nation megalomaniacally promoting Pan-Asianism at the expense of the socioeconomic well-being of his people.

Nana Ansah: Ahootan, the multi-purpose idiot, your views are preposterous to commonsense. You cannot use a fig-leaf to hide your profound ignorance. The Mate Meho and their descendants’ pernicious myth about Nkrumah have been debunked. The following are LKY THOUGHTS ON NKRUMAH AFTER THE INFAMOUS 1966 COUP.

Lee began his statement by saying that it had taken him two weeks to compose his thoughts. He had visited Nkrumah’s Ghana on two occasions and did not “believe that [the] political changeover has written finis to the chapter of what has gone before”. He went on: “The Ghanaians are a vigorous and lively people and they deserve all the vision and leadership which you strove to give them, to make Ghana into a strong modern part of an Africa whose unity you have always espoused… May what you stand for, a united Africa and a great Ghana, triumph and flourish”. LKY

The above is excerpt from "DARK DAYS IN GHANA" when various astute world leaders wrote to show their support and solidarity for Nkrumah.

No other statement of solidarity in the book could match Lee’s in grandeur, genuineness and beauty of simplicity.

When LKY first visited Ghana in 1964 he was taken to Cape Coast University, he was so impressed that when he returned to Singapore he built a similar varsity but with much emphasis on administration and management. He copy- cat Nkrumah in many ways. Leaders are not made but born and they are few and far between.
John K Daniels-Ahodwo Ksi 10 years ago

.....he is just like so many Ghanaian intellectuals who simply assume that their version of reality and the truth should be the ONLY truth.
Consider his badly written sentence:
"".it well appears to me that the recently de ...
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.....he is just like so many Ghanaian intellectuals who simply assume that their version of reality and the truth should be the ONLY truth.
Consider his badly written sentence:
"".it well appears to me that the recently deceased former Singaporean premier, however dictatorial he might have been as ruler, had not resorted to the sort of constitution-tinkering megalomania that characterized the better part of the Nkrumah-led Convention People's Party regime. Mr. Lee also does not appear to have recklessly and visionlessly wasted the capital resources of his tiny island nation megalomaniacally promoting Pan-Asianism at the expense of the socioeconomic well-being of his people.""
A very simple research online will show that Mr. Yew was in fact actively involved in Pan-Asianism. He also had so many "big projects" fail ( several bridges, hydro etc)
What is tragic about a lot Ghanaian so called intellectuals is that they are so inept in simple appreciation of anyone who does not fit their tribal or linguistic background. Just look at Akosombo Dam, Tema, Kumasi Central, and so many things Nkrumah initiated and completed in just 10 years compared even to the first 15 years of My Yew in Singapore. Perhaps that is why He visited Nkrumah at the time.
If you want to understand why Nkrumah was overthrown, consider how President Mahama is being hounded everyday. Imagine what he will have to do if he could with the large number of NPP empty heads who have absolutely no interest in seeing him succed.
UNMISGUIDED AFRICAN CHILD 10 years ago

Unlike you Mr. Okoampa Ahoofe, upon his graduation,Kwame Nkrumah returned to his home-ountry to help his people.

He couldd have lived comfortably well in his wall-to-wall home in "Aburokyire" teaching or doing something el ...
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Unlike you Mr. Okoampa Ahoofe, upon his graduation,Kwame Nkrumah returned to his home-ountry to help his people.

He couldd have lived comfortably well in his wall-to-wall home in "Aburokyire" teaching or doing something else for a decent living.

And not unlike you Mr. Kwame Okoampa Ahoofe Jr.,you
have decided to live ABROAD and shoot your mouth and criticize and condemn Dr.Nkrumah every chance you get.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR GHANA AND AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT,Mr,Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe Jr. with your Phd?We all want to know.

PPlease tell us about your contribution towards Ghana's Development....or stop wasting space on Ghanaweb insulting this Great and nable African,Dr, Kwame Nkrumah.

COME TO GHANA AND HELP OR SHUT UP,AHOOFE !!INDEED,EMPTY BARRELS MAKE THE MOST NOISE,,,"ampa"

Remember me...your show-girl
UNMISGUIDED AFRICAN CHILD 10 years ago

typo...should read "this Great and Noble African Dr. Kwame Nkrumah

typo...should read "this Great and Noble African Dr. Kwame Nkrumah
UNMISGUIDED AFRICAN CHILD 10 years ago

Under Lee Kuan Yew,"MATEMEHO" WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN FORMED.

THEY WOULDN'T DARE...So You see,your ardent enemy Dr.
Nkrumah was too God-Like compared to Yew....Nsawam would look like a holiday resort.

Under Lee Kuan Yew,"MATEMEHO" WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN FORMED.

THEY WOULDN'T DARE...So You see,your ardent enemy Dr.
Nkrumah was too God-Like compared to Yew....Nsawam would look like a holiday resort.

Hass 10 years ago

Trokosi illiterate, you can't even spell your stolen name, Okatakyie(Okatekyie)

Trokosi illiterate, you can't even spell your stolen name, Okatakyie(Okatekyie)
FUNNY THAT 10 years ago

It is high time this Okuampah stop his self potraying as an academic. He is a fool and besides what has he contributed to humanity.

It is high time this Okuampah stop his self potraying as an academic. He is a fool and besides what has he contributed to humanity.
Shabi 10 years ago

I clicked on the above title to read this article but when i got to the page and realized that the writer was no other than the circus clown, Ahoofe, I immediately decided otherwise. Life is precious and I cannot continue to ...
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I clicked on the above title to read this article but when i got to the page and realized that the writer was no other than the circus clown, Ahoofe, I immediately decided otherwise. Life is precious and I cannot continue to waste it on the scum of the earth
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

READ: "...Mr. Lee also does not appear to have recklessly and visionlessly wasted the capital resources of his tiny island nation megalomaniacally promoting Pan-Asianism at the expense of the socioeconomic well-being of his p ...
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READ: "...Mr. Lee also does not appear to have recklessly and visionlessly wasted the capital resources of his tiny island nation megalomaniacally promoting Pan-Asianism at the expense of the socioeconomic well-being of his people..."

OUR COMMENT: What reasonable mind would, when you just fought for, and gained your independence from, Pan-Asian governments who held you and your people in bondage for so long, all of them within a stone-throw away!

But we think we can understand. After all Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D., has not "...done much research on the man to qualify...to make any authoritative statements about what Singaporean life was like under Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew...", certainly not before, we can surmise.

So, for the rest, we shall leave to others who have even a little time.

Context is elementary!

Haba!
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

So, every comment to this essay could start with the Singapore Fortune Cookie Message Opener...

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D., has not done much research on Mr. Lee Kuan Yew to...

So, go ahead, Ghanaweb. Run with ...
read full comment

So, every comment to this essay could start with the Singapore Fortune Cookie Message Opener...

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D., has not done much research on Mr. Lee Kuan Yew to...

So, go ahead, Ghanaweb. Run with it!
Issah Sulemana 10 years ago

Be honest to your selves how many of you out there can come immediately with such intellectual analysis to educate, inform and at the same time a trendy and spot-on piece? It is easy to commend and see other peoples fault. Wh ...
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Be honest to your selves how many of you out there can come immediately with such intellectual analysis to educate, inform and at the same time a trendy and spot-on piece? It is easy to commend and see other peoples fault. What is your own stake on Ama Ata Aidoo's article on Leee Kuan? People should stop behaving as if they have personal grudges with some particular writers esp Okoampa. He is my favourate. A genius, a prolific writer comparable to none, above all a Ghanaian to the core.
Lee 10 years ago

prolific but senseless articles.Lee was a dictator for 30 years.Jailed opponents with trial.Is that what he is talking about?

prolific but senseless articles.Lee was a dictator for 30 years.Jailed opponents with trial.Is that what he is talking about?
Kwame 10 years ago

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe the fact remains that in 1966 the black man in the U.S. were you reside by that country's constitution was regarded as an animal less than the white man's dog. Apart from the war of liberation and unifica ...
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Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe the fact remains that in 1966 the black man in the U.S. were you reside by that country's constitution was regarded as an animal less than the white man's dog. Apart from the war of liberation and unification the economic system of the U.S. remains the same, whiles the U.S. undermine the socioeconomic system of others for the world to perceive the ruse of economic progress there as a plus. The U.S. economy moved from slave labour to wage slavery, thus there are no fundamental changes in her economy because it live on the wage of the exploited worker, and the under paid Negro who was disadvantage by the racial segregation laws. On freedom my grandson shots at the Ghana police who is not armed with his toy gun everyday. However a Negro with a toy gun in his hands in the U.S. is already dead. The lady said that Ghana did not enable her corn to mature before she harvested it, thus had no grain, and that is a fact. I am not sure that in the U.S. where you live corn is harvested when there is no seed on it. You live in a country which behaviour is not a good example for any sensible person to follow. U.S. is a nation which is the source of instability and insecurity in the world.
Tower of freedom 10 years ago

Provisions relating to internal security[edit]
Part II of the ISA, the first substantive part of the Act, contains provisions relating to internal security.[22] It is divided into six chapters:

I. Prohibition of organisat ...
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Provisions relating to internal security[edit]
Part II of the ISA, the first substantive part of the Act, contains provisions relating to internal security.[22] It is divided into six chapters:

I. Prohibition of organisations and associations of a political or quasi-military character and uniforms, etc.
II. Powers of preventive detention.
III. Special powers relating to subversive publications, etc.
IV. Control of entertainments and exhibitions.
V. Other powers for the prevention of subversion.
Nonesense 10 years ago

Ahoofe is seriously sick and needs help; he has mental problems.

Ahoofe is seriously sick and needs help; he has mental problems.

Yaw 10 years ago

Half baked phd holder like this man cannot see what Prof Ama Ata Aidoo sees when she is even asleep. Put this ahoafe man on mount Everest and he will never see what Prof Aidoo sees even in a bottomless pit

Half baked phd holder like this man cannot see what Prof Ama Ata Aidoo sees when she is even asleep. Put this ahoafe man on mount Everest and he will never see what Prof Aidoo sees even in a bottomless pit
INXS 10 years ago

Only Ghanaians or Africans will call known writers "Prof". This is due to our penchant for glorifying people with titles. Only a Ghanaian will write something like: "renowned Ghanaian poet, playwright and novelist Prof. Ama A ...
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Only Ghanaians or Africans will call known writers "Prof". This is due to our penchant for glorifying people with titles. Only a Ghanaian will write something like: "renowned Ghanaian poet, playwright and novelist Prof. Ama Ata Aidoo". It's surprising Okoampa doesn't see this as excessively mouthful and utterly unnecessary!

In the societies we have moved to, writers are simply referred to as such - a writer, a novelist or a playwright. Nobody goes on to say that they are renowned or are professors or some such things even though they may, indeed, be such things as well and even more. Calling them by their primary preoccupation concentrates attention on their creative talent which happens to be the unique thing about them. Any other thing is incidental.

But in Africa, we have to give them the whole deal and say such things as "Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka". Well, these days, we don't describe Soyinka as "renowned", because it's so obvious. Which tells you something about Okoampa's need to inform his readers that Ama Ata Aidoo is "renowned"...

But the setup serves Okoampa well. He refers to an unnamed Ghanaian writer, who happens to be his hated tribesman, and whose novel he doesn't like. Okoampa will be happy that he will not have to call this man "Prof" as he is forced to in the case of his other hate object: Kofi Awoonor. Cameron Duodu, the writer of The Gab Boys is not a Prof. Indeed, the man did not even attend secondary school. He taught himself most of the things that he knows. And rose through it all to become one of the best (and dare I say most respected?) journalists our country has known. What about that?
JC 10 years ago

And Mr. Kuan Yew had this to say about Nkrumah's Ghana. "On arrival at Accra, the person who came up to meet me at the aircraft was Krobo Adusei, the minister for presidential affairs. He had gained notoriety as a CORRUPT MIN ...
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And Mr. Kuan Yew had this to say about Nkrumah's Ghana. "On arrival at Accra, the person who came up to meet me at the aircraft was Krobo Adusei, the minister for presidential affairs. He had gained notoriety as a CORRUPT MINISTER WHO HAD BOUGHT HIMSELF A GOLDEN BEDSTEAD, A STORY MUCH PUBLICIZED IN THE WORLD PRESS." (emphasis mine) - page 355, 'From Third World to First- The Singapore Story :1965-2000. The so- called SOCIALISTS FOR YOU. He continued, page 356 ...."My fears for the people of Ghana were not misplaced. Not withstanding their rich cocoa plantations, gold mines, and High Volta Dam, which could generate enormous amount of power, GHANA'S ECONOMY SANK INTO DISREPAIR AND HAS NOT RECOVERED THE EARLY PROMISE IT HELD OUT AT INDEPENDENCE IN 1957." - (empahsis mine). Much for CORRUPTION AND DESTRUCTION OF GHANA'S ECONOMY FOR YOU".
Nana Ansah 10 years ago

LKY THOUGHTS ON NKRUMAH AFTER THE INFAMOUS 1966 COUP.

Lee began his statement by saying that it had taken him two weeks to compose his thoughts. He had visited Nkrumah’s Ghana on two occasions and did not “believe that ...
read full comment

LKY THOUGHTS ON NKRUMAH AFTER THE INFAMOUS 1966 COUP.

Lee began his statement by saying that it had taken him two weeks to compose his thoughts. He had visited Nkrumah’s Ghana on two occasions and did not “believe that [the] political changeover has written finis to the chapter of what has gone before”. He went on: “The Ghanaians are a vigorous and lively people and they deserve all the vision and leadership which you strove to give them, to make Ghana into a strong modern part of an Africa whose unity you have always espoused… May what you stand for, a united Africa and a great Ghana, triumph and flourish”. LKY

The above is excerpt from "DARK DAYS IN GHANA" when various astute world leaders wrote to show their support and solidarity for Nkrumah.

No other statement of solidarity in the book could match Lee’s in grandeur, genuineness and beauty of simplicity.

When LKY first visited Ghana in 1964 he was taken to Cape Coast University, he was so impressed that when he returned to Singapore he built a similiar varsity but with much emphasis on administration and management. He copy- cat Nkrumah in many ways.

LKY's Singapore was by proxy a single party state until Lee retired in 1990. He was virtually president for life when he was overtaken by events and realities of the late 80's e.g. the break down of USSR which ended with ideological cold war conflict.

LKY had no opposition although elections were held he won massively like Nkrumah. Up until 1984 there was no single opposition member in Singapore's parliament. In 1984 only a single opposition member could make the cut to parliament. He was the only opposition member until 2006 when the number increased to 2. As of now, there are only 7 plus two nominated opposition members in a chamber of 99 MPs.

This is what the Washington Post had to say on LKY -

But there will always be one shadow hanging over Lee's incredible legacy: that of his views on democracy, and the draconian methods his government sometimes deployed to stifle it. Under Lee, Singapore was governed as a virtual one-party state. Freedom of speech, despite slow reforms, was strictly curtailed. Intense libel laws led to the bankrupting and marginalization of opposition politicians.

Lee, erudite and articulate, was outspoken in his ambivalence toward democracy as a political system. "The exuberance of democracy leads to undisciplined and disorderly conditions which are inimical to development," he is quoted as saying, with trademark pragmatism. "The ultimate test of the value of a political system is whether it helps that society to establish conditions which improve the standard of living for the majority of its people."
Oman Ndaama, Cape Coast 10 years ago

Truly, academic qualifications does not guarantee wisdom.

Truly, academic qualifications does not guarantee wisdom.
Nana 10 years ago

When will this man learn to write?

When will this man learn to write?
OKATAKYIE 10 years ago

This is the sort of stupidity, dishonesty, arrogance and ignorance we've come to expect from this village idiot, Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe. How could you admit you've not done much research on Lee Kuan Yew, yet you use him(LYK) as ...
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This is the sort of stupidity, dishonesty, arrogance and ignorance we've come to expect from this village idiot, Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe. How could you admit you've not done much research on Lee Kuan Yew, yet you use him(LYK) as a weapon against Kwame Nkrumah? How logical and rational! And you're in academia.
Azumah Nelson 10 years ago

ASS HOLE.I WANT TO KNOW,HOW THIS FOOL GOT HIS PHD.

ASS HOLE.I WANT TO KNOW,HOW THIS FOOL GOT HIS PHD.

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On Lee Kuan Yew: I Am Surprised At Ama Ata Aidoo

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