Lee Kuan Yew's views

It seems this wise old man (Lee Kuan Yew) gave his opinion during the recent launching of his volume two memoirs, stating that it is dead wrong to bring Soeharto to court.

As a simple man in the street I get confused because standards of law are different if it comes to (ex) high ranking people: First Lady Thatcher, fought for Pinochet when he was detained in England to be extradited to Spain, like Lee, citing Pinochet's merits during the Falkland war with Argentina etc.

Again, if some simple man is caught stealing a chicken, he will be prosecuted directly, found guilty and sent to jail, or if he is in the possession of 20 grams of heroin, he will be hanged...

If I follow Lee, I would be twisted into a sordid opportunist (and maybe with some other thousands or millions of fellow countrymen), and commit big crimes, and then get pardoned or even honored, all sins being erased and forgotten...

Thus, there are for sure certain people above the law following this old man's rationale...?

Is that what wise Oxford lawyer and statesman Lee is preaching to us with our hungry stomachs and joblessness mounting to 40 million people and our youngsters ... To hell with law and order and...let Soeharto go free and enjoy his old age...?

What about the millions of other elderly living in substandard circumstances, duped by the 30 years of fake stability and robbed by the big guys...

How about his cronies and other culprits, where does he suggest us to draw the line, and which ones can we bring to court, which ones not...

How do we teach our youngsters this approach as being a wise one and a practical recipe for life?

I really would appreciate him to elaborate a bit on these practical questions of a man in the streets of Jakarta.

Y. SANTO

Jakarta