Free Republic

SINGAPORE: Mr Lee Kuan Yew, who was Singapore’s first Prime Minister when the country gained Independence in 1965, has died on Monday (Mar 23) at the age of 91. "The Prime Minister is deeply grieved to announce the passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the founding Prime Minister of Singapore. Mr Lee passed away peacefully at the Singapore General Hospital today at 3.18am. He was 91," said the PMO. Arrangements for the public to pay respects and for the funeral proceedings will be announced later, it added. Mr Lee, who was born in 1923, formed the People’s Action Party in...

Lee Kuan Yew ranks as one of the most successful statesmen of the 20th century, having led Singapore to independence, and built a thriving prosperous mini-state with a world class economy, out of an ethnically diverse population. He retired as the world's longest serving prime minister, and at 87 years of age, has little to lose in speaking his mind. Thus, his candor in discussing the assimilation of Muslims is perhaps understandable, but stil startling in a world of political correctness and compulsory sensitivity to Muslims, who are never expected to reciprocate. Singapore has a substantial Muslim minority, mostly...

A Singaporean court sentenced a Swiss man to five months' jail and three strokes of a cane Friday for breaking into a metro depot and spray-painting a train, a punishment that could scar him for life. Oliver Fricker, a 32-year-old expatriate winding up a posting in Singapore as a software consultant, had pleaded guilty to trespass and vandalism, which are considered serious offences in the city-state. Fricker was sent immediately to jail but his lawyer Derek Kang said he intended to appeal the sentence, which comprises consecutive terms of three months for vandalism and two months for trespass.

TERRORISM Lee Kuan Yew, 12.26.05 Islamic terrorism continues unabated: July 7, London, England--three suicide bombers strike the underground railway, another hits a bus; July 23, Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt--three suicide bombers strike hotels and a market in the resort district; Oct. 1, Bali, Indonesia--three suicide bombers target restaurants in two tourist areas; Oct. 29, New Delhi, India--two bombs are detonated in crowded markets and one on a bus the weekend before Diwali (Hindu Festival of Lights); Nov. 9, Amman, Jordan--three suicide bombers strike three Western hotels. Has the situation in Iraq made terrorism worse? In the short term, yes. But...