Singapore Malays defend Lee<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AP): Ethnic Malay leaders in Singapore came to the
\ndefense of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, whose memoirs have
\nbeen criticized in Malaysia as poisonous and racist, a newspaper
\nreported on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The Singapore Story by Senior Minister Lee, which went on sale
\nlast week, describes how Singapore and Malaysia merged in 1963
\nafter independence from Britain. The union fell apart in 1965 as
\nracial riots in Singapore pitted local Malays against the
\nisland's majority Chinese.<\/p>\n
In his book, Lee blamed corruption and moral laxity among
\nMalaysia's leaders at the time for the split. The charge has
\nprovoked harsh reaction from several Malaysian leaders, including
\nDefense Minister Syed Hamid Albar, who last week accused Lee of
\n\"manipulating facts.\"<\/p>\n
But leaders of the Malay community in Singapore supported the
\nformer prime minister, who has said independent diplomatic
\naccounts confirm his claims.<\/p>\n
\"The fact remains that (the) senior minister had the access to
\nall the historic materials, especially those released by the
\nBritish archives,\" Yatiman Yusof, an ethnic Malay senior
\nparliamentary secretary told The Sunday Times.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/singapore-malays-defend-lee-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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